The Practice of Environmental Education and its Implications for Environmental Sustainability Awareness: The Study of Arada Sub City High Schools Students
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Date
2021-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Fundamentally, the main objective of this thesis was to study the practices of environmental
education and its implications on environmental sustainability awareness in Arada Sub City
High Schools. The research was designed to identify challenges that secondary schools
confronted while environmental education was executed. Moreover, to explore the level of
environmental sustainability awareness among secondary schools under the study,the survey
was conducted on 387 respondents of government and private high schools in Arada Sub
City. In Arada sub city, the practices of environmental education were poor. Basically the
study implies that in the study area environmental protection clubs were not effective in
practicing environmental education. Accordingly students’ involvement in the environmental
related activities was very limited. In the practice of environmental education six major
problems were identified. The seriousness of the challenges were as follows. Hence relative
majority of students 42.7% replied absence of resource in secondary schools was found to be
very serious problem. On the other hand 37.5% of the respondents answered low school
administrative support was ranked as 2nd level problem to practice environmental education.
Moreover, the curriculum related issues was the 3rd level problem with M=3.48 average
rating to the problem. Furthermore teachers’ commitment and methodological issues were
ranked as fourth major problem and low student interest rated as sixth level problem. The
overall qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results of the study revealed that students
have moderate level of environmental sustainability awareness. The ANOVA test result was
indicated lack of significant difference among students with different age levels and class
level. It is also important to highlight that sex, grade level and age had no significant relation
with environmental awareness. Special attention has to be given for environmental education
in the new education system road map. Environmental conservation should be incorporated
as 13th code of conduct. Environmental education must be given as autonomous subject in
high schools. Ministry of education should allocate environmental education grant for high
schools to overcome shortage of resources and greening school compounds.
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Keywords
Environmental education, environmental awareness