The future of India is sitting in our classrooms

This article is authored by Pradip Burman, chairman, Mobius Foundation.

When we talk about India’s future, we usually talk about technology, infrastructure, jobs and economic growth. But there is another question we need to ask: What kind of future are we preparing our children to live in?

Classroom (representative picture only). (HT Photo)

A child entering school today will grow up in a country where heatwaves, water shortages, air pollution, extreme weather and waste are no longer distant environmental stories. They will shape where we live, what we eat, how we travel, what jobs we do and even how healthy our families are.

That makes environmental education far more relevant than another subject in school. It is an education for life. Think about a simple question a child asks: Why should I switch off the fan when I leave the room? Why should I save water? Why should I avoid plastic?

We can give them a textbook answer. Or we can help them understand that every everyday choice is connected to the larger world around them. That is where India’s classrooms can become powerful.

We have made a beginning. Now we need to go much further.

India is not starting from zero. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recognises environmental education as an important part of preparing students for the future. It calls for environmental awareness and sustainable living to become part of learning, alongside contemporary areas such as Artificial Intelligence, design thinking and global citizenship.

The government’s Eco Clubs for Mission LiFE are another important step. Schools are encouraged to engage students around practical themes such as saving water and energy, reducing waste and e-waste, sustainable food and saying no to single-use plastic.

NCERT has also developed environmental education resources and project material for students and teachers, including environmental education projects for Classes 6 to 12. Pani-Pahar, a curriculum developed for the Himalayan region with the University of Cambridge. It uses the region's mountains, forests and water systems to help students understand the connections between nature, communities and climate.

These initiatives tell us something important: The direction is right. But the scale of the environmental challenge demands that we move from programmes to a culture of learning.

A child should not only learn about the climate crisis. They should experience it.

Imagine if a school treated its campus as a living laboratory. Students could measure how much water their school uses. They could map trees in their neighbourhood. They could understand where their waste goes. They could grow vegetables, learn about soil, monitor air quality, calculate electricity consumption and find ways to reduce it.

A mathematics lesson could involve calculating a household’s water consumption. A science lesson could examine air pollution. A geography lesson could explore changing rainfall patterns. A social science lesson could ask who is most affected when a city floods. And a vocational class could show students how solar energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture and green construction are creating new livelihoods.

This is when environmental education stops being a chapter and becomes a habit.

Parents have a role too. Education does not end at the school gate. Children watch what adults do far more closely than they listen to what adults say. If we teach a child to save water but leave the tap running at home, the lesson is lost. If we speak about plastic pollution but use disposable plastic for convenience, the message becomes meaningless. If we tell children that nature matters but never take them outdoors, we cannot expect them to develop a relationship with it.

The simplest environmental classroom may be the family kitchen, balcony, neighbourhood park or local market. Parents do not need to be climate experts. They simply need to involve children in everyday decisions: Where does our food come from? How much water did we use today? What happens to our waste? Can we repair instead of replace? These conversations can shape lifelong behaviour.

There is another reason environmental education matters. India’s transition to a greener economy will need millions of people who understand sustainability not only environmental scientists, but engineers, architects, farmers, entrepreneurs, teachers, doctors, designers, bankers, policymakers and business leaders.

The green economy will not be built by a small group of environmental professionals. It will be built by an entire generation that understands the cost of every decision and the opportunity behind every solution.

A young person who learns to see waste as a resource may become an entrepreneur. A student who understands water conservation may become an engineer designing better cities. A child fascinated by biodiversity may become a scientist. Another may simply become a responsible citizen who uses resources more wisely. All of these are environmental outcomes.

For too long, education has been measured through marks and examinations. But can we imagine adding another question?

How many trees planted by each student? Did the school reduce its water consumption? Did students reduce waste? Did they increase biodiversity on campus? Did they influence their families? Did they design a solution to a local environmental problem? This is the kind of learning India needs learning that produces knowledge, behaviour and action.

India already has strong examples of environmental education through eco clubs, experiential learning and community-based initiatives. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change’s environmental education programmes explicitly use workshops, projects, campaigns, competitions and nature camps to encourage young people towards sustainable lifestyles.

The opportunity now is to connect these efforts and make them part of the mainstream educational experience. Our children are not just inheriting the future. They are building it. We often say that children are the future. I believe that is only half the truth.

The habits they develop today will influence the India they build tomorrow. The questions they ask will influence the innovations they create. The values they learn will influence the choices they make as citizens, professionals, entrepreneurs and parents. So, the real question is not whether we can afford to give environmental education more space in our schools.

India wants to become a developed nation. We want better cities, stronger industries, more jobs and a higher quality of life. But development that destroys the natural systems on which life depends cannot be called progress.

The classroom gives us an extraordinary opportunity to change that trajectory. Let us teach our children not just to compete with the world, but to care for it. Let us make every school a place where sustainability is not merely taught, but practised. Because the future of India is not waiting somewhere in the distance.

It is sitting in our classrooms today curious, capable and ready to shape the country we will live in tomorrow.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Pradip Burman, chairman, Mobius Foundation.