THE CRITICAL ROLES OF EDUCATION IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Education is the prime driver of sustainable development. All aspects of education have critical roles to play in achieving sustainable development. The roles of the following aspects of education in sustainable development have been examined in this paper:. Future education, Basic education, interdisciplinary and Re-orientation education, Student-centered education, Authentic education, Gender education, Citizenship education, Education for Culture of peace and Respect for Human Rights, Health education, Population education, Education for Protecting and Managing Natural Resources, Education for Sustainable Consumption, Adult and Community education, Technical and Vocational education, Higher education and Teacher education. It is recommended that all aspects of education be developed and employed for sustainable development in all countries. Introduction Since 1992, an international consensus has emerged that achieving sustainable development is essentially a process of learning. The critical role of education was stresses at all the major United Nations conferences following Rio including those on human right in Vienna in 1993, population and development in Cairo in 1994, small Island developing states in Barbados in 1994, social development in Copenhagen in 1995, women in Beijing in 1995, food security in Rome in 1996, and human settlements in Istanbul in 1996. Just as we had learnt to live unsustainably, we now need to learn our way out to learn how to live sustainable. Education for sustainable development is an emerging but dynamic concept the encompasses a new vision of education, which seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a new sustainable future (Hopkins et al 1996). Linking social, economic, political and environmental concern is a crucial aspect of suitable development. Creating such links demands a deeper, more ambitious way of thinking about education as one that retains a commitment to critical analysis while fostering creativity and innovations. In short, it demands that education promotes a system of ethics and values that is sensitive to cultural dialogue, democratic decision-making and the appropriate use and management of natural resources. Seen as a social learning for sustainability, education can increase concern about sustainable practices and increase our capacity to confront and master change. Education not only informs people, it can change them. As a means for personal enlightenment and for cultural renewal, education is only central to sustainable development; it is humanity’s best hope and most effective means in the quest to achieve it. (Scott and Gough, 2004). The Concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Clarifying the concept of education for sustainable development was a major challenge for educators during the last decade. Some people argued that educating for sustainable development ran the risk of indoctrination, while others wondered whether asking schools to take a lead in the transition to sustainable development was asking too much of teachers. Consequently, many international, regional, and national initiatives have contributed to an expanded and refined understanding of the meaning for sustainable development. For example, the Education International, the major umbrella group of teacher’s unions and associations in the world, issued a declaration and action plan to promote sustainable development through education. Similarly, statements and guidelines were issued in support of reorienting education by regional councils of ministers of education and/or environment in the European Union, in Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Organization of American States (OAS), and the South African Development Community (SADC) countries and the South Pacific. The Nigerian Academic Forum Volume 19 No. 2 November, 2010 2 Many regional strategies or action plans have been developed. A common call in all of these is the need for an integrated approach through all government ministries (e.g. education, health, environment, finance, agriculture, industry and consumer affairs etc) collaborates in developing a shared understanding of and commitment to policies, strategies and programmes of education for sustainable development. International conservation organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation (IUC) are also actively promoting the integration of education into sustainable development at local community, national and eco-regional scales. In addition, many individual governments have established committees, panels, advisory councils and curriculum development projects to discuss education for sustainable development, development policy and appropriate support structures, programmes and resources and fund local initiatives (Scout and Gough, 2004). These many initiatives illustrate that the international community now strongly believes that we need to foster through education, the values, behaviour, and lifestyle required for a sustainable future. Future Education For thousands of years human societies have proved that living sustainably as healthy and happy individuals within caring, stable families and communities in harmony with the natural world is possible. The long-term sustainability of indigenous economic and cultural systems is the result of indigenous systems of education that established a human and natural ecology totally in union with each other. Unfortunately, indigenous knowledge and wisdom have been undermined by the experience of colonization, industrialization and globalization. By and large, indigenous priorities and systems of education have been supplanted by the somewhat narrow view that culture and the environment are valuable only in so far as they are economically productive. The consequent disregard for the land and culture has meant that knowledge, values and skills for living sustainably have been underplayed in contemporary education. Future education, if it is true that all education is for the future, needs to become more explicit element in all levels of education. As education for sustainable development is education for a future that we cannot yet predict, it is important that education programmes seek to develop skills for understanding and anticipating change and for facing the future with courage and hope. This would involve coming to realize that the future is a human creation, made by our decisions, and that in a democratic society; people have the right, in deed an obligation, to contribute positively to a sustainable future. This would involve learning how to learn, how to analyze and solve complex problems, how to think creatively and critically about the future, and how to anticipate and make our histories. These contribute to the stall of foresight and are all aspects of future orientation in education. Education for sustainable development has come to be seen as a process of learning how to make decisions that consider the long-term future of the economy, ecology and social well being of all communities. Building the capacity for such future-oriented thinking is a key task of education. This represents a new vision of education, one that helps students better understand the world in which they live, addressing the complexity and interconnectedness of problems, such as poverty, wasteful consumption, environmental degradation, urban decay, population growth, gender inequality, health, conflict, and the violation of human rights and threaten our future. This vision of education emphasizes a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to developing the knowledge and skills needed for a sustainable future, as well as changes in values, behaviour and lifestyles. This requires us to reorient education systems, policies and practices in order to empower everyone, young and old, to make decisions and act in culturally appropriate and locally relevant ways to redress the problems that threaten our common future. In this way, people of all ages can become empowered to develop and evaluate alternative visions of a sustainable future, and to fulfill these visions through working creatively with others. This vision emphasizes the key role of educators as agents of change. There are over 60 million teachers in the world and each one is a key agent for bringing about the changes in lifestyles and systems that we need but education is not confined to the classroom of formal education. As an approach to social living, education for sustainable development also encompasses the wide range of learning activities in a basic and post-basic education, technical and vocational training, tertiary education, and both non formal and informal learning by both young people and adults within V.N. Ogakwu, (Ph.D)