Secondary School Students to Plant 1,000 Trees to Check Desertification

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

About 500 Government Day Junior Secondary School students in Yana, Shira LGA of Bauchi State, are set to begin planting and nurturing two tree seedlings to maturity.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had in 2019 supported the school to include climate change in the academic curriculum, which saw the students establishing a school garden with different kinds of trees to curb desertification and preserve the environment.

UNICEF also supported the initiative by constructing a solar-powered borehole to enable the students to water the garden continuously.

Some of the students who spoke to journalists during an activity organised by UNICEF to mark this year’s International Children’s Day, Umar Magaji, a JSS3 student of the school, said they had learnt a lot concerning the preservation of the environment.

He said they were taken through theory and practical aspects of preserving the environment, especially planting and nurturing trees in school, at home and within the community.

Apart from nurturing the tree garden in the school, which has cashew, guava and other types of trees, Umar said he has passed the knowledge to his brothers at home.

Maryam Yusuf, another student in JSS2, spoke on the benefits of planting trees within the environment and the need to plant trees continuously.

Two teachers, Auwal Maisalati and Baba Umar, told journalists that UNICEF had earlier trained and prepared them to teach the knowledge and the attitude of preserving the environment.

“We had to mobilise our students to control a part of the community that was threatened by erosion when we noticed the danger. We are already set to give two seedlings to each of the 500 students in the school to plant this year and continue to nurture them,” Baba Umar disclosed to newsmen.

To round off the activities, the Bauchi Field Office of UNICEF and the Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) organised a quiz competition on climate change for three secondary schools at Oricon Suites, Azare, Katagum LGA.

The schools that participated in the quiz competition were Government Day Junior Secondary School, Yana, Shira LGA; Government Junior Secondary School, Katagum LGA; and Government Junior Secondary School, Anguwan Hadejia, Shira LGA.