Evaluating Environmental Skill, Behavior and Awareness of Primary School Students, (Case Study: Andika City)

Many of the environmental challenges of nations are due to inappropriate environmental behavior in the 21st century. Improving students' environmental skills as future decision makers and increasing their abilities and appropriate behavior with the environment, requires knowledge and awareness associated with it, so this study aims to identify the level of environmental behavior, awareness and skills of primary school students.

The study method is descriptive and survey type and its statistical population consisted of elementary school students in Indika in 2017. Among them, a sample of 245 people was selected using cluster random sampling method and the required information was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. The apparent validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by calculating the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (for the variables of environmental skill, behavior and awareness, respectively 0.79, 0.70, 0.84).

Findings showed that 73.5% of students have good environmental skills. 67% of students show strongly agree statement related to environment while 20% of them are agreed. Also, 72% of students are fully aware of environmental issues while 26% of them have a little aware. The results of correlation analysis revealed average of environmental behavior, awareness and skill of female students were more than male students and in terms of employment status of parents of students, the most awareness and environmental behavior belongs to those students whose father's job were farmers, and most of the skills were related to students whose father's job was an employee. The results of correlation analysis showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between environmental skills, behavior and awareness with the students' academic base.

Gender, parents' occupation and educational level have been effective in students' environmental skill, behavior and awareness. To improve pro-environmental behaviors, it is necessary to strengthen awareness resources to institutionalize the readiness and inclination to take practical action to protect the environment in the form of environmental skills.