Dr. Swasti Dhar, Assistant Professor, Pillai College of Education & Research, Chembur, Email id: [email protected]
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in 2015, have replaced the Millennium Development Goals. These goals have been accepted by all the 193 participant countries and India, too, is a primary signatory towards the same. The SDGs consists of 17 global goals with 169 targets between them to be attained by 2030. Some of these goals are ‗No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality, etc‘ In order that these goals be attained, it is imperative that the mindset seeps into the minds of all those at the grassroot level as ideas like peace, sanitation, cleanliness and sustainability needs not only a strong legal and structural framework but also a shift in the mindset of those at the bottom of the rung. This paper presents the result of a survey conducted by the presenter to ascertain if the school curricula across the various boards in India caters to spreading awareness, knowledge and/ or skills to spread awareness about the SDGs. The focus of this paper was to ascertain the awareness about these goals among the educated masses and specifically among school teachers and educators. This paper looks at two of these goals - Sustainable Development (Goal 11) and Global Peace (Goal 17) and the perception and understanding of the target population towards the topic.
Objectives of the Study
To ascertain whether the teacher community in India is aware of the SDGs in general and about Global Peace (GP) and Sustainable Development (SD) in particular.
To determine if the various school curricula caters to the SDGs.
To identify whether co-curricular activities and/ or internal assessment projects cater to SDGs.
Methodology of the Study: The study was conducted through a survey and the target participants (respondents) were the school teachers belonging to various Boards of Education in India. The survey was conducted in both online (via Facebook Survey) as well as offline (via survey conducted amongst the teachers from Practice Teaching schools affiliated with the institute.
Delimitations of the Study:
The study was delimited to:
Schools situated in India
Teachers teaching at the Secondary level (Class V to Class X)
Results of the Survey
Nature of the respondents: A total of 260 respondents answered the survey. Of these, 100 belonged to teachers of the Maharashtra SSC Board (mainly in Mumbai) and 160 of them were
spread throughout India across various Boards as seen in the diagram belowwhich shows the nature of the respondents with respect to the Educational Board that the school follows.
Fig. 1 Chart showing the distribution of School Boards to the survey
Awareness about SDGs in general and about Global Peace & Sustainable Development, in particular
Almost none of the correspondents were aware about the SDGs as a set of Global Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 which is mandated to be attained by the participant countries by 2030. At a metacognitive level, they believe that global peace and sustainable development are important and every country should work towards it though they don‘t know how, as individuals or as teachers, they can contribute towards it.
Responses With Respect To Global Peace: UNESCO defines Global Peace not only as an absence of violence but as a state of stability, progress and freedom from civil disorder. It needs understanding and cooperation amongst all the countries in the world and acceptance of the idea of peaceful coexistence. At the curriculum level, this translates to students who know about the conditions of war continuing at present, the reasons behind these conflicts and a mind which is trained to seek solutions with the belief that peace is essential for human growth. It translates to abilities to understand the root cause of conflicts and strategies to manage conflict. It also requires an understanding and practice of fair play, equality of opportunities for all. The survey showed a trend amongst the respondents to equate global peace with religious harmony especially amongst Hindus and Muslims in India. There was a marked lack in the knowledge of world history and current affairs. The reasons for the cause of the conflict were not clearly formulated and no probable solutions for resolving any perceived conflict were forthcoming. Many of the teachers felt that though there was no dedicated paper on Global Peace in any of the educational boards, subjects such as English literature and civics promote the concept of Global Peace. Co-curricular activities such as sports, drama practice and cultural events promote knowledge of various cultures and thus promote multicultural values and tolerance and such values can also be incorporated through assignments.
The results of the survey are shown in a tabular form below:
School Boards 14 35 65 26 20 100
Understanding of Global Peace (GP) Peace amongst all countries in the world 2% Peace amongst Hindus and Muslims in India 34% No opinion 64% History/ Which subjects in school promote GP? Civics English Literature 55% 13% No Subject 12% Not sure 32% Geography 5% Do CCA activities promote the concepts of Global Peace? Yes 89% No 0% Not sure 11% Have you conducted
a CCA where the theme is Global Peace Yes 1% No 99% Do school assignments promote the concepts of Global Peace? Yes 84% No 2% Not sure 14% Have you given an
assignment on Global Peace?
Yes 1.2% No 98.8%
Table 1: Results of the Survey on Global Peace
Discussion of the results: The school curriculum in India is not looking at inculcating an understanding of the meaning of Global peace and neither putting forth the seeds of how to resolve conflicts. The teachers too neither understand the concept nor consider it very important. The researcher found that most of the understanding about peace related to resolving Hindu-Muslim conflicts in India with no clear understanding of the problem nor any solutions for it. Clichés such as ‗India has a history of tolerance‘ or ‗The British created the problem through its policy of divide and rule‘ were touted but most teachers could not state what the history of the divide and rule policy was.
The way forward: India‘s contribution to attaining Global Peace by 2030 and then sustaining it thereafter seems to be very much in doubt as the students of today are not being trained to resolve conflicts and look towards peaceful solutions to problems. The education system needs to look at this lacuna and correct it while there is still time otherwise, we as teachers, would have failed in inculcating a very basic life skill amongst the generation which will take up the mantle of the country‘s governance in the future.
Responses With Respect To Sustainable Development: UNESCO focuses on Sustainable Development with its main emphasis on the oceans, marine resources and water development management which need to be aligned with the capacity development of nations. This is mainly because water is held as the source of life on Earth and the depletion and degradation of this resource results is unsustainable development. In all those projects, where care has been taken to manage the wastage and effluence (instead of dumping it into any water body such as a river or the sea), the development has been planned and systematic and has done more good than bad for the population. The paradigm of sustainable development looks at the resources available to us as a ‗borrowing from the future generation‘ and tries to ensure that any development which we undertake should not deprive the future of their share. This paradigm must be inculcated into the curriculum so that the students are made aware as to how any project affects the environment. This is done through an understanding of the resources available, locally, nationally and globally; a knowledge of environmental science and development of an appropriate technology to foster the same. The survey showed some awareness amongst teachers towards the environmental impact and though students are not trained to find solutions, at least, they are aware of some of the environmental degradation which is taking place in the world today. The result of the survey is given below.
Questions asked Responses Understanding of Sustainable Development (SD) Good Understandi ng 62% Poor Understandi ng 24% No opini on 14% Which subjects in school promote SD? Science Geography 88% 48% No Subject 12% Not sure 2% Do CCA activities promote the concepts of SD? Yes 12% No 75% Not sure 13% Have you conducted a CCA where the theme is SD? Yes 0.8% No 99.2% Do school assignments promote the concepts of SD? Yes 1.2 % No 82% Not sure 15.8% Have you given
an assignment on SD?
Yes 17% No 83%
Table 2: Results of the Survey on Sustainable Development
Discussion of the results: Teachers seemed to be more aware of the concept of sustainable development through there was a tendency to relate it to environmental problems being faced
the two subjects which deal with such topics. However, the concept of sustainable development does not get translated into action via the co-curricular activities promoted in the school, nor via assignments. The teachers who stated that assignments were given on the topic were all Science teachers.
The way forward: The environmental problems that we are facing today are the results of the way development has taken place in an arbitrary manner without any concern for the consequences. However, to promote an attitude for sustainable development, the curriculum has to focus on the technology available for production, the skill to conduct feasibility reports, the ability to calculate the environmental and ecological cost of projects etc. Unless these skills are provided to our students, they are unequipped to move forward to bring about change in a sustained manner.
Ref:
Aloni, N. and Weintrob, M.(Ed.) (2009). Beyond Bystanders: Educational Leadership for a Humane Culture in a Globalizing Reality. Sense Publishers
Stadtler, L. (2012) More than Brick in the Wall – Education is the way forward. Cambridge Publication http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTEGRATING EDUCATIONAL APPS IN THE INDIAN