Knowledge and Opinions Amongst Youths in Secondary and Tertiary Education on Sustainable Development in Penang, Malaysia

Abstract

The implementations of sustainable development are a global trend and recently focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda. In ensuring the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda, youths play a vital role in spreading awareness, understanding, knowledge and good practices in sustainable development. Thus, this exploratory research aims to determine the level of knowledge and opinions of Malaysian youth towards sustainable development concept and issues. Furthermore, the level of knowledge and opinions of youth on sustainable development is important for their involvement in future decision-making. A survey on sustainable development concept and issues was conducted in 2015 at selected secondary schools and tertiary (higher) educational institutions in the state of Penang, Malaysia. Cluster sampling method was used whereby 50 respondents were randomly chosen from each selected place. Data were then analyzed using the software IBM SPSS Statistic version 22. The findings illustrated the presence of high level of knowledge especially on environmental dimension of sustainable development. The high level of sustainable development knowledge was reflected in youth’s opinions whereby they had positive and strong support for strengthening Malaysia’s sustainable development efforts. The findings of this study can serve as a baseline data to the sustainable development research.