Abstract

To support the implementation of environmental education (EE) across the curriculum, WWF-Malaysia has developed Environmental Education Kit (EE-Kit) to increase the level of environmental literacy of students. Environmental literacy is a part of EE that refers to knowledge, awareness, behavior, environmental attitude and participation. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of environmental literacy amongst students based on gender and stream of study also student perception on the use of EE-Kit. 345 secondary school students age 14 and 16 years old participated in this survey study and 10 students were interviewed. An EE teaching kit was used to teach the students. Using descriptive and inferential statistics it was determined that there was a significant difference in the level of environmental literacy based on gender, whereas for class stream reveals no significant difference. However, the level on environmental literacy based on gender and class stream are still at the moderate and low level. It also was found that knowledge of and about the environment is at low level as compared to environment attitude, behavior, awareness and environment participation. It appears that perception and students practice related to positive behavior towards environment exist despite the lack of knowledge in and on environment. However, that does not guarantee students to manage the environment effectively. Implication of this study suggests that knowledge, attitude and developing positive behavior towards environment need to be developed in an integrated way. The study recommends that the inculcation of environmental literacy through the use of EE-Kit among students in rural areas needs to be improved in building citizens who can preserve and conserve the environment.

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