Education and the countryside

The countryside, or rural environment, covers 80 per cent of the land mass of the United Kingdom, and houses 20 per cent of the total population. The health of the countryside is a matter for growing concern. The school plays a very prominent role in the countryside, where it has a much stronger presence than in the city or even in the town. In the countryside, traditionally, learning and intellectual aspiration could enable children to escape from the limited opportunities the land otherwise afforded, so that they could widen their knowledge and experience and transcend peasant status. There are many organisations who wish to concentrate on education for children about countryside or environmental issues. The Wildlife Trusts are some of the organisations most committed to nature education, much of it taking place in the countryside, but, as they are independently organised, their policies, practices and impact vary from region to region.