Biodiversity of India is too diverse to teach in single syllabus

The rich biodiversity of India, along with twelve other countries account for more than 60 per cent of the world’s biodiversity. The species richness and endemism here is due to the diverse eco-geographic zones within. Being one of the world's oldest agricultural societies India is characterized by a complex mosaic of distinct agro-ecosystems, differentiated by their climate, soil, geology, vegetation, crops and other features like human culture. The stability and sustainability of biodiversity of such an agrarian society is therefore of paramount importance for the well being of the country.

Rightly, Biodiversity is an indispensable part of the curriculum of school education in the country. However, understanding of biodiversity varies with the context provided to the young learner through their surrounding environment. In most cases, it remains limited to mere theoretical chapters in their science and social science textbooks. It is so, because our education system at large looks at the science of biodiversity for its significance in the country’s socio-economic life rather than its support systems. The real-life connections, in the teaching of biodiversity and its conservation, are rather weak in the formal education system. The highly centralized syllabus of course would not relate to the local biodiversity. In such a context even the best of teachers and teaching methods would fail to create a practical citizen.

The fast emerging disconnects in the formal education system, between theory and practice of needs to be addressed urgently. We need to review the way environment and biodiversity and related concepts are taught and learned. A child needs to see a direct example of what it reads about to get connected with.

Even the teachers have expressed their problem in teaching a topic that they have not truly informed about. It used to be a case when a lesson on coral reefs was taught in the secondary schools through out our state. A vast majority of the teachers had not seen a picture of the habitat they were teaching! So the syllabus must be made up of relevant topics with local examples. A thorough decentralization process must happen in biodiversity education at least. Unless these links are strengthened and connections made, we will keep seeing another generation of young urban citizens who are unmindful to the critical importance of biodiversity our life, economy and polity.

At Hasiru Hejje we are exploring several creative educational approaches and efforts that we believe are required to make biodiversity education meaningful for an agrarian economy like India.