While we know that climate change is real and is rapidly destroying the world, only more awareness about this menace will help combat it effectively.
And Italy has set a precedent by becoming the first nation in the world to introduce climate change and sustainability as a course in the school curriculum of students. As a result, from next year, Italian students of all grades will be compulsorily required to study issues related to climate change for about 33 hours, or one hour per week, as part of their curriculum.
Further, the other regular subjects such as geography, mathematics, and physics would also be taught with a focus on climate change.
The Education Minister of Italy, Lorenzo Fioramonti tweeted out a message on Twitter saying, “I want Italy to become a leader against climate change, being the first country to make sustainable development the cornerstone of our new education and research approach.”
I want Italy to become a leader against climate change, being the first country to make sustainable development the cornerstone of our new education and research approach https://t.co/T1DjsJgOIf
— Lorenzo Fioramonti (@lofioramonti) November 5, 2019
“The entire ministry is being changed to make sustainability and climate the centre of the education model,” Fioramonti told Reuters.
“I want to make the Italian education system the first education system that puts the environment and society at the core of everything we learn in school.”
Remarkably, a team of experts on the environment will aid the education ministry in devising an effective curriculum. Also, different approaches would be used to teach concepts to students of different grades. For instance, elementary students will be taught about the environment using a ‘fairy-tale’ approach, which would bring awareness about the environment based on stories from different cultures. In middle school, students would begin learning more technical information whereas, in high school, the learning becomes more complex: students will learn about the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Isn’t this wonderful?
Fioramonti is a very vocal supporter of green policies and is a member of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which is known to support environmental-friendly policies.
The future belongs to the children, and they must be sustainable citizens. Team Newsum applauds this amazing decision by the Italian government and urges other nations to follow suit.
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