Rethinking Schooling for the 21st Century

However, the NCERT textbooks have made little impact on state-level textbooks,
wherein didactic lessons about saving the environment continue to be presented
in an abstract fashion that fails to engage with current debates or students’ lived
experience. The same is true of most privately published textbooks, including
those produced by relatively respectable publishers. This varied picture reflects
the systemic challenges posed by India’s federal polity for educational reformers.
In the specific context of social and environmental
studies, the goal of focusing on sustainability
appears to be harder to realise in India’s state-level
curricula and syllabi than in those used by schools
affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE), where NCERT’s textbooks are
mandatory. Nor are the difficulties of introducing
curriculum reform from the ‘centre’ downwards,
so to speak, unique to India. A similar situation
exists in Pakistan. Reforms initiated by nationallevel
authorities can help to set new trends, but
initiative is needed at the local and regional levels
to relate broader policy goals, such as the inclusion
of sustainability-related concerns, to the design of
the learning materials used by most children. Such
challenges may appear less severe in countries
Reforms initiated
by national-level
authorities can help
to set new trends, but
initiative is needed at
the local and regional
levels to relate broader
policy goals, such
as the inclusion of
sustainability-related
concerns, to the design
of the learning materials
used by most children
(such as those in East Asia) with more centralised systems of educational
administration and curriculum development. But there too, attempts to shift
attitudes on issues such as sustainability or citizenship purely through top-down
initiatives are unlikely to be sufficient on their own. When it comes to promoting
models of engaged, critical citizenship, for example, fostering a greater sense
of responsible agency and professional autonomy amongst teachers, curriculum
developers and other stakeholders is important — and is incompatible with
treating them simply as minions of a distant and unaccountable central authority.
Science and mathematics are two major school subjects that are supposed
to orient children’s minds towards an appreciation of issues relevant to
environmental sustainability (see Chapter 1; UNESCO MGIEP, 2017). These two
subjects also provide the foundational skills and attitudes required for the study
of other areas in the curriculum, especially the social sciences. In all South Asian
countries, these subjects are compulsory from the primary grades onwards
although they are introduced somewhat differently and the class hours allotted
to them in the daily timetable also differ (see Appendix III).
Concern for improving the teaching of these subjects has been expressed in
curriculum policy documents. Available research points towards considerable
and persistent weaknesses in curriculum planning, syllabus design, textbook
Rethinking Schooling for the 21 st Century:
The State of Education for Peace, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship in Asia
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