Climate Change in curriculum – The Need of Hour
You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,’ climate activist Greta Thunberg has told world leaders at the 2019 UN climate action summit in New York. In an emotionally charged speech, she accused them of ignoring the science behind the climate crisis, saying: ‘We are at the beginning of mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth – how dare you!’
Youth activist Greta Thunberg started a movement when she began advocating for climate change awareness, encouraging students to take it upon themselves to incite change because the youth are not given adequate climate change education in schools.
Climate change is a reality which impacts each individual on this planet from a newborn to an octogenarian. The sudden and unprecedented changes in the climate from extreme cold spells to excruciating heat waves to melting glaciers to drastic temperature fluctuations are now becoming norms rather than exceptions.
According to WeForum, “Students in Cambodia experience climate change firsthand. For the second time in four years, school hours had to be reduced across the country, due to record heat waves in the dry season. Now those students are becoming part of the effort to find solutions, a vanguard for the existential threat of our time.”
The educational institutions need to integrate Climate Change as a subject to inform students, sensitise them and empower them to be climate warriors of the future. Climate change is not merely an environmental phenomenon but has far-reaching social, emotional, and economic consequences. It can render families homeless, ruin means of livelihood, render kids orphans, cause loss of life and property. This is a subject that needs to move out from global summits and be discussed in the classrooms, among students, educationists, environmentalists as a regular phenomenon.
The need of the hour is to prepare students to comprehend and contextualise this issue in order to take up cudgels to combat and address it. Change is the only constant hence the curriculum planners have to revamp and include Climate change as a scholastic subject to be taught across all grades.
It is only when students like Greta Thunberg are spurred on and do their part to drive the change, kindle the fire to mitigate this global crisis; can we dream of having a safe, secure and healthy planet for the future generation.
According to certain studies – climate change will increase the risk of infant and maternal mortality, birth complications, lead to poorer reproductive health, especially in tropical and developing countries.
The effects of malnutrition, infectious diseases, environmental problems, and direct heat exposure on maternal health outcomes will lead to severe health risks for mothers and children. Thus, climate change will have a substantial impact on the health and survival of the next generation, especially among already challenged populations.
The spectre of climate change as precursors of superstorms, massive floods, and ominous weather patterns generate fear and inhibit the need to learn, study and take action. This fear-mongering mindset needs to be dispelled and the students have to be encouraged to think, brainstorm and take momentous steps as a generation to manage climate change.
The thought leaders, schools, policymakers, politicians must reflect on this crisis which looming large on human existence…The young students thus need to be educated, take moral responsibility and become climate activists. The youth needs to be inspired to start a revolution already gaining rapid momentum thanks to a firebrand 14-year-old activist.
Climate Change as a curricular subject thus gains greater currency. Costello stated that ‘Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century’. The spectre of climate change as precursors of superstorms, massive floods, and ominous weather patterns generate fear and inhibit the need to learn, study and take action. This fear-mongering mindset needs to be dispelled and the students have to be encouraged to think, brainstorm and take momentous steps as a generation to manage climate change.
“The trouble is that today’s students will be tasked with managing tomorrow’s climate change impact – and jobs requiring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills already are on the rise. That demand will only continue to expand as the effects of climate change progress and more effort is needed to create and execute mitigation tactics and adaptation plans.”
Priti Shrimal is Principal of Billabong High International School Vadodara.