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India's Textbooks Fail Future: Environmental Crises Ignored
10 Dec
Summary
- NCERT textbooks omit crucial environmental chapters despite severe crises.
- Twelve of the world's 20 dirtiest cities are in India.
- Environmental education is becoming a privilege, not a state promise.
Severe environmental crises, including water scarcity and extreme air pollution, are not adequately addressed in India's NCERT textbooks, leaving the next generation ill-equipped with essential knowledge. Despite India hosting twelve of the world's twenty most polluted cities, crucial chapters on environmental topics have been systematically removed from school curricula since 2020, impacting students from Class VII to XII.
This educational deficit means students are not learning about critical issues like the greenhouse effect, pollution, or biodiversity loss. While some younger students receive activity-based environmental studies, these lack the depth needed to understand complex challenges. This absence of structured learning means environmental expertise is increasingly becoming a privilege reserved for students in fee-paying schools, rather than a right for all.
