From Classrooms to Coastlines: Why Early Education Can Transform the Future of Our Seas
If we want to protect our seas, we must start by educating children early.
By : Guest Post
Update: 2025-12-30 12:16 GMT
I was seven years old when I first realised that the ocean could be fragile. I remember watching a documentary on overfishing and feeling unsettled by how quickly human actions could erase entire marine ecosystems. That moment changed how I saw the world and eventually led me to tell ocean stories of my own. Years later, that early spark became the foundation for my documentary, Beyond the Catch, and for my belief that if we want to protect our seas, we must start by educating children early.
The problem is not addressed properly
India is a maritime nation, yet marine literacy remains limited in early education. Our oceans are taught as part of geography or biology, rarely as living systems that regulate climate, sustain livelihoods and shape cultural identity. As climate change accelerates, overfishing intensifies, and plastic pollution worsens, this gap in understanding has real consequences.
Conservation efforts often focus on policy or clean-up drives, which are essential but reactive. What is missing is a preventive approach—one that builds awareness before harmful habits are formed. Early education has the power to do exactly that.
What my documentary revealed
While filming Beyond the Catch in the Andaman Islands, where my mother grew up, I began to see marine conservation through a very different lens. The ocean I once knew as familiar and constant was changing. Fishermen spoke about declining catches, conservationists spoke about disappearing species, and policymakers spoke about the difficult balance between protection and livelihoods.
What struck me most was how rarely these interconnected perspectives are shared with young people. Environmental issues are often simplified, stripped of human context. Through the documentary, I wanted to show that sustainability is not about choosing one side; it is about understanding complexity and making informed choices.
Why early education changes everything
My work with Namma Bengaluru Aquarium further reinforced this belief. While interning there, I helped design interactive programmes that introduced children to native aquatic species and ecosystems. The response was immediate. When learning is hands-on and story-driven, children engage deeply.
This insight shaped initiatives like Trash to Treasure, a creative learning programme where children watched Beyond the Catch, discussed real marine challenges, and transformed waste into marine-themed art. When children connect learning to action, environmental responsibility stops being abstract.
Storytelling as a bridge to action
Data is important, but stories create empathy. When children hear fishermen describe how changing seas affect their livelihoods, or see how plastic waste travels from cities to coastlines, they begin to understand their own role in the larger system.
Beyond the Catch was created to start these conversations early, to encourage young viewers to ask questions rather than accept easy answers. Conservation, I have learned, is as much about people as it is about ecosystems.
Building the future from the ground up
Our oceans absorb heat, regulate climate and support millions of lives, yet their importance is rarely communicated in ways that resonate with young minds. Early education can change that by embedding sustainability into everyday learning, not as a subject to memorise but as a value to live by.
My journey, from watching a documentary as a child to creating one of my own, has shown me how powerful early exposure can be. If we want healthier seas tomorrow, we must begin in classrooms today. Because real change does not start at the coastline, it starts with what children learn, question and carry forward.
By Aashni Subramanian