Perceptions of the research scholars regarding education for sustainable development (esd) in Pakistan

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is not a mainstream theme either in school education or in higher education in Pakistan. In November, 2016 the Institute of Education, Lahore College for Women University, Pakistan organized an international conference on “Building Knowledge Competencies for Sustainable Development (SD) in Asia: Achieving the Goals of Life-Long Learning”. The conference received ninety two paper abstracts. However, only a few articles directly addressed research problems related to ESD. In response, the study detailed here was conducted to investigate the perceptions of research scholars regarding SD and ESD to understand the reasons for lack of research in the field of ESD in Pakistan. The study employed survey method to collect data from the research scholars who presented their papers at the conference. The respondents were from departments of education of five Pakistani universities. Forty two scholars participated in the study. The data were coded and categorized under pre-determined categories. Data indicated that majority of the research scholars were not familiar with the concepts of SD and ESD and their importance. They generally perceived ESD as a set of programmes which sustain over time; and sustainability competencies as those abilities which would help the students in their future employment. The study findings indicate a need of mainstreaming ESD in Pakistan so that research scholars become aware of the concepts of SD and ESD. This awareness might help them identify ESD relevant research problems.