Environmental Awareness Study Compares Students by Gender, Location and Subject

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Environmental Awareness among Senior Secondary School Students: A

Comparative Study Environmental Awareness among Senior Secondary School
Students: A Comparative Study
Article · May 2019
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Environmental Awareness among Senior
Secondary School Students: A Comparative
Study
Arup Bhowmik
Dr. Anju Verma
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 8, Issue-2, May-2019. Page 54
Environmental Awareness among Senior Secondary School Students: A
Comparative Study
Arup Bhowmik4
Dr. Anju Verma 5
Abstract
Studying environmental issues has attained the keen concern of people from all over the world
due to the rapid increase in environmental degradation as the result of different environmental
threats or problems. Most of the burning environmental problems are occurring as a result of
human activities. Therefore, educating for creating environmental awareness and understanding
among masses is one of the important ways for the prevention and cure of all types of
environmental problems. With this viewpoint, the investigators conducted a study on
environmental awareness among senior secondary school students of East district of Sikkim. The
objectives of the study were to examine the overall status of environmental awareness and to
compare the level of environmental awareness with regard to gender, locality and study stream
among senior-secondary school students of the east district of Sikkim. Descriptive survey method
was employed in the process of the present study. A standardized tool that is Hasin Taj
environmental awareness scale (2012) was employed for the collection of data. The study
revealed that senior-secondary school students having a high level of environmental awareness.
No significant difference was found between rural and urban, and between students from science
and non- science stream with regards to their awareness about the environment. But, the
calculated t-value revealed the significant difference between girls and boys with regards to
their awareness about the environment.
Keywords: Environmental awareness, environmental education, degradation, pollution
4
Research Scholar, Department of Education, Mizoram University, Tanhril, Aizawl, Mizoram,
India, Email: arupbhowmik999@gmail.com
5
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim, India,
Email: averma@cus.ac.in
Introduction
The environment is the objects, conditions or circumstances through which an organism is

surrounded which consists of all biotic factors comprising human beings, plants, animals,
microbes and all abiotic factors consisting of water, light, soil, air, and so on.1 In other words, the
environment is the aggregate of peripheral situations that stimulus the life of all organisms and
determines the quality and duration of survival. Due to the population explosion, expanding
industrialization and unplanned urbanization, the problems of environmental degradation is
increasing rapidly. Many threats and problems are occurring to the environment such as global
warming, ozone depletion, drought, soil erosion, deforestation, and pollutions which are
degrading our environment. Most of these burning environmental problems are occurring by
human activities mainly. Human beings are regularly exploiting environmental resources without
proper planning and ecological thinking. The recently developed concept of sustainable
development has increased the importance of environmental sustainability, as it is impossible to
achieve sustainable development without environmental sustainability. Therefore, educating
about the environment and creating environmental awareness among masses is very important
and need of the hour. Environmental education is the process of building knowledge, skills,
understanding, values, attitudes, abilities and awareness among people about the environment
and its protection. It is the process of education about the environment, education for the
environment and education through the environment. After the UN conference on Human
Environment organized in Stockholm, Sweden (1972), environmental education was globally
recognized as important. Along with a few other countries in the world, India also made
environmental education is compulsory at all levels of formal education. Awareness is
knowledge or perception of circumstances or facts. It is the ability to directly know and
recognize to sense. Environmental awareness is concern towards the environment, environmental
problems, and understanding about factors related to environmental consequences. Protection of
the environment is the main goal of environmental education and environmental awareness
programme.2
Literature Review
Studies conducted by Mishra (2012)3, Kumar (2013)4, Gopinath (2014)5, Barman (2015)6, Sundar
(2015)7, Ali (2016)8, Panigrahi (2016)9, Bordhan (2017)10, Larijani (2017)11, and Poonam
(2017)12 found the significant influence of gender variation in the level of awareness regarding
the environment. Contradicting to the previous studies Sharma (2006)13, Arumugam and
Mahendraprabu (2014)14, Ghosh (2014)15, and Asthana & Divedi (2015)16 revealed that the status
of environmental awareness is significantly equal between boys and girls students. Studies
conducted by Arumugam and Mahendraprabu (2014)17, Ghosh (2014)18, Gopinath (2014)19, Bala
(2015)20, Barman (2015)21, Nagra (2015)22, Sandhu (2015)23, Singh and Aziz (2015)24, Bagna
(2016)25, and Kaur and Kaur (2017)26 were found significance difference in the level of
environmental awareness with regards to locality. Contradicting to the previous studies, Asthana
and Divedi (2015)27, Mandal and Mandal (2016)28, Gupta (2017)29, and Rather and Thakran
(2017)30 were revealed that there exist no significant differences among rural and urban
secondary school students concerning their environmental awareness. Moreover, studies
conducted by Mishra (2012)31, Arumugam and Mahendraprabu (2014)32, Singh (2016)33, and
Kaur (2017)34 were found a different level of environmental awareness among students from
different streams. On the other hand, Dutta (2017)35 revealed that based on streams of study, there
is no weighty variance in environmental awareness. From the reviewed related studies in the field
of environmental awareness in India and abroad, it is clear that there is no equal or universal
status of environmental awareness among the people.
Need and Significance of the Study
Studying environment and environmental factors is now an important and emerging area that
requires keen attention of researchers from all over the world. In recent times, the explosion of
population, escalating industrialization, unsustainable urbanization, soil destruction, pollutions,
natural hazards like drought, flood, landslide, earthquake, etc. have resulted in ecological
imbalances as the environmental degradation is increasing rapidly. Creating environmental
awareness and understanding among masses is one of the important way for the prevention and
cure of all types of environmental problems. Students are the future citizens of our society and
they play a very vital role in the development of society. To save the environment from the
manmade disaster they need to gain environmental awareness through education and training. In
this context, studying environmental awareness, environmental ethics, and environmental values
is the need of the hour to take appropriate measures for making people environmentally literate.
Environmental education must focus on environmental protection, rather than mere

theoretical knowledge seeking. Without the real-life application of knowledge about the
environment, the environmental education programme is worthless. Youth or students as the
larger portion of the population of our country must have an aware sense of responsibility to
contribute the sustainable and eco-friendly environments. Nurturing students with understanding
and awareness of the details of nature, conservation, factors hindering, and preservation of nature
is the need of the hour. That is why the researcher has taken up the present study to know the
awareness among students for environmental protection. The environment of Sikkim is quite
attractive and positive. It is the most astonishing hill station in North-East India. The state enjoys
a good environment. Therefore, it is significant to study the environmental awareness amongst
the people of Sikkim to see whether the favourable atmosphere of Sikkim having any positive or
negative contribution to their environmental awareness. The study will be a significant message
to the school authority for uplifting environmental awareness among students. The study will be
a significant message to the government, NGOs, and the common public for moving towards
environmental sustainability. Last but not the least, a
aptitude in a particular concept. Likewise, an awareness test can be able to increase the
awareness among individual.
Objectives of the Study
Major objective
1. To find out the level of environmental awareness among senior secondary school students
of East district in Sikkim.
Specific objectives
2. To compare the level of environmental awareness between the rural and urban senior
secondary school students of East district in Sikkim.
3. To compare the level of environmental awareness between the senior secondary school
students of East district in Sikkim based on their gender.
4. To compare the level of environmental awareness between the senior secondary school
students of science and non-science streams of East district in Sikkim.
Hypotheses of the Study
H01. There is no significant difference between rural and urban senior secondary school students
in their level of environmental awareness.
H02. There is no significant difference between boys and girls of senior secondary school
students in their level of environmental awareness.
H03. There is no significant difference between science and non- science streams of senior
secondary school students in their level of environmental awareness.
Methodology of the Study
The descriptive survey method and quantitative approach was considered suitable and employed
the same by the investigator. All rural and urban senior-secondary school students (11th and 12th
standard) of the East district in Sikkim constituted the population. The study was delimited to a
total of eight senior-secondary schools, four schools each from the rural and urban location. Total
of 160 students constituted the sample. Simple random sampling technique was used for the
collection of data from respondents. For the collection of data, the investigator used Hasin Taj
Environmental Awareness Scale (2012)36 which included items from various aspects of
environment namely bio-diversity, relationships (among elements of ecology), overpopulation,
food production, health and hygiene, deterioration of habits, and pollution of air, water, and soil.
The scale consists of 117 items divided into three sections. For the collection of data, the
investigator personally seeks permission and administered the tools in all the eight schools, as per
their convenience of time. Data were analyzed according to the norms given in the manual of the
scale. Statistical techniques namely central tendency, percentage, SD, t-test were used in the
analysis of data37. Names of the selected sample schools for the study are enlisted below:
i. Govt. Sr. Secondary School, Rumtek

ii. Birhaspati Parsai Sr. Secondary School, Ranipool
iii. Govt. Sr. Secondary School, Khamdong
iv. . Secondary School, Saramsha
v. Govt. Sr. Secondary school, Tadong
vi. Bojoghari Govt. Senior Secondary School
vii. Enchey Sr. Secondary School
viii. Holy Cross School, Tadong
Results and Discussion
The collected data were analyzed as per the norms and instructions are given in the manual of
scale and these are presented in the following tables
Table No. I: Classification of scores of environmental awareness and frequency distribution for
the total samples
Range of Frequency Percentage Remarks

Score (%)
79 117 115 71.87 High
40 78 44 27.5 Average
0-39 1 0.62 Low
Table No. II: The obtained statistics pertaining to find out the overall level of environmental
awareness of senior-secondary school student has been given in the table
N Mean Score Mean Percentage S.D.
160 83.02 70.96 13.97
The distributed score of the total sample in table number I, on the level of environmental
awareness, shows that 71.87 % (115) of the students are under the high score ranged from 79 to
117, 27.5% (44) of students are under the average score ranged from 40 to 78, and only 0.62 %
(1) of the student is in the low score ranged between 0 to 39. It is witnessed from table number II
that the mean score of environmental awareness among senior- secondary school students is
83.02 and the mean percentage is 70.96%, which can be considered as a good score in general.
From the description, it is clear that the majority of the students have a high level of
environmental awareness, less than one-third of the students have an average level of
environmental awareness and a negligible number of students have low awareness level. Hence,
it can be stated that the level of environmental awareness among senior- secondary school
students of East district of Sikkim is significantly high.
Table No. III: Comparison of the level of Environmental Awareness between the Rural and
Urban Senior-Secondary school students
Groups n Mean Score Mean S.D. t-value

Percentage
Rural 80 83.78 71.61 15.88
0.24@
Urban 80 82.26 70.30 11.09
*
Significant at 0.05 level, @ Not-significant at 0.05 level
The above table indicating that the mean score obtained by rural and urban senior-secondary
school students in environmental awareness test were 83.78 and 82.26 respectively. The mean
percentages were 71.61% and 70.30% found respectively. Further, when both the mean values
degrees of fre
between rural and urban senior secondary school students in their level of environmental
Table No. IV: Comparison of the Level of Environmental Awareness between girls and boys
Groups n Mean Mean SD t- value

Percentage
Girls 80 87.07 74.41 11.44 3.81*
Boys 80 78.97 67.50 15.13
*
The above table reflected that the mean score obtained by girls and boys in environmental
awareness test were 87.07 and 78.97 respectively. The mean percentages were 74.41% and
67.50% found respectively. Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of
than the critical value of 1.64 at 0.05 level of significance with 158 degrees of freedom. Hence,
the stated null hypothesis "there is no significant difference between girls and boys students of
senior secondary school in their level of environmental awareness" is not accepted. So, t is found
that the awareness level significantly differs between girls and boys students of senior secondary
schools in the East district of Sikkim. Here girls are significantly more aware than boys. The
probable reasons for this finding could be due to more aesthetic sense, seriousness during
responding the questionnaire, and better subject understanding among girls regarding the
environment.
Table No. V: Comparison of the level of environmental awareness between the students of
science and non- science (Arts, Commerce, IT, and Humanities) stream
Groups n Mean Score Mean S.D. t-value

Percentile
Science 80 83.96 71.76 15.20 0.19@
Non-Science 80 82.08 70.15 12.65
*
From the above table, it is witnessed that the mean score of science and non-science stream
(Arts, Commerce, IT, & Humanities) students on environmental awareness test were 83.96 and
82.08 respectively. And the mean percentages were 71.76 % and 70.15 % found respectively.
Further, when both the mean values were subjected to the testing of their significance of
difference, the 't' value was found 0.19. The calculated 't' value is less than the critical value of
1.64 at 0.05 level of significance with 158 degrees of freedom. Hence, the stated null hypothesis
"there is no significant difference between Science and Non-science stream students of senior
secondary school in their level of environmental awareness" is accepted. So, it is clear that there
is similar awareness between Science and Non-Science stream students of senior secondary
school in the East district of Sikkim.
Conclusion
After the analysis of collected data, the results revealed that the overall level of environmental
awareness is significantly high among the students of senior secondary school in the East district
of Sikkim. There is an equal level of environmental awareness among Rural and Urban senior-
secondary school students of East district of Sikkim. Further, there is no significant difference
between Science and Non-science stream students of senior secondary schools in their level of
environmental awareness, they are equal with respect to their level of environmental awareness.
But, the level of environmental awareness significantly differs between girls and boys students of
senior secondary schools. Here girls are significantly more aware than boys regarding the
environment. Findings of the present study are intimate with the findings revealed by Dutta
(2017)38, Asthana and Divedi (2015)39, Mandal and Mandal (2016)40, Gupta (2017)41, Larijani
(2017)42, Poonam (2017)43, and Rather and Thakran (2017)44.
In comparison to other plain states of India, Sikkim is enjoying a good, favourable and
green environment. But in current times, the state is also facing environmental problems due to
rapid industrialization and urbanization. In the future, these problems might bring adverse effects
to the biodiversity of Sikkim. Therefore, the new generation should take up environmental
problems as a challenge for the future. The present study was an investigation of environmental
awareness among the students of senior secondary schools in the East district of Sikkim. From
the study, the investigator has concluded that as a whole the senior-secondary schools' students
have a high level of awareness on environmental factors. Comparing the scores of environmental
awareness between two genders, the study revealed noteworthy high awareness among girls than
boys. But no significant differences have been found between the students of rural and urban
senior- secondary schools, and between the students studying in Science and Non-Science (Arts,
IT, Humanities, Commerce) stream in East district of Sikkim. Therefore, it could be stated that
the environmental contents incorporated into the curriculum had contributed towards the
awareness of the students regarding the environment and that it had a positive impact on the
environmental knowledge of the students. And also the green environment of Sikkim might have
a positive influence on the awareness of the students regarding the environment.
Recommendations
Although the results of the study showed a high level of environmental awareness among senior-
secondary school students of East district of Sikkim. But, the schools should try to uplift this
level ahead to excellence amongst their students. As the finding revealed that in comparison to
girls', boys' are showed inferiority in the status of environmental awareness, therefore steps
should be taken to ensure that every student is provided equal opportunities to gaining the
knowledge, experience, morals, values, positive attitude, obligations, and skills needed for
protection and improvement of the environment. By organizing field trips, co-curricular
activities, nature walk and nature study; the schools can supplement theoretical knowledge of the
environment with practical knowledge to create awareness amongst the students regarding the
environment and its different aspects. Schools can celebrate some important days related to
environment protection namely world environment day (June 5), earth day (April 22), national
science day (February 28), world forestry day (March 21), world water day (March 22), world
health day (April 7), international day of biological diversity (May 22), world population day
(July 11), world ozone day (September 16), national wildlife week (October 2-8), etc. For the
protection of the environment, Eco clubs could be set up in the schools to encourage the students
to participate actively in the campaign related to environment protection and in this respect, a
school can work together with the NGOs and the community. Audio-visual aids and modern
techniques could be adopted to diagnose the symptoms, actual sources of environmental hitches
and to arrive at concrete strategies for environmental protection and preservation. The
investigator also recommends more in-depth studies have to be carried out on environmental
awareness among different stakeholders from various social institutions in different places.
Measuring environmental awareness among the people from the place wherein environmental
degradation is more is very crucial and need of the hour. And after knowing the status of
environmental awareness, appropriate steps should be taken by the public and governing body.
References
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41. ibid. ref. 29
42. ibid. ref. 11
43. ibid. ref. 12
44. ibid. ref. 30
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Environmental Awareness among Senior Secondary School Students: A

Article · May 2019

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Keywords: Environmental awareness, environmental education, degradation, pollution

The environment is the objects, conditions or circumstances through which an organism is

Need and Significance of the Study

Environmental education must focus on environmental protection, rather than mere

Objectives of the Study

Hypotheses of the Study

Methodology of the Study

i. Govt. Sr. Secondary School, Rumtek

Results and Discussion

Range of Frequency Percentage Remarks

79 117 115 71.87 High

0-39 1 0.62 Low

N Mean Score Mean Percentage S.D.

160 83.02 70.96 13.97

Groups n Mean Score Mean S.D. t-value

Rural 80 83.78 71.61 15.88

Groups n Mean Mean SD t- value

Girls 80 87.07 74.41 11.44 3.81*

Groups n Mean Score Mean S.D. t-value

Science 80 83.96 71.76 15.20 0.19@

Non-Science 80 82.08 70.15 12.65

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