Other States - Orissa   

Ad hoc approach to environment studies in State

BHUBANESWAR: Strange is the way of the State government treating environment education. College teachers of almost all disciplines can impart teaching on environment, whereas no teacher having formal qualification in environment subject can be found in major colleges.

At a time when environment is being accorded top priority at all levels, an RTI activist has encountered a funny state-of-the-affair in major government colleges as far as environmental studies is concerned.

Teachers of language studies, education, commerce, philosophy, and physics are found to be teaching environment subject to students in Plus II and graduation level classes.

In the run up to World Environment Day on Sunday, activist Chitta Ranjan Barik had gone on filing applications under RTI with 18 major colleges of the State to know who teach on environment and what background they come from. Replies furnished by colleges came as a full of surprises for the activist.

For instance Anand Manjari Panigrahi, reader in history, and S. Patnaik, reader in philosophy, have been teaching environment in Plus Two Art classes while H. K. Nayak, junior lecturer in Botany and B. N. Mallick, junior lecturer in chemistry, are in charge of environment for Plus Two Science classes in SCS Junior College at Puri.

Similarly, Kulamani Ojha, junior lecturer in Oriya, Narayan Behera, junior lecturer in Logic, and K. C. Swain, junior lecturer in political science, are among those who teach environment in Plus Two classes in SKCG Autonomous College at Paralakhemundi.

These two colleges are not the only ones where environment is being taught by teachers from other disciplines on ad hoc basis, but the situation is somewhat similar in all colleges. In Dhenkanal Autonomous College, lone zoology lecturer, has been instructed to take environment education classes.

Little significance

“Even as leaders deliver lengthy speeches on environment issues and its disastrous impact on life and livelihood in Orissa, environment as a subject carries little significance in higher education,” said Mr. Barik.

Himansu Patra, environmental researcher, said “in M.C. Mehta versus Union of India case, Supreme Court has clearly instructed that environment be taught as a compulsory subject in school and colleges. But the manner in which the subject is being treated in colleges is a matter of great concern. By the days critical environmental issues are coming to the fore. A person having formal education environment should be asked to guide students in the subject.”

But the most hilarious facet of environment education in the colleges in the State is that teachers of journalism, yoga, Sanskrit and computer science have turned master trainers in refresher courses being offered to college teachers for enabling them to impart teaching in environment.

Worse still, those who have availed refreshers course to teach environment colleges were found hardly teaching environment on return to their respective places. The Berhampur University has not even offered refreshers course to in-service teachers for teaching environment.

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