Natural history GCSEs and carbon literacy: Government unveils new climate-focused education strategy
By Matt Mace on edie
The Government has today (21 April) unveiled a plethora of new skills and education commitments under its Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy.
The Government has committed to introducing a new GCSE in natural history for UK schools, which will come into effect by September 2025. The aim of the strategy is to equip children with new ways of learning about the environment, the climate crisis and sustainability, but also by developing new skillsets that help them carve out a career in relevant environmental sectors, ranging from observation and analysis through to field studies.
As part of the commitment, the Government has pledged to revamp teaching requirements to focus on sustainability by 2023. To support this, the Government is rolling out a carbon literacy training programme to support at least one sustainability lead in every locally maintained nursery, school, college and university.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “We are delivering a better, safer, greener world for future generations and education is one of our key weapons in the fight against climate change. The entrepreneurial, can-do spirit of this country makes me confident that we will win this fight.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that young people are already very committed to a more sustainable planet. We should be proud of this, and I want to do everything I can to encourage this passion so they can be agents of change in protecting our planet. The new natural history GCSE will offer young people a chance to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of this amazing planet, its environment and how we can come together to conserve it.”