Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Practices Among Tribal and Non-Tribal Secondary School Students of Sundargarh District

Abstract

Environmental awareness is of significant importance in developing sustainable behaviour in children. The present study aims to investigate the level of environmental awareness and practice in tribal and non-tribal secondary school students. Descriptive Survey research is employed for the present study. A sample of 120 secondary school students, consisting of 60 tribal and 60 non-tribal students, was selected from government high schools in Sundargarh district of Odisha. Random sampling techniques were employed for the present study. An environmental awareness scale, based on Praveen Kumar Jha’s (1998) work, and open-ended questionnaires were employed for the present research. Descriptive statistical analysis, including mean and standard deviation, was employed for the present research. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed for the present research due to the non-normal distribution of the data. The results revealed that the tribal students demonstrated a slightly higher mean score in environmental awareness compared to the non-tribal students. However, the results were not significant. Both groups strongly agreed on the importance of environmental protection. However, they demonstrated only moderate confidence in the influence of individual actions on environmental sustainability. Tribal students demonstrated slightly higher involvement in activities such as tree planting and water conservation, while non-tribal students demonstrated higher involvement in activities such as community cleaning and the use of public transportation. The study emphasizes the need to strengthen environmental education programmes in schools to encourage students to adopt environmentally sustainable practices. It also emphasizes the potential benefits of culturally responsive environmental education strategies in promoting environmental awareness and behaviour among different types of students.