EVS Subject Elimination: Removal of EVS would be detrimental to the academic interest of students

EVS Subject Elimination: Environmental Studies (EVS) would no longer be taught in schools, according to a pre-draft of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) created by the committee selected by the Ministry of Education. The EVS topic will no longer be offered in classes III through V at all schools as per the order. Instead, informal activities under the heading “World Around Us” will take the place of the original subject. Academics are worried about the change since EVS plays a significant part in educating students about environmental issues and assisting them in learning about pollution and climate control. The new regulation is anticipated to be implemented by the start of the following session because new textbooks are being printed in accordance with NCFSE requirements.

Anita Rampal, dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Delhi and a former chair of the NCERT’s Primary Textbook Development Committee, stated to Education Times that the pre-draft of the NCF eliminated the formal study of environmental studies (EVS) and decided that students would only be required to participate in some informal activities under the heading “World Around Us”. Students will lose a significant part of their basic education, which helped them become environmentally conscious. Through outdoor excursions, stories, and narratives, the “World Around Us” programme introduces pupils to the social and natural worlds.

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EVS Subject Elimination From Schools

Without providing the children with the solid academic understanding that EVS offers, engaging them in some informal activities will rob them of the ability to think critically and address pressing environmental issues. “EVS makes up one-third of the primary school curriculum, and it is a well-established and thoroughly researched learning area. EVS should be taught to primary school students since it gives them their first exposure to the concepts of elementary science, social science, and environmental education, according to Rampal.

“Learning gaps would result if an established topic like EVS were eliminated since students’ foundational knowledge and comprehension wouldn’t be sufficient as they advanced to higher classes. Students can create conceptions about objects that are present in their social and natural environments with the help of EVS. Thus, its academic value is undeniable, according to Rampal. “This pushes children to question, ponder, experiment, observe, and revise the intuitive beliefs they create even as early as they begin to speak.

“By include informal activities like ‘World Around Us’ along with Arts and Physical Education in the curriculum, which is not recommended, the pre-draft of NCF has effectively diminished the value of learning Science and Social Studies. All of the processes of observing, doing, thinking, and asking must coexist in the early stages, continues Rampal.

The largest association of low-cost private schools in India, the National Independent Schools Alliance, says Kulbhushan Sharma: “The decision to remove EVS from the syllabus is not advised as it is equally important to teach the subject along with involving students in a set of activities. Students that study EVS have a meaningful purpose for the environmental initiatives they are engaged in.