Primary Versus High School Students’ Environmental Attitudes and Pro-environmental Behavior: The Case of Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

Degradation of natural resources exacerbates a country’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change. IPCC projections suggest that countries within the horn of Africa, which include Kenya, will suffer most from extreme climate change events, particularly more frequent and prolonged droughts. Women and children suffer disproportionately from the consequences of environmental degradation. Public participation is one of the strategies governments pursue to combat environmental degradation; however, there has been limited research to better understand students’ environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behavior to better inform student-led participatory designs. Students comprise a significant proportion of the population in Kenya. This research conducted in 2018 at Nginda Ward, Embu County, comprised a survey of 121 students: 58 high school and 63 primary school students. The research investigated students’ environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes, and pro-environmental behavior. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Multivariate statistics (MANOVA) were used to examine the relationship between the dependent variables and the participant’s gender and level of schooling. From the results obtained, the top five most frequently mentioned local environmental problems by the students sampled included water pollution, deforestation, air pollution, scarcity of safe sources for water for domestic use, and soil erosion. Inferential statistical results revealed that there is a significant relationship between students’ level of schooling and environmental attitudes, F = 11.79, (1, 120), p < 0.01. In addition, there is a significant relationship between students’ level of schooling and environmental knowledge, that is, perceived severity of environmental problems, F = 5.33, (1, 120), p < 0.05. Research findings further revealed a significant relationship between gender and environmental knowledge, F = 9.62, (1, 120), p < 0.01. However, gender differences in pro-environmental behavior were not statistically significant. Also, differences between primary and high school students’ pro-environmental behavior were insignificant.