Environmental education is a perfect way to integrate academic disciplines, stimulate the academic and social development of young minds and promote the conservation of the natural environment. Most of the schools have been focusing on environmental education transmitting knowledge about our current situation and future possibilities of nature. It teaches students to examine all the issues related to the environment and therefore participates in sensible ways of preserving it. But at present due to negative and irresponsible anthropogenic activities, the rate of environmental degradation such as climate change and global warming, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse gas effect, rise in sea level, improper monsoon, acid rain, and biodiversity erosion are handful examples. Though many conferences, seminars, and world summits have towards the protection of the environment for the past two decades were conducted, the present world is environmentally less sustainable than in the previous days. Therefore, to achieve an acceptable level of global environmental sustainability, the citizens must be empowered with essential knowledge and information, especially in developing countries like India. Educational institutions are the places where the contact the society is more, and it is possible to bring remarkable changes in the mindset of the public. To protect children living in polluted regions, environmental education represents a relevant means of prevention because this type of education encourages learner's awareness of their environment's ambient conditions, as well as their active participation in solving local problems. It is the need of the hour to propose environmental education with the essential elements of moral philosophy in the school curricula in India.

Introduction

Environmental education has a range of beneficial effects for individuals and communities. It is important in understanding the effects of human activity on the environment and creating effective, environment-friendly sustainable strategies to protect it which are at the heart of environmental education. In many cases, proper environment management requires more than just awareness-raising within schools; it necessitates action on the part of citizens as well. Environmental education offers students the knowledge and skills they need to combat the negative consequences of human exploitation.

Our contemporary planet across both hemispheres has been undergoing massive environmental degradation at an unprecedented rate. It is a crude reality that we all have to accept and accept or accommodate in our lives. This needs a better sensitivity generated towards our vulnerable environment and ecosystem through comprehensive education and awareness programs properly executed at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education. Such a comprehensive educational system will need to efficiently incorporate the fundamental elements of environmental ethics, morality, and environmental philosophy catered to the target groups in a student-friendly manner.

Concept of environmental education

The basic concept of environmental education is education for the environment, education about the environment, and education through the environment.

• Education for the Environment: Environmental education is an education that helps people understand the problems confronting their environment and teaches them how to work with technology to address these issues responsibly.
• Education about the Environment: Environmental education encompasses conservation, outdoor and natural resource education, as well as nature study. It is the understanding of man's relationship with his surrounding surroundings, good or ill. Environmental education is a comprehensive approach to learning about the natural and cultural world around us.
• Education through the Environment: Environmental education is not a separate subject. It should be integrated into all areas of learning from early childhood to lifelong education since the entire subject falls within the scope of environmental issues. Despite this, separate classes and curricula relating specifically to the environment are widely available. This fails to connect course material in a meaningful way, leaving the topic incomplete at best. A multidisciplinary approach integrating environmental education into all subjects and grades can fix this issue.

Why do environmental studies need to be a part of the curriculum?

Can we blame kids for littering when they're not aware of the consequences of their actions? If our children don't understand how their choices affect the entire ecosystem, then it's no wonder they take little care in leaving a clean environment. This is where Environmental Studies come in we teach kids about the effects their actions have on the world around them.

Learning about pollution, climate change, and other environmental and ecological issues that we face on a daily basis is just one aspect of environmental studies. Another important aspect is comprehending the countless, intricate relationships that exist between humans and the environment. We need to be made aware of how our actions have harmed nature, the ecosystem, and biodiversity by the consequences of the latest COVID-19 pandemic. However, we need to get better in our understanding of our global, regional, and global environmental issues and learn from our mistakes to effectively design the contents of the courses to be taught to the children.

Aims of environmental education

• To provide individuals and communities with a basic knowledge and understanding of the environment and the inter-relationship between humans and the environment.
• To promote awareness and sensibility in individuals and communities about the environment and its problems.
• To encourage individuals and communities to value the environment and consider it important and tries to inspire participation in the process of improving and protecting the environment.
• To provide people with skills to identify, predict, prevent and solve environmental problems.
• To provide individuals and communities with the chance to actively participate in solving environmental problems and to make educated decisions about the environment.

Objectives of environmental education

At the primary level:

• To appreciate true aspects of the environment in general.
• To understand the delicate interactions between human and their environment
• To understand the interactions between the various biotic and abiotic components of the natural ecosystem.
• To develop skills in thinking, reasoning, and enquiring about the world around them.

At the secondary level:

• • Inculcate the attitude in using the knowledge and skills towards solving problems and issues related to individuals, society, and the environment.
• To emphasize the relevance of science, social science, and humanities to daily life.
• To build the values and attitudes towards the need and necessity to live together in harmony in the context of a heterogeneous society.
• To develop a scientific attitude in the students.
• To develop an outlook that emphasizes the method employed in different science disciplines.

At the tertiary level:

• To understand complex human-nature interactions from local, regional and global perspectives.
• To appreciate and understand the various levels of complex interactions of human societies with one another.
• Deep learning with respect to various inter and interlinking chains, cycles, and complex patterns of our nature and ecosystem with respect to negative anthropogenic activities.
• To appreciate new technology platforms such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Genomics, Satellite Technology, Remote Sensing, Nanotechnology, Microelectronics, Precision Agriculture, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability, Green Chemistry, Green Engineering, Green Economics, Green Infrastructure Technology, Green Philosophy, Conservation Biology, etc in helping towards successful conservation of nature, ecosystem, biodiversity
• To understand and appreciate the basics of environmental philosophy or green philosophy in finding sustainable solutions to global environmental issues.

Environmental ethics

Environmental ethics is concerned with how morally responsible humans should behave toward the environment. It alludes to an ecological conscience or moral that expresses a commitment and responsibility towards the environment; including plants and animals as well as current and future generations. The basic philosophy behind this concept is focused on enabling human societies to coexist peacefully with the natural world on which they rely for their survival and well-being. It also refers to the obligation to recognize our individual and collective social and environmental responsibilities to preserve natural resources and save the planet for our current and future generations.

Fundamentally, environmental ethics is a form of human ethics that prioritizes social justice for all people without regard to their ethnicity, gender, religion, ideology, caste, creed, geography, and nationality. The majority of today's environmental issues are mostly the result of negative human behavior and attitudes toward the sociocultural and natural environment. Environmental ethics, therefore, seeks to explain how one should behave or what standards and moral duties one should have when dealing with the environment. The standards for making decisions, choices, and acts are reflected in these moral commitments.

Only education can help one develop these values. As a result, educational institutions must take the initiative in creating the proper kind of future society, one in which every individual is capable of taking action that is both environments- and socially responsible. These call for values and ethics to be incorporated into the entire framework of environmental education. In order to mold the pupils, it is the role of educational institutions and teacher educators skilled in environmental ethics. Therefore, it is essential to focus on environmental ethics and include it in course curricula so that every student, regardless of their area of specialization, has the chance to comprehend and internalize the moral principles that are ethical components of environmental challenges.

Conclusion

Every subject that has an impact on an organism is covered in environmental education. In essence, it is a multidisciplinary approach that fosters an understanding of the integrity of our natural environment and human impacts on it. It is an applied science since it looks for real-world solutions to make human civilization sustainable given the limited resources of the planet. To do this, a general outline syllabus that covers fundamental moral philosophy concepts must be proposed for both undergraduate students at the college level and environmental education in schools. Learning about the environment gives students the ability to take part in a sustainable future. Environmental education thus lays the groundwork for a lifelong learning process.

References

• Agarwal, S.K. (1997). Environmental Issues themes New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.
• Basu, S.K. and Bhikkhu, S. (2023). Environmental Philosophy. Edited peer-reviewed international volume, Ilseguri, Howrah, West Bengal, India.
• C.E.E (1994) Essential Learning in Environmental Education. Ahmadabad. C.E.E. Publication.
• N.C.E.R.T (1981) Environmental Education at the school level. A lead paper. New Delhi NCERT publication.
• https://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net(Accessed January 10/2023)
  
• www.tnteu.ac.in (Accessed January 10/2022)
  

.    .    .