Assessment of Environmental Awareness of the Students with Primary Education

Transcription

1 Assessment of Environmental Awareness of the Students with Primary Education Lammia Sharmin December Research and Evaluation Division, Center 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212 Bangladesh

2 Assessment of Environmental Awareness of the Students with Primary Education Lammia Sharmin Abstract The study aimed to assess the al awareness of the students who have completed primary education both from the non-formal schools of and formal government schools. Data were collected from Tangail district during July-August 2002 through structured questionnaire. Four hundred twenty interviews were conducted with both boys and girls. Students showed better awareness for safe water and safe sanitation practice compared to other al issues. The students of nonformal primary schools performed as well as those who have completed education from government primary schools although there is a difference between these two groups with regard to their socioeconomic background, curriculum, and teaching method. There are also no major differences in the performance of boys and girls in different al issues. It indicates that more current al problems like arsenic pollution of water, depletion of biodiversity in Bangladesh, and protective measures to resolve these problems should be included in the primary level curriculum. 1

3 Table of Contents Introduction 3 Objective.. 3 Methodology 3 Findings General concept on 4 Awareness on al pollution.. 6 Awareness on safe water 8 Awareness on arsenic. 10 on sanitation practice Awareness on waste management.. 13 Awareness on biodiversity.. 15 The influence of other source to create awareness other than school book 17 Conclusion and recommendation 18 References 19 Annexes. 20 2

4 Introduction Environmental education and training can be important in effecting social change towards a sustainable society. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, agreed to a global and development agenda for the 21 st century, called Agenda 21. In Agenda 21 it was stated Education, including formal education, public awareness and training should be recognized as a process by which human being and societies can reach their fullest potential. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and improving the capacity of people to address and development issues (1). Most Asian countries have made efforts to introduce al education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The approaches could be making al studies a separate course, or incorporating al education into existing curricula at primary and secondary levels, or using a combination of both approaches. Primary level education is the main focus of attention because of the inherent flexibility in curricula to infuse into existing subjects and the higher level of enrollments in primary schools compared to secondary schools. NGOs and universities in some countries play a big role in teacher training, and providing materials for formal education (1). Environment related materials are also included in the non-formal primary education programme of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the content of al education in the social science courses (for nonformal primary education) may be fairly adequate (1). There are fifty-three basic competencies that any children should achieve after the completion of the primary education which are selected by the government of Bangladesh. It is clearly stated in the basic competencies that positive attitude for will be developed after the completion of the primary education (2). Objectives The study aimed to assess the al awareness of the students completed the primary level both at non-formal schools of and government schools. The study specifically aims to: know the level of awareness on general al concept, know the level of awareness on al pollution, know their knowledge of safe water use, specially about arsenic, understand their sanitation practice, know the level of awareness on waste management, know the level of awareness on the biodiversity, and compare the knowledge and awareness of non-formal school graduates with those completed primary level from government schools. Methodology Sampling Information was collected from the students who completed primary education both from nonformal primary schools and government primary schools using structured questionnaire. Data were collected from six upazilas and sixteen unions of Tangail district. 3

5 Four hundred and twenty (420) interviews were conducted for this study. Among these 420 interviews, 209 interviews were with the non-formal school graduates. These graduates are selected from 15 randomly selected non-formal schools. The interviews with the students of government primary schools were 211 and these students were also selected randomly from 15 (randomly selected) schools. Among them 208 were girls. The distribution of sample is presented in the table 1. Table 1. Distribution of sample according to school type and sex School type Boys Girls Total Total A questionnaire was prepared with thirty-six questions covering different areas of like general perception of, pollution, safe water, arsenic, sanitation practice, waste management and biodiversity. Answers of all the thirty-six questions are categorized into different sections according to different al issues. The results of each question showed separately. The overall performance of the students in each section including average of correct answer achieved are also presented. Limitation of the study The study area was restricted to only one district. As such, the findings may not represent the actual al awareness level of the primary completed students of Bangladesh, and hence should not be generalized. Findings General perception on To assess the awareness on general perception of, six issues were considered. These are: Understand the term Have knowledge on different components of Said yes for clean Know the reasons of keeping clean Agreed with negative effects of over population on Know why over population put pressure on 4

6 Fifty-five percent of the students understood the term and have knowledge about the different components of. Those include both biotic and abiotic factor as al component was considered correct. The non-formal school students performed better in understanding the term and its different components (Fig. 1). Girls of the non-formal schools were ahead of boys in understanding the term. But, the boys and girls of the government schools did equally well (Annex 2). Ninety-four percent of all the students said yes for clean. But, only sixty-two percent knew the benefit of clean. As a benefit of clean most students mentioned for healthy living which was considered as correct. No major difference was found between the students of different school type and sex (Fig. 1). Figure 1. Comparision of correct answers for general perception of according to school type and sex government Boys Girls understand term '' know diff. env. components said 'yes' for clean know the benefit of clean env. agreed with '--' effects of over population know why over popu.create pressure on env. Seventy-eight percent of all the students agreed with negative effect of over population on. There were no differences in performance of the students of different school type and gender. But boys of schools did significantly better than girls (Annex 2). Only sixty-nine percent knew, why over population put pressure on. The respondents mostly stated about increase of al pollution/ decrease of natural resources/ increase of diseases. No major differences were found between students of different school and sex (Fig.1). 5

7 Table 2. Mean number of correct answer on general perception of according to school type and sex item School type Sex Boys Girls mean Standard deviation The mean of correct answer of general perception on for school students was 4.1 and 4 for government school students. The mean of correct answer for both the boys and girls was 4. There was no significant difference in mean number between different school type students and gender (Table 2). Awareness on al pollution To assess the awareness on pollution five issues were considered. These are: How to protect soil erosion, The causes of soil pollution, The causes of air pollution, Problems related to air pollution and How to protect air pollution. Sixty-seven percent of all the students responded correctly of how to protect soil erosion. Almost all the students mentioned planting tree as a protection of soil erosion. No significant difference was found between students of different school and sex (Figure 2). Forty-nine percent of the students were aware about the causes of soil pollution. Majority mentioned about throwing garbage or polythene as a cause of soil pollution. Very few mentioned other causes like excess use of fertilizer/pesticide to the agricultural field'. No difference was found between students going to government and schools, but boys did better than girls (Figure 2). The boys of government school also performed better than their counterparts but the results of the boys and girls of school were similar (Annex 5). 6

8 Figure 2. Comparision of correct answer of pollution of according to school type and sex Boys Girls 0 how to protect soil erosion causes of soil pollution causes of air pollution problems for air pollution how to protect air pollution knowledge Eighty-five percent of the respondents agreed with the problems related to pollution. No major differences were found between different school type (Table 2). But, differences were found in the performance of the boys and girls. The boys of school did significantly better than the girls. The performances of boys and girls of government schools were similar (Annex 5). Fifty-five percent of the respondents were aware about the reasons of air pollution. Black smokes from the transport/dust/fumes from the mills and factories were cited as the reasons of air pollution. The government students performed better than students. But no significant differences were found between boys and girls (Figure 2 ). Seventy-three percent of the students were aware of the problems related to air pollution. Causing of different diseases/could cause breathing problem was identified as impact of air pollution. No major differences were found between different types of school and sex (Figure 2). But the boys of school did significantly better than the girls. The performances of boys and girls of the government schools were similar (Annex 5). 7

9 Table 3. Mean number of correct answer on al pollution according to school type and sex item School type Sex Boys Girls mean Standard deviation The overall perception about pollution of the students at different schools are quite convincing specially about the air pollution. But no major differences were found between different types of school and sex (Figure 2). Awareness on safe water To assess the awareness on safe water five issues were considered. These are: What is safe water, Causes of water pollution, Problems associated with water pollution How to purify the drinking water, and How to protect the water pollution. clean/germ free/arsenic free water was considered as correct answer for the meaning of safe water. Eighty-two percent of the students understood the meaning of safe water. No significant differences were found between the children of different schools, but boys did better than girls (Figure 3). No significant differences were observed between boys and girls of school but the boys of government schools did better than the girls of the same group. Majority of the students mentioned throwing of garbage or polythene to the water source or washing cloths to the pond/river/canal as a major reason for water pollution. Which was certainly considered as correct answer. Very few students mentioned about mixing of chemicals from mills and factories and fertilizers and pesticides from the agricultural field as a cause of water pollution. Eighty-nine percent of the students answered correctly. No major differences were found between students of different schools and sex (figure 3). 8

10 Cause disease was the only correct answer received from the students for the problems of water pollution. Ninety percent of all the students answered the question correctly. Students of the government schools did better than those of the schools. The boys and girls showed little difference (Figure 3). Figure 3: Comparision of correct answers on awareness of safe water according to school type and sex Boys Girls what is safe water reasons of water pollution problems due to water pollution how to purify drinking water how to protect water pollution knowledge Eighty percent of all the students answered the question how to purify the drinking water correctly. The answers considered as correct were by boiling/by water purifying tablet/and thro ugh filter. The students of the government school did better than the school students. But the boys did better than girls (Figure 3). To protect the water pollution majority answered as not dumping garbage or polythene to the water sources. No other issues received for this answer. Students of both government and schools did equally good. Also, no differences were found between boys and girls (Figure 3). Seventy-five percent of all the students answered this question correctly. Table 4. Mean number of correct answer according to school type and sex Item School type Sex Boys Girls mean Standard deviation

11 Significant differences were found in between and government school students in mean of correct answer of safe water awareness. But, no mean difference were found among the boys and girls (Table 4). Awareness on arsenic To assess the al awareness on arsenic six issues were considered. These are: understand the term arsenic, awareness about arsenic contaminated water sources, problems that could arise by drinking arsenic contaminated water, understand what green-coloured tubewell means, understand what red-coloured tubewell means and awareness about the source of arsenic-free water The answer arsenic is one kind of poison was considered as correct in response to understand the term arsenic. Very few students knew that the arsenic is a poison. Most of them thought that it was one kind of germ or disease (Figure 4). Only 11% of all the students answered correctly. Those answered red-coloured tubewell water as arsenic contaminated water source was taken as correct answer. Sixty-four percent of all the students knew about the arsenic contaminated water sources. The students of government schools did better than schools but no significant differences were found between the boys and girls (figure 4). Causes disease was considered as correct answer of the problems of drinking arsenic contaminated water. Sixty-four percent of all the students knew the correct answer of this question. Both the students of government and schools did equally good. No significant differences were found between boys and girls (Figure 4). Forty-nine percent students knew the meaning of green-coloured and 50% of the students knew about red-coloured tubewell. Those answered no arsenic in tubewell water for green-coloured tubewell and tubewell water is arsenic contaminated for red-coloured tubewell considered as correct answers. There were no significant differences between the students of different schools and between the boys and girls. (figure 4). 10

12 Figure 4: Comparision of correct answer on arsenic awareness according to school type and sex Boys Girls 10 0 understand the term arsenic arsenic effected water source problems for arsenic effected water understand about gren coloured tubewell understand about red coloured tubewell the sourse of arsenic free water knowledge rain water, pond/river and dug well - any one of these responses was considered as correct answer for their knowledge about arsenic-free water sources. Forty-nine percent of all the students answered correctly. No significant differences were found between the different school types and sex (figure 4). Table 5. Mean number of correct answer on arsenic according to school type and sex Item School type Sex Boys Girls Mean Standard deviation

13 No significant difference was found in mean of correct answer among the different groups of students for awareness on arsenic (Table 5). knowledge on sanitation practice To assess students awareness on safe sanitation practice three issues were considered. These are: proper place of a defecation, washing hands after defecation, and what should be used to wash hand after defecation. Seventy-nine percent of all the students knew the proper place of defecation. As a place of defecation pacca latrine was considered as correct. The students of government schools did better than those of schools. Both boys and girls did equally well (Figure 5). The level of awareness of the need of washing hands and what to use to wash hands after defecation were found satisfactory. Almost all the students knew that the hands should be washed after defecation. No differences were found in this aspect. (Figure 5). Figure 5: Comparision of correct answer on safe sanitation practice according to school type and gender Boys Girls 0 defecate in proper place wash hands after defecation use soap/ash to wash hands after defecation Ninety-four percent of all the students knew about what to use for washing hands after defecation. Soap/ash- both were considered as the proper material for washing hands after defecation. school students did well than the students of government schools (Figure 5). But, the girls of the government schools did significantly better than the boys of same group (Annex 14). 12

14 Table 6.Mean number of correct answer on sanitation practice according to school type Item School type Sex Boys Girls Mean Standard deviation No significant difference was found in mean of correct answer among different school attending students for safe sanitation practice (Table 6). Awareness on waste management To assess respondents on waste management six issues were considered. These are: proper place of dumping garbage, agreed with the usefulness of kitchen garbage, know the use of kitchen garbage, agreed with the bad effects of polythene on, know about negative effects of polythene on, and know about alternatives of polythene bag. Dumping garbage in a particular place or dustbin was considered as correct answer. Ninety-two percent of all the students answered correctly. No differences were found between different the students of different schools. Also boys and girls did equally well (Figure 6). Fifty-three percent students agreed with the usefulness of the kitchen garbage. But only 38 % students know about the actual use of kitchen garbage. preparing compost was considered as the correct answer for the usefulness of the kitchen garbage. school students were ahead of government school students. But, the results of boys and girls showed no difference (Figure 6). 13

15 Figure 6:Comparision of correct answer on waste management According to school type and gender Boys Girls place of dumping garbage agreed with the usefullness of kitchen garbage know the use of kitchen garbage agreed with the bad effects of polythene on env. know about negative effects of polythene know about alternatives of polythene Ninety percent of all the students agreed with the bad effects of polythene. school students performed better than the school students. But, the boys and the girls performed equally well. (Figure 6). Sixty-two percent of all the students were aware about the different negative effect of polythene. The correct answer that were received from the respondents was, Polythene decrease the soil fertility and prevent the drainage of water. The performance of different school students was similar for this item. But, the boys were ahead of girls (Figure 6). The boys of government schools did better than girls (Annex 17). Ninety-eight percent of students could tell about the different alternatives of polythene. Jute/cloth/paper bag was considered as correct answer for the alternatives of polythene bag. school students performed better than the school student, but no difference was found between boys and girls (Figure 6). 14

16 Table 7: Mean number of correct answers on waste management according to school type and sex Item School type Sex Boys Girls Mean Standard deviation No significant difference was found in mean of correct answer among the students of different school and sex for awareness of waste management (Table 7). Awareness on bio-diversity To assess the respondents awareness on biodiversity four issues were considered. These are: importance of tree for, required amount of forest for a country, importance of insect, and importance of bird. Almost all the students (99 %) knew about the importance of tree. Different types of answers were received from the student, like prevent soil erosion, give shades, prevent storms, balance the oxygen in air. All the answers were considered as correct answer. The students of government school and school as well as boys and girls did equally well (Figure 7). Very few respondents answered correctly about the required amount of forest for a country. Only 21 % of all the students correctly answered this question. The performance of government school students was found better than school students. No differences were found between boys and girls (Figure 7) 15

17 Figure 7: Comparision of correct answer on awareness about biodiversity according to school type and gender Boys Girls 20 0 importance of tree importance of forest for a country importance of insect importance of bird Beneficial effect or both beneficial and harmfull effects were considered as correct answer regarding the knowledge about the usefulness of insects. Only 36 % of all the students answered correctly. Most of the students thought that the insect were harmful to us. But, 95% of all the students considered bird as beneficial. No significant differences were found between the students of different schools and sex. Regarding the knowledge on beneficial or harmful effects of insects and birds (Fig. 7). 16

18 Table 8: Mean number of correct answer on biodiversity according to school type and sex item School type Sex Boys Girls mean Standard deviation No significant difference was found in mean of correct answers among the students of different schools and sex (Table 8). The influence of other sources to create awareness other than school book Television is the another major source for creating al awareness other than the school book. The government school students were more exposed to television than the school students. The boys mentioned more about television as a source of raising awareness than girls. Elderly people and radio were also treated as other sources (Table 9). Table 9. The other source of knowledge School type Type of media Male Female Total T.V Radio From elders Do not know T.V Radio From elders Do not know From library book/ magazines

19 Conclusion and Recommendations The students with primary education have better awareness about safe water, safe sanitation practice and importance of trees. The students are poorly aware about al pollution ( like air, water and soil pollution) and the problem of arsenic. The teaching methods and curriculum of the government and non-formal primary schools are different. The students of the government schools came from the households with comparatively better socioeconomic background. It is believed that the achievement of the students studying at government schools should be better than the other schools. But, the study results show that in the field of the performance of the students of both the government as well as the non-formal primary school of is almost similar. It is a positive achievement of the schools. The boys and girls have no significant difference in overall performance on al awareness. Recommendations: Since many students still believe that it is safe to drink tubewell water, it would be beneficial to introduce/strengthen arsenic issue in the curriculum of primary education. Understanding biodiversity is a step to appreciate and conserve nature. Therefore, importance should be given to biodiversity in the curriculum of primary education. By increasing awareness on biodiversity, threatened and endangered species could potentially be preserved. The study findings also revealed that in addition to schoolbooks, media also provided a source of awareness raising. To use the positive impact of mass media, it could be used more actively for raising awareness. The elderly people of the community could also play important role in awareness raising since a good number of respondents treat them as a source of knowledge beyond their school books. 18

20 References 1. Blanchard A. Kathleen. Seabird conservation on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada: the effects of education on attitudes and behaviour towards a marine resource. Planning education to care for the earth.iucn- Commission on education and communication. published by IUCN, Glad, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK Chowdhury AMR, Choudhury RK, Nath SR, Ahmed M., Alam M. ( editors). A question of quality- state of primary education in Bangladesh Dhaka: campaign of popular education & university Press Limited. 3. Saeed S., Goldstein W., Shrestha ram ( editors). Planning Environmental Communication and Education: lessons from Asia. IUCN- Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), IUCN- The world conservation union Pande D. badri. Nepal: Environmental education and awareness as elements of the national conservation strategy. Planning education to care for the earth.iucn- Commission on education and communication. published by IUCN, Glad, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK Chowdhury Islam Q. (editor), Bangladesh state of Environment report, Forum of Environmental journatist of Bangladesh. Dhaka. March, NFPE report, Phage 2 ( April may 1999).. 75 Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 7. Blasum H., Report on al awareness of middle school and University students St marten Green voice foundation.the need for al education. Philipsburg. www. Sxmgreenvoice.org/ 19

21 Annex 1.Comparisons of correct answer for general perception of according to school type and sex Items School type sex significance Boys Girls significance understand the term have knowledge on different components of said yes for clean P< ns P< ns ns ns know the reasons of ns ns keeping clean Agreed with negative ns ns effects of over population on and know why over ns ns population effects Annex 2. Comparison of correct answer for general perception of by sex difference of and government school Boys Girls Significance Boys Girls Significance understand the term have knowledge on different components of said yes for clean know the reasons of keeping clean Agreed with negative effects of over population on P< ns ns ns ns ns ns ns P< ns 20

22 Annex 3: Mean number of correct answer on general perception on by sex difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation Annex 4.Comparision of correct answer on al pollution according to school type and sex Items School type significance sex Boys Girls significance how to protect soil erosion ns ns the causes of soil ns P<.05 pollution the causes of air P< ns pollution problems due to ns ns pollution of air how to protect air ns ns pollution 21

23 Annex 5. Comparisons of correct answer on al pollution by sex of and government school Boys Girls Significance Boys Girls Significance understand the term have knowledge on different cmponents of said yes for clean ns ns ns P< ns ns know the reasons of P< ns keeping clean Agreed with P< ns negative effects of over population on and Annex 6. Mean number of correct answer on al pollution by sex of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation

24 Annex 7: Percentage of correct answer on safe water according to school type and sex Items what is safe water causes of water pollution problems associated with polluted water how to purify the drinking water how to protect the water pollution School type sex Significance Boys Girls significance ns P< ns ns P< ns P< ns Ns ns Annex 8: Percentage of correct answer on safe water by gender difference of and government school Significance Significance Boys Girls Boys Girls what is safe water ns P<.01 causes of water pollution problems associated with polluted water how to purify the drinking water how to protect the water pollution ns ns ns ns ns ns Ns ns 23

25 Annex 9: Mean number of correct answer on safe water by gender difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation Annex 10: Percentage of correct answer on arsenic by school type and sex Items understanding of the term arsenic awareness about arsenic effected water source understand what green coloured tubewell means problems that could arise by drinking arsenic effected water School type sex significance significance Boys Girls ns ns P< ns ns ns ns ns understand what ns ns red coloured tubewell means awareness about ns ns the source of arsenic free water 24

26 Annex 11:Percentage of correct answer on arsenic by gender difference of and government school Boys Girls Significance Boys Girls Significance understanding of the ns ns term arsenic awareness about arsenic ns ns effected water source understand what green ns ns coloured tubewell means problems that could ns ns arise by drinking arsenic effected water understand what red ns ns coloured tubewell means awareness about the ns ns source of arsenic free water Annex 12:Mean number of correct answer on arsenic By gender difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation

27 Annex 13:Percentage of correct answer on sanitation practice by school type and gender Items proper place of defecation Washing hands after defecation What should be use to wash hand after defecation School type sex significance significance Governm Boys Girls ent P< ns ns ns P< ns Annex 14:Percentage of correct answer on safe sanitation practice by gender difference of and government school Significance Significance proper place of defecation Washing hands after defecation What should be use to wash hand after defecation Boys Girls Boys Girls ns ns ns ns ns P<.01 26

28 Annex 15: Mean of correct answer on safe sanitation practice by gender difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. Deviation Annex 16: Percentage of correct answer on waste management by school type and gender Items proper place of dumping garbage agreed that the kitchen garbage is useful know the purpose of kitchen garbage agreed that the polythene has bad effects on the different negative effects of polythene on alternatives of polythene bag School type sex significance significance Boys Girls ns ns ns ns P< ns P< ns ns P< P< ns 27

29 Annex 17: Percentage of correct answer on waste management by gender difference of and government school Significance Significance proper place of dumping garbage agreed that the kitchen garbage is useful know the purpose of kitchen garbage agreed that the polythene has bad effects on the different negative effects of polythene on alternatives of polythene bag Boys Girls Boys Girls ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns ns P< ns ns Annex 18: Mean of correct answer on waste management by gender difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation

30 Annex 19:Percentage of correct answer on biodiversity by school type and gender Items importance of tree for required amount of forest for a country importance of insect and importance of bird School type sex significance Boys Girls significance ns ns P< ns ns ns ns ns Annex 20: Percentage of correct answer on bio-diversity by gender difference of and government school Significance Significance Boys Girls Boys Girls importance of tree ns ns for required amount of ns ns forest for a country importance of insect ns ns importance of bird ns ns Annex 21: Mean of correct answer on biodiversity by gender difference of and government school Boys girls Boys girls Mean Std. deviation

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