The authorities of the Education Department will be directed to develop ‘Shalavana’ (school garden) in all schools across the state, said Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Visweshwar Hegde Kageri.
He was speaking after inaugurating the Vriksha Laksha Andolana (one lakh sapling planting campaign) organised by the City Municipality in association with the Department of Forest and Department of Horticulture, on the premises of Higher Primary School in Gopala Extension on Sunday.
He said that there are about 70,000 schools with about one crore children in the state. The Education Department, gram, taluk and zilla panchayats along with the public should unite to develop gardens in all the schools. This will make the children aware of the environment and give responsibility to nurture the saplings, he added.
He said that he would assign the responsibility to plant and nurture the saplings to teams in schools. He would also direct the headmasters, cluster officers, DDPI and BEOs to be responsible for the development of gardens in school.
He said that it is the collective responsibility of every citizen to conserve the environment. Experts opine that because of deforestation, there is an increase in temperature across the globe.