Sustainable Development: Education

(asked on 11th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he has taken to ensure children in primary and secondary schools are (a) educated on the sustainable development goals via the curriculum and (b) engaging with COP26.


Answered by
Nick Gibb Portrait
Nick Gibb
This question was answered on 19th March 2021

It is vital that pupils are taught about environmental and sustainability issues and the curriculum already includes much about these issues. From primary onwards, there is coverage of environmental issues in both the science and geography curriculums and, within both, there is scope for a practical focus to support pupils to apply the knowledge they are taught to the real world.

As the National Curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the Department expects schools to cover in each subject, teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. Teachers can choose to cover particular subjects or topics in greater depth if they wish and, as knowledge of sustainability develops, teachers can adapt their school curriculums for these subjects.

To supplement their teaching, schools will have access to a variety of resources in the teaching of science and geography. The decision about which resources to use is a matter for schools and teachers.

The Department has made £4.84 million available for the Oak National Academy both for the summer term of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, in order to provide video lessons in a broad range of subjects for Reception up to Year 11. These lessons and their accompanying resources include coverage of climate change and the environment.

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