Jakarta, 16 May 2023 - As the generation living on Earth in the future, children need to be aware of the Earth's increasingly precarious situation. Global warming of around 1.2°C since 150 years ago has resulted in various adverse impacts on life: extreme weather, forest fires, warming oceans, and decreased biodiversity. Some of which we are already feeling.
Changes in the Earth's temperature risk even more drastic climate change by 2050. The effects could be more severe, and children are most at risk.
Education can be an entry point for children to recognise these situations and risks. Studies show that quality environmental education can increase climate awareness, not only among children, but also "trickle down" to their parents and families. This role is crucial, especially for Indonesia, where only 47 per cent of the population believe that global warming is man-made.
We tried to conduct a brief review of the Merdeka Curriculum Learning Outcomes document published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. This document is a set of material directions and competencies that students must achieve at each level of education, from early childhood to secondary.
In general, we found that climate change and energy literacy is already included in a number of subjects at all levels of education, with various keywords, including: global warming, climate change, alternative energy and renewable energy.
However, these directives in the various Learning Outcomes have not been successfully translated into something that is close and relevant to students. Schools often take examples that are distant, irrelevant and partial.
An example is the call to do the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle waste) without examining the sustainable consumption aspect of it. There is also a target for vocational high school (SMK) students to understand agricultural processing technology and quality testing in the midst of climate change. In reality, not all of these SMKs have facilities such as laboratories and good internet access.
Indonesia needs to strengthen climate change education in schools from an early age. In our opinion, there are at least three steps that need to be taken by the government and schools. The hope is that students will be able to know the best steps from an early age to cope with the impacts of climate change, or adapt in their respective living spaces.
1. Expand Learning Materials on Climate Change
The government needs to increase learning materials about climate crisis in subjects in the curriculum.
We conducted an initial review of the Learning Outcomes document using the keyword "climate change". As a result, the term climate change is mentioned 64 times, and is covered in 32 topics in the subject.
Unfortunately, the majority (28 topics) are vocational subjects. The rest are spread across early childhood education (PAUD) to senior high school (SMA). In fact, the number of vocational schools is only about 3.2% of the total 443 thousand schools in Indonesia.
Therefore, a key agenda for education reform in Indonesia should prioritise efforts to provide more exposure to climate change to the other 96.8% of schools.
The Ministry of Education's (MoE) efforts to integrate the Natural and Social Sciences (SAS) should be applauded as a first step in recognising the condition of the Earth and its interaction with human life.
The next step is to increase climate change learning outcomes in IPAS from the primary school level.
This material does not always have to be uniform, but adjusts to the conditions in each region. For example, elementary school students in coastal areas will more quickly grasp the phenomenon of abrasion or violent waves as a result of climate change than students who live in the highlands.
Several experimental studies have concluded that it is appropriate to start learning about climate change issues at primary school age (9-12 years old). At this age, students are considered to have conceptual understanding and good communication skills. Students are also more capable of imitating and adopting good behaviours observed from the learning process of climate change topics.
Indonesia can learn from Australia, which has learning resources in the form of a collection of case studies that can be openly accessed by teachers and students. They provide a platform "Curious Climate" as a place for children to ask questions about climate change and be answered directly by experts.
The government can sort out the available resources, add resources, and put them on the same portal to become a unified platform that can be used by teachers and students. The government's existing platform, Merdeka Mengajar, can serve this purpose.
2. Project-based Learning
The Merdeka Curriculum requires schools to use 20-30% of their time to organise project-based learning, modelled on the Pancasila Learner Profile Strengthening Project.
This project contains environmental issues as a choice of themes that can be raised, namely "Sustainable Lifestyle". The application varies according to the level of education.
Projects can be a powerful tool to build a deeper understanding of climate change issues. This is because students are expected to be more active in seeking information, looking at problems, designing projects, and implementing these plans individually or in groups. Projects can also integrate natural and social sciences into the activities carried out.
One of the authors of this article (Vivi Fitriyanti) has implemented project-based learning by combining environmental issues and climate change with art. During the project, students were invited to conduct literature studies, interviews, and direct observations to Bantargebang Landfill, Bekasi Regency.
The children then responded to the issues and research they had conducted by creating artworks in various forms, such as: installations, photography, and needle arts and crafts, which were exhibited to the general public.
In addition, the author invites children to have discussions at school on climate change issues and invites outsiders to speak on this issue. The author and other teachers also invite children to take direct action, namely the Pause for Climate parade.
The above of course would not have happened if there was no school leadership that allowed us to take to the streets. Therefore, climate change-aware school leadership is needed as a transformation space to foster climate change awareness in children.
The Pancasila Learner Profile Strengthening Project has been implemented in around 142,000 schools across the country by 2022. Another hundred thousand schools are also expected to join by 2023. The government needs to make a long-term plan so that every school across Indonesia can implement the project-based learning.
3. Multi-stakeholder Collaboration
The government needs to open space for cooperation with various parties to strengthen climate change education in schools.
Some of these parties, for example, are environmental activist organisations that can add and develop more knowledge materials for teachers for free to the Merdeka Mengajar platform.
The private sector can also contribute by providing internship programmes to make learning more contextualised, especially introducing more green job opportunities and exposing them to real-world problems. Schools, universities and companies can work together to make this happen.
Finally, carers or parents also need to play an active role in their children's education and introduce climate change issues at home. They can engage in conversations and discussions that can inspire children.
Thumbnail : (Masrob/Shutterstock)
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Penulis :
Vivi Fitriyanti — Assistant Researcher, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center
Angelia Basuningtyas — Doctorate Degree in English Applied Linguistic, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya
Nadira Asrifa Nasution — Research Assistant, The Purnomo Yusgiantoro Center
