Education and Development: The Issues and the Evidence

economic activity are not necessarily detrimental to environmental quality. In general
higher income per capita is associated with better access to clean water and adequate
sanitation. The concentration of particulate matter seems to first rise and then fall with
per capita income as do urban concentrations of sulphur dioxide. On the other hand
greater volumes of municipal waste and emissions of carbon dioxide are concomitants
of increasing income. (World Bank 1992:11). The basic problem, from the World
Bank's point of view, is to ensure that when decisions are made environmental costs are
appropriately factored in and that the discount rate applied reflects the value placed on
environmental quality. This may be easier said than done. It involves finding ways of
including natural and environmental resources in national accounts, recording the
depreciation of natural capital, including costing to "clean up" and restore assets (which
is usually possible), and costing environmental damage (which is usually very difficult
and not attempted) (Lutz and Munasinghe 1991:19).

There is a large literature characterised by advocacy rather than evidence on the
desirability of environmental education programmes. Many countries have
environmental science or environmental studies as curriculum offerings. In the majority
these are not compulsory core subjects. In some this area provides a science option
taken by students not academically able enough to follow pure science courses. In the
development literature environmental issues appear to be more frequently cast in terms
of economic and political concerns than educational ones (a recent special issue of
World Development on Environment and Development (20(4) 1992) does not include
any contributions specifically on educational aspects). Where environmental courses
exist in schools there is evidence that they succeed in conveying messages about the
causes of environmental degradation to students, that the importance of environmental
issues conservation, sustainable livelihoods etc. - is more widely appreciated, and that
attitudes expressed by children display environmental concerns (e.g. Lewin and Bajah
1990)

There may be studies which can show effects that go beyond this to demonstrate that
behaviours have changed on a significant scale in ways which are environmentally
sympathetic but if there are they are not prominent in the literature. Showing such
effects is bound to be difficult since the causes of environmental deterioration usually
exist in a complex web of interactions between social, economic and political factors
that interact and which are mostly not directly susceptible to the effects of
environmental education. The importance of support for environmental programmes,
within schools and more generally throughout communities most at risk from
environmental hazards that are the result of human activities, is probably better
regarded as a medium to long term priority. Effects are likely to appear as more people
become aware of the consequences of unsustainable farming practices, unsafe water
sources, diseases arising from environmentally damaging production technologies, and
more conscious of quality of life concerns. Environmental education programmes might
reasonably be thought to influence all of these things.

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