BENGALURU: Government school students studying between Class 8 and 10 in the state might soon get marks for nurturing plants during the three years of their higher secondary level schooling. Department of Forest Environment and Ecology is all set to submit a proposal to the Department of Primary and Secondary Education in this regard. Confirming this, State Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister R Shankar said, “Considering the increasing level of pollution and decreasing number of trees, we have decided to encourage young minds to grow trees by educating them about the importance of nature.”
As per the proposal ready with the Forest Department, all children studying at government schools in the state in Classes 8, 9 and 10 will be given 10 saplings each free of cost. The children can plant them in the premises of the school, near their house or even on the sides of the road. However, after planting them, the children need to nurture them for the next three years.
The marks, however, will be based on how many plants will remain at the end of the third year when the children are in Class 10. People from the Forest Department will check on the plants once every six months. Explaining this, minister Shankar said, “If the child manages to retain all the 10 saplings at the end of the third year, he or she will be awarded with internal marks of 10.”
The saplings that will be given will include mango, guava, custard apple, chikkoo, jackfruit, neem, jamoon and gooseberry - varieties that grow easily.Forest department officials said that they also plan to ask Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board to issue certificates for Class 10 students by printing a photograph of the plant they nurtured.
Siddhartha varsity started this
This initiative to plant trees was started by Siddhartha University in Tumakuru where undergraduation students are given saplings that they need to nurture for three years. They are given graduation certificates along with the photograph of a plant they nurtured. Interestingly, the students who have passed out of the university still visit the campus to see the plant they nurtured.