Cite the examples of environmental awareness in our country.
Answers
The worldwide growth in environmental awareness over the past thirty years has been accompanied by a parallel recognition of the need for environmental education (EE). Government policies concerning the environment and sustainable development are likely to both guide and depend for success upon the knowledge and support of the citizenry. This is true in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where interest in environmental education has become stronger over the past decade.
Myanmar faces environmental problems of critical importance to its development, and the need for more EE programs in its schools is urgent. Since an essential task in developing new educational programs is to assess “how” and “to what extent” existing efforts address fundamental issues, this article looks at the current state of environmental education in Myanmar. Its focus is on the nation’s primary schools because, while EE is taught as a co-curricular activity in middle and high schools, it is at the primary level that the most active intiatives in environmental education have taken place.
To set the framework for discussing environmental education in Myanmar, this article begins with a brief look at the environmental issues facing Myanmar and existing efforts at environmental conservation.