Curbing environmental problems related to deforestation and climate change: The level of secondary school students' knowledge, attitudes and determinants in Metekel Zone, Northwest Ethiopia

Environmental problems, notably deforestation and climate change, pose significant threats to humanity and demand urgent intervention. In Ethiopia, where these challenges are pronounced, addressing these issues requires a solid foundation of knowledge and positive attitudes, especially among young people. This study examines secondary school students' level of environmental knowledge and attitudes and the determinants related to deforestation and climate change in the Metekel Zone, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional survey was used for the study, and a total of 372 secondary school students selected through a multistage sampling technique from seven government secondary schools in the Metekel Zone were participants. Data were collected via standardised tests, questionnaires interviews and focus group discussions, and analysed via descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and binary logistic regression. The findings revealed that the knowledge levels and attitudes of secondary school students towards environmental issues related to deforestation and climate change were low. The results from the regression model revealed significant correlations between students' knowledge and attitudes, except for personal interest in environmental matters. A notable correlation comprises age, gender, residence, the educational level of the students' parents, the family income level, and the social environment, access to information, the students' grade levels and the students' participation in school-based environmental clubs. The study also identifies key barriers to students' environmental knowledge and attitudes, including curriculum challenges, resource gaps, low awareness, emotional detachment and limited personal agency. To inspire pro-environmental behaviours among students, enhancing environmental education in various disciplines to address gender, age and grade level variations, along with proper content integration of deforestation and climate change issues, promoting problem-solving approaches, strengthening extracurricular activities such as environmental clubs, exposing students to media, fostering partnerships for place-based learning initiatives, organizing workshops, incorporating localised and experiential learning and providing teachers with specialised training and resources are acclaimed.