RESUMO
Introduction: Primary schools are children's first social environments. Other people's attitudes towards environmental hazards play a key role in developing children's personality. This study aimed to identify and assess the environmental risks [such as emission of pollutants into the air, discharge of pollutants into water and soil, energy consumption, etc.] in Shohadaye Kork girl primary school in Kashan, Iran, and investigating the role of environmental education in the promotion of students' environmental knowledge
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, at first environmental hazards were identified by a checklist through field visits and observing students' activities, and then they were assessed through Preliminary Hazard Analysis [PHA] method. After that, the Risk Assessment Code 1 [RAC1] was calculated. By Considering the hazards involved, environmental education was presented and then RAC2 was calculated. Environmental awareness of 172 students was investigated by a questionnaire. SPSS v.19 was used for statistical analysis
Results: 26 environmental hazards were identified, including 22 acceptable and 4 unacceptable [critical] hazards; 21 could be directly resolved by proper education
The mean scores of students' environmental tests were respectively 5 and 18.21 before and after the education
After taking control of measures all hazards were placed within the acceptable range
Conclusions: Schools environmental management plays so important role in preparing students for environmental education that the results of this study showed a significant relationship between education and promotion of students' environmental awareness