The US State of Connecticut has mandated climate change studies from grades 5 to 12 and it will effectively become protected from budget cuts as part of the new state law in Connecticut.
Hailed as a ‘landmark’ by climate change activists, the development comes after a new law passed earlier this year addressed the short duration and in some cases, the complete absence of climate change studies in classrooms.
“The conservative turn in our country often starts at a very hyper-local level of local town boards of education. There is this push towards anti-intellectualism, anti-science, anti-reason, and I didn’t want local boards of education to have the power to overturn the curriculum and say, ‘climate change is too political,’” Connecticut state representative Christine Palm was quoted as saying.
Read also: Climate change: Sea level rises in South Korea
In the United States, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is the agency that sets up science standards that lay out the charter for science studies in all states.
According to the NGSS website, school students who demonstrate an understanding of the human impact on the environment can “apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment”, among other abilities.
A study from a British university reveals that more than half of young people experience climate anxiety on a daily basis. But only a handful of countries currently mandate climate change studies in their education systems, despite many being signatories to this objective in the Paris Agreement, a WEF report suggests. They include Cambodia, the United Kingdom and Argentina.
Adapted from Wion.
