Under the theme "Eat fruit, gain strength", Palpara Government Primary School in Pirojpur Sadar upazila held a fruit festival featuring 60 kinds of local fruit.

The school organised a discussion meeting and fruit festival in its auditorium at midday on Tuesday, 23 June. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Alamgir Hossain attended as chief guest.

DC Alamgir said: "More importance must be given to local fruit. Local fruits have a lot of nutritional value. Foreign fruit may contain chemicals, which increase health risks for children."

Palpara Government Primary School head teacher Soheli Asfia said: "We hold a fruit festival every year so that the children can recognise local fruits and learn about their nutritional value. This year the festival featured more than 60 kinds of fruit."

Class five pupil Srabani said: "There is a fruit festival at school. I really like seeing the fruit. I had never seen so many fruits together before. I tasted a little of every one."

Guardian Nilufa Begum said: "I really liked such an unusual event at the school. The children are very happy too. Local fruit should be given more importance than foreign fruit."

The event was chaired by District Education Officer Molla Bakhtiar Rahman. Present were Additional Deputy Commissioner and Municipal Administrator Mahmudur Rahman Mamun, Upazila Education Officer Shahidul Islam and Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Shawkat Hossain.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.