A recent Supreme Court directive requires a new subject called “environmental education” to be taught compulsorily in school at all levels. Moreover the court has decreed that school leaving class X and XII students be examined in the subject. But is it too much of a good thing?

As a teacher I wonder about the wisdom of this directive. Currently a class X student writes 11 exam papers (typically physics, chemistry, biology, math, English literature, English language, Hindi literature, Hindi language, history & civics, geography, economics or art). And the syllabuses are quite vast and varied.

At the next school leaving stage, i.e. in class XII, a student typically studies five subjects (physics, chemistry, math, biology and English). By any yardstick the Plus Two syllabus is also exhaustive and varied. Indeed the breadth and expanse of each subject is more than an average student can handle.

For classes XI and XII, the prescribed hours in school are 1,100 and 1,200 respectively per year. Assuming that the academic session starts in mid June in class XI and the Plus Two syllabus ends in class XII in December next year, the actual working days are about 350 divided into seven periods of 45 minutes each, i.e 5.25 hours per day. Add to this the time- four-five hours- every student spends on homework and self study. All this in the aggregate adds up to 10-12 hours everyday- more than enough by any yardstick.

Now additional time needs to be made for environmental education. This subject has been included in the compulsory group making it mandatory for all students to write an exam and pass it. Which means increasing the hours of study. The school has to make a provision of at least two periods per week to teach the subject as per the prescribed syllabus. How will schools make additional time to teach this subject, especially since exam boards have not reduced the syllabus in other subjects to accommodate environmental education?

Moreover a study of the syllabus prescribed for environmental studies reveals that the subject is already covered exhaustively in the science and social studies syllabus of classes V-XII. So what’s the need for it to be introduced as a separate subject?

Already pressures of class X and XII board exams have the following implications:

• Students are unable to take advantage of the “windows” opening at these stages. They have almost no time for sports, extra-curricular activities, projects, seminars and presentations
• They receive little encouragement to travel, participate in activities like camping, trekking etc which develop inter personal relationships and life skills
• Physical fitness and well-being takes a back seat as there is insufficient time for sports, dance, music or drama
• Students become bookworms, studying and learning by rote to pass examinations with no real understanding of their subjects
• A down-to-earth, hands-on general knowledge subject which generates awareness of the virtues of clean, preserved environments does not need an exam
• Anxiety created by exam pressure leaves little time for co-curricular and extra-curricular activities which are essential components of environmental study
• The potential of a child could be killed by exam pressure, forcing her to restrict her thinking to the learning-recapitulation process

The IB and Cambridge International Examination curriculums are becoming popular in India because they don’t pressurise or corner students, but base their evaluation on consistent good work by way of projects, papers and reports. If the CISCE, CBSE and state boards don’t revamp their systems, foreign boards with their liberal pedagogies and curriculums could well replace them.

Against this backdrop here are a few suggestions worthy of consideration by education officials in Delhi and the state capitals:

• Remove environmental education from the examination regime
• However examination boards must ensure that a certain degree of environmental awareness is created and maintained throughout the school years
• Define and reduce quantum of material to be studied in each subject for Plus Two by at least 20-30 percent
• Increase the breadth of study. Introduce elements of research and project work to make learning comprehensive
• Students should be allowed to freely choose an elective subject of their choice on which they may be examined
• Reduction of the existing syllabus will leave students time to pursue a hobby or play games and sports and develop their creative talents to draw, paint, develop performing arts skills
• Syllabus reduction will free up student time to prepare for entrance exams of professional colleges 

(Rajal Chakrabarty is principal (senior section) Eklavya School, Ahmedabad)

Also read: Bringing nature into the classroom