INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION ON UNDERGRADUATES’ PERCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The obvious environmental, social and economic crises across the globe are a reminder of the need for environmental education in institutions of higher learning to provide undergraduates with the competence to live sustainably and promote the quality of life for both present and future generations. The study examined the influence of environmental education on undergraduates’ perception of sustainable development. The study adopted the descriptive research design of the survey type. The population of the study comprised all the 2,892 undergraduates in 2017/2018-2020/2021 academic sessions in the Science Education Department, Faculty of Education, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. The sample for this study was 120 undergraduates from the Department who were purposively selected for the study. The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire. The instrument was validated by experts in the Faculty of Education, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. The reliability coefficient was determined using test-retest and a coefficient of 0.88 was obtained. Frequency counts, percentages and mean were used to answer the research questions while the inferential statistics involving Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that environmental education should be made compulsory for all students due to its potential to inculcate in students, environmental literacy for environmental quality and decision-making process to encourage a healthy society and sustainable future, and should be included in the curriculum in order to promote sustainable development. It was also recommended that parents should endeavour to inculcate moral values in their children for hard work, respect for nature, human diversity and gender equity so as to promote sustainable development in any environment they find themselves. It was also recommended that the university authorities need to embrace and intensify the learning of environmental education towards giving undergraduates the requisite environmental, social and economic literacy that promotes sustainable development. Article visualizations