Open letter to Sakina Itoo, Education Minister: Time to make environmental education practical

By Bhushan Parimoo
President, Environment Awareness Forum

Jammu & Kashmir’s schools have environmental science and related subjects in their curriculum, but the real impact of environmental education on the ground remains limited. Too often, environmental learning remains confined to textbooks, examinations and classroom lectures, with little connection to the ecological challenges children see around them every day.

This gap between theory and practice needs urgent attention.

If we genuinely want to protect our forests, water bodies, biodiversity and fragile ecosystems, environmental education cannot remain an academic exercise. We must catch our children young, expose them to nature and involve them directly in protecting their surroundings.

I therefore appeal to the Hon’ble Education Minister, Saikia Itoo, to consider a practical and action-oriented transformation of environmental education across Jammu & Kashmir.

From classroom lessons to environmental action

An environment educator should do much more than deliver lectures. Students should be encouraged to understand ecology, climate change, biodiversity and sustainability through practical experience.

Environmental education should include interactive lessons, fieldwork, laboratory experiments, research and hands-on conservation activities. Teachers should also be encouraged to lead green initiatives within schools, including recycling, composting, tree plantation and biodiversity conservation.

The objective should be to transform students from passive recipients of information into active participants in environmental protection.

Every school should have a demonstration nursery

Every school, government as well as private, should establish and maintain a small demonstration nursery.

Such nurseries can become living laboratories where students learn seed germination, soil health, propagation, planting and plant care. Children who grow a plant themselves are more likely to understand its value and develop a lasting connection with nature.

The nursery could also focus on locally appropriate native plants, creating awareness about Jammu & Kashmir’s indigenous biodiversity.

Take environmental education outside the classroom

Nature itself should become an important classroom.

Schools should organise regular biodiversity field training in nearby forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, parks and other natural habitats, wherever safe and appropriate.

Students can be taught to identify local trees, plants, birds, insects and other forms of wildlife, while learning about their ecological roles and the threats they face.

Such exposure can help children develop respect for local biodiversity rather than viewing nature simply as something found in textbooks.

Make composting a practical lesson

Every educational institution should have a functional composting or composite pit.

Organic waste generated within the school can be segregated and converted into compost, allowing students to observe the natural process of decomposition.

The lesson should not end at the school gate. Students should be encouraged to replicate simple composting and waste-management practices in their homes and neighbourhoods.

Make waste segregation part of daily school life

Waste segregation should become a routine practice in every school.

Students should learn to distinguish between biodegradable, recyclable and other forms of waste and understand what happens to waste after it leaves their homes or schools.

Schools can establish simple systems for reducing waste, reusing materials, recycling and responsible disposal. In this way, environmental education becomes part of everyday behaviour rather than an occasional awareness programme.

Connect schools with communities

Schools should also become centres of environmental awareness within their communities.

Students can participate in supervised cleanliness campaigns, plantation activities, biodiversity awareness programmes and interactions with local communities.

Regular interaction with the public can help children understand that environmental protection is a shared responsibility and not merely the responsibility of government departments.

At the same time, these activities can allow students to communicate what they have learned to their families and communities, creating a multiplier effect.

Environmental education from primary school to university

These reforms should not be restricted to school education alone.

Environmental awareness and sustainability should be strengthened across the entire education system—from primary education to higher education and universities, in both government and private institutions.

The Constitution of India itself recognises the importance of environmental protection. Article 51A(g) places a fundamental duty on citizens to protect and improve the natural environment, including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.

Several countries and regional blocs have also moved towards integrating environmental awareness and sustainability into education from the early years of childhood. Jammu & Kashmir can similarly develop an education model that connects environmental knowledge with practical action.

A generation of ‘environment warriors’

The environmental challenges confronting Jammu & Kashmir—from degradation of water bodies and forests to waste management, biodiversity loss and climate change—require more than government schemes and occasional awareness campaigns.

They require a generation that understands the environment and has the practical capacity to protect it.

Our schools are the natural starting point.

I therefore urge the Education Minister and the School Education Department to review existing teaching methodologies and consider making practical environmental education an integral and measurable component of education in Jammu & Kashmir.

Every school can become a small environmental learning centre. Every student can become an ambassador for responsible environmental behaviour.

If we want to save our environment, we must first make our young people deeply aware of it—and practically capable of protecting it.

The time has come to move from environmental education on paper to environmental action on the ground.