Education in Pakistan means to transfer knowledge and information from one person to another or from one generation to another. The real purpose and meaning of education should be to build knowledge, i.e., to acquaint children and youth with the methods and behaviours of acquiring knowledge. Environment and ecology have a significant role in the construction of knowledge. The environment refers to the things or conditions around us and all the events that happen around us. These include our social, cultural, and geographical conditions, as well as the difficulties of life.

To understand the difference between environment and education, know that when a word is put at the end of a word in Urdu, it can mean study. For example, political science means the study of politics from politics, economics means the study of economy from economy, or sociology means the study of society from society. Now, if their relationship is connected with education, we can take help from other words.

For example, how is the working environment in the field of education? Are our education, the education sector, the people working in it, and the teachers environmentally friendly, and are our children and youth getting environmentally friendly education and training or not? To what extent are we hostile to the environment, and how is environmental understanding given in our education curriculum? Are we aware of environmental change or not? How aware are we ourselves, and to what extent do we inform our children about air pollution and warming?Education is deeply influenced by both the social environment and the natural environment. Then what is our education about communal life teaching our children?

Environment in education means not only studying and observing the environment but also understanding, or at least trying to understand, all things related to the environment and climate. The first environment a child gets for education is the home. If the environment is not pleasant, it will not have a pleasant effect on the child. In the early development of a child, the home environment influences them in two ways. One is the marital environment of the home, and the other is the economic environment. Marital environment refers to the home where the child is learning the basics of life, or what the girl child is getting from her parents. If the parents themselves do not have a good relationship with each other, then there is a defect in the children's early education and training.

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Therefore, parents fighting in front of their children, taunting or saying bad things to each other, and kicking each other's family members—all of this has a very negative effect on the children. Parents' relationship of respect with each other leads to mutual respect in children as well. It is not possible that the mutual relations of the parents are always good; they may have disagreements, but it is not right to make it a mess in front of the children. Any mutual doubts and complaints should be resolved in the absence of the children. It requires some caution and discipline, but it is not impossible.

Another aspect of the home environment is related to economic issues. Rising inflation, unemployment, and children's wishes all affect the economic environment. It becomes very difficult for the tight-lipped parents to meet all the wishes of the children. Compounding these problems is the stress and anxiety when the parents cut their teeth to enrol the children in expensive schools and expect that the children will get the best education from there.

In this regard, parents should spread their feet by looking at their children and should not take any steps that will increase their financial problems. Try to enrol your children in schools close to home and not in expensive schools far away. The main thing is to develop a love for reading and not get admission to big schools. It has been observed that expensive schools often focus on building grandiose buildings to impress parents and children.

It is the primary responsibility of the state to provide good education facilities to all children in government schools free of charge, but due to this failure of the state, parents are attracted to private schools. Larger and more expensive schools can be more of a problem for poor parents, where education doesn't make much of a difference, as private schools often hire well-educated boys and girls or fresh graduates as teachers on compulsory demand. You will be surprised to know that even expensive schools spend a lot of money on pretence, i.e., nice rooms and furniture, but pay teachers very little.

The first priority of these schools is not to spend the profits being made on teacher training or better students. Their preference is to use the profits to open more branches. In the last thirty or forty years, starting with one school, a network of dozens of schools and even hundreds of branches has been laid. Most of these schools have become money-making machines. Schools that charge low fees and pay teachers well are not in the race to open more branches. In this way, parents can avoid many problems if they enrol their children in the nearest school, considering their economic environment.

Yes, efforts should be made to instill a love of studying in children. Along with the home environment comes the neighbourhood and area environment. It includes issues of child protection in addition to sanitation. It is the responsibility of our local governments to keep the areas clean, and it is also the duty of the people not to throw garbage everywhere, but it can be seen that neither our local governments nor  parents pay attention to keeping the environment clean. There are numerous educational institutions across the country surrounded by piles of dirt, and drains. This environment is very harmful for children's education.

In many countries around the world, children are not only taught the benefits of cleanliness in books, but they are also made to clean themselves. Along with developed countries, there are many developing countries where children are observed cleaning during the week in and around school. In other words, a few hours in school are completely devoted to cleaning and tidying up. But in Pakistan, this is not the case, and if it is attempted, the parents themselves make noise.

It is the responsibility of the parents that if the school gives practical training to the children in cleanliness, then instead of shouting about it, they should be encouraged. The Department of Education and Judiciary should also issue such judgements and orders that teachers and children do not underestimate the practical work of sanitation. It is the way of all civilised nations to engage the children and teachers in practical cleaning at least once a week to make themselves, their environment, and the learning environment pleasant. Our parents take care of their children's physical cleanliness but do not help keep the street, neighbourhood, and school environment clean.

As the environment includes everything that happens around us, it also includes the behaviour of parents themselves, not only with each other but with their children, with their teachers, with their neighbours, and with other pedestrians on the street. Togetherness is very important. In Pakistan, it is seen that the attitude of the parents towards the teachers and the attitude of the teachers themselves towards their students and their parents are not correct. If the parents have any complaints, they come to the school and start abusing the teachers in front of the children, and the teachers themselves do not lag behind in their responses.

They think that it won't matter much if a boy or girl drops out of school. It's not easy for parents to switch schools, as public schools are crowded and private schools are vying for more money. In this way, the attitude and behaviour of the parents in the street neighbourhood affect the education and training of the children. We are always ready to be angry and fight with others; these behaviours are developed in children. Similarly, parents who send their children in cars or leave them alone in the car do not take care of traffic rules, from which children see wrong ways.

Whether it's a school van driver in the morning or a parent driving the car the wrong way with their kids in the car, they don't feel bad about coming and going from the wrong site because "everyone does it." "So why don't we?" We have seen countless parents dropping off their children at school who break the signal.

Cars breaking the right line or getting into another line freeze the traffic, and this can be seen around every school, from expensive schools to medium schools. All this is part of our social environment, which underlines the uneducated and haphazard nature of our collective lives. Thus, we set the future generation on the path of our immorality and lawlessness. Therefore, the improvement of the social environment is mainly the work of parents.

It is also important to mention the changes in climate and the atmospheric environment. Cutting down trees and not planting new ones, not keeping vehicle engines in proper condition, which emits harmful fumes, unnecessary use of air conditioning, smoking, use of betel nuts and gutka, and an increase in drug addiction are all environmental issues that should make space in our education curriculum.

After the 18th constitutional amendment, as education has been in the custody of the provinces for the past several years and they have a full constitutional right to formulate their own curriculum, various aspects of the environment should be included in the curriculum. Climate change is a problem that parents, teachers, and children have to face together, so it needs serious attention.