Education for Sustainable Development: A Bedrock for Pre-Service Science Teachers’ 21st Century Skills in Nigeria

Abstract

For the past decades, the challenge of sustainable development continues to be a teething problem globally and in the mind of average Nigerians particularly. When a nation attains sustainable development that means economically, socially and for environmental factors of her economy she has reached her equilibrium level. Conversely, when hunger, poverty, insecurity, inequality, poor health management, child abuse and child trafficking, dysfunctional education, corruption, among others is ravaging the country, the idea of sustainable development cannot function effectively, and this may result to complex challenges. In the context of this paper, sustainable development is the development that meets the demands of the present without jeopardizing the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. Education for sustainable national development (ESND) aim at promoting and improving basic education for national stability, reorienting the existing educational system at all levels to address sustainable development issues, sensitizing and promoting public awareness and understanding of sustainability, training and skills development for the 21^st century skills globally. Education for sustainable national development views “education” as the only tool to attain sustainability of any developing nation such as Nigeria towards the actualization of 21^st century scientific skills in pr-service teachers. This paper focuses on the following topics: concept of education for sustainable national development, pre-service science teachers’ 21^st century skills, challenges facing the implementation of education for sustainable national development (ESND) in developed and developing countries, barriers to education for sustainable development in  Nigeria, summary, conclusions and recommendations.