In this new era of education, institutes across the world are working on imposing more of practically-taught lessons for the students rather than theory-oriented ones. New subjects and lesson programs are also being introduced towards this direction. However, Practical or ‘Adventure’ education is still an alien concept in the Indian education system. There are various cases of misconceptions and barriers that are stopping Indian education system from accepting the concept of outdoor education or adventure education. However a lot of schools have started a concept of educational trips, on annual basis, but the concept is not exactly related to adventure education.
Learning from adventure education includes outdoor sports, exploration of natural places like caves and hills. During this type of outdoor education, a person becomes more adaptable to physical skills that may help way beyond adventures. So far, multiple universities in the USA, Australia and Canada offer a bachelor’s degree in courses like mountaineering, rafting etc. In India, there are a few institutes which provide certified courses in Adventure Education skills but no university has started with a full-fledged bachelor’s program in outdoor or adventure education.
In this era of technological development, it has become very much necessary to encourage the youth to experience outdoor learning and exploration. This is not only a lucrative career option but also a way in which one can know more about their surroundings and feel the fresh air away from polluted metropolitans.
In Mumbai places like Sanjay Gandhi National Park and start-up organisers like the Mumbai Voyagers group have been organising various outdoor adventure activities for people of all age groups. They organize overnight camps and exploration treks. It has also been scientifically proven that experiencing adventures in the open, will not only make one physically fit and active but it will also encourage a person to have a different outlook towards everything they come across on the daily, and can also encourage out of the box thinking.
Multiple schools have realised the importance of outdoor education exposure for the kids – along with the annual educational trips they have also started organizing regular exploration treks.
Awareness can play a key role in the development of adventure education in India. The more people know about its benefits, the more they will encourage others to take up adventure education. Because be it a kid or an adult, there isn’t a set boundary for learning new things in life. Where adventure education in that sense, is enhancing the way we look at the natural resources around us.
