International Education Day and Climate Change

 Education is a fundamental human right, a public good, and a responsibility of the public. Education Day was established on January 24 by the General Assembly of the United Nations. 

As a consequence of this, the slogan "To invest in people, prioritize education" will be used to commemorate the fifth international day of education on January 24, 2023. Building on the global momentum created by the UN Transforming Summit in September 2022, this year's day will call for maintaining strong social and political mobilization around education and determining how to put commitments and global initiatives into action. Education must be prioritized too to accelerate progress toward all sustainable development goals in light of a global recession, growing inequality, and climate change (CC), which is the most significant and significant new aspect of this discussion. This article focuses on Pakistan, the crisis caused by climate change, and the significance of education for education day.

Pakistan ranks among the nations most affected by climate change (CC) in the single digits. Extreme weather events are likely to become more frequent and severe in the coming decades, which calls for immediate climate-related action. In 2022, Pakistan endured severe heat waves, droughts, and floods that significantly harmed people's lives, property, infrastructure, and means of subsistence. A severe heat wave resulted in crop losses, power outages, and forest fires. Then came unprecedented monsoon rains that submerged a third of the nation, killed over 1,700 people, and affected over 33 million people. Therefore, interventions require an hour to prevent further deterioration and complete this task in an inclusive and lasting manner.

There are two types of intervention available at this crucial time: hard intervention and soft intervention. Mass awareness through education, which prepares schoolchildren and university students to comprehend the issue, is the most essential component of a soft intervention strategy for combating CC. Legal and administrative remedies may not be much of a help after a certain threshold because the problem is caused by humans and affects a large number of people, as opposed to effective curriculum-based education. Beyond science, Education for Climate Change ought to also address the values, customs, actions, and lifestyles that contribute to CC.

However, the educational approach and design must be chosen. Because climate change is not just a scientific discussion but also has socioeconomic, cultural, and psychological dimensions, Education for Climate Change (ECC) is now integrated with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) under the global framework 2030 for the next ten (10) years. Climate Change (CC) was once taught in the field of environmental education (EE).

Science-based education imparts knowledge but does not result in behavioral change. Inter-disciplinary education that uses the social sciences to cultivate societal understandings, cultural keys, and political will can alter attitudes.

regards to the ECC design, there are two schools of thought. CCE can be nothing more than scientific education about causes and effects, or it can be interdisciplinary projects that try to change people's lives, like in South Korea and Australia.

Science-based education imparts knowledge but does not result in behavioral change. Inter-disciplinary education that uses the social sciences to cultivate societal understandings, cultural keys, and political will can alter attitudes. For instance ce, a scientific understanding of the negative effects of smoking does not suffice to motivate people to quit. Instead, education that tries to get people to play more sports, for instance. can help.

There are two parts to climate change education, according to academic literature. The "climate" section must be presented in scientific terms. The second component is education for "Change," which aims to promote positive change. The normative values that guide our actions must be challenged in the final section. It facilitates the shift from unsustainable normative values, like an extravaganlifestylesle, to sustainable ones.

As is the case in the majority of nations, Pakistan's educational system currently lacks these qualities. Pakistan does not have a comprehensive strategy for addressing ECC at the university and school levels. Geography and social science classes only cover a small amount of scientific knowledge. It is only offered as a science-focused course in some university undergraduate and graduate programs. Because of the informal workshops and seminars that teach students about water and resource conservation, some schools have been designated as "green schools" by civil society organizatioSeveralr of civil society organizations, including the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, the Green Squad, and the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change, hold walks and seminars to educate the general public, students, and other stakeholders about climate change. As a result, climate change policy has not included the component of formally incorporating Education for Climate Change (ECC) as a discipline—the line has two components, "Climate" and "Change." This indicates that the assistance provided to education departments and private education systems has been ignored. ECC must be implemented, just like Finland did with the "Climate" and "Change" components. The implementation of CC activities ought to receive funding from schools. Universities should also promote CC research to support local action. In this reregardthe inoculum design should be implemented that places a particular emphasis on content-based knowledge like climate, deforestation, habitat loss, water cycle, soil erosion, and air pollutionSimilarlyar to this, school textbooks should make people aware of ways to address pressing environmental issues like reducing carbon consumption, encouraging low-carbon development, reducing deforestation through sustainable forest management, and improving water and waste management.

possible topics at the university level, such as the management of the annual flood cycle; sustainable methods of farming; existing polluted regions and potential water, soil, and waste management strategies; sustainable forest management; Knowledge of valuable endemic species (both flora and fauna) and ways to preserve them ought to also be taken into account in graduate-level studies this message must bebe refined and altered in such a way that the general publican to absorb the modification. for or for it to spread like wildfire. 

Also, large-scale public awareness campaigns should be launched by agents in the form of a well-connected network of experts (like scientists) and connectors (like social media influencers, mosque imams, CSOs, and others like them). As a result, there is a pressing need to intensify the awareness campaign so that when someone next says that climate change is a hoax, people won't cheer for him but instead will question their fundamental knowledge.