Students at schools, colleges and madrasas will be given tree planting and care duties. They will plant saplings supplied by the government and look after them, and teachers will observe how the trees grow and how they are cared for.

The mark sheet (report card) given after the annual examination will include marks for tree planting and care. Students whose trees grow well with proper care will get higher marks.

The initiative has been taken to implement the BNP government's "One Child, One Tree" programme. It is set out in detail in the 180-day action plan adopted by the education ministry. The plan was finalised at a meeting on 24 March chaired by the Minister for Education and for Primary and Mass Education, Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon.

The action plan says that, to implement the "One Child, One Tree" programme, an administrative order will be issued to involve every student in tree planting every year as part of their education. Students at every school will plant trees at home, on school grounds and playgrounds and on vacant land nearby.

Students will learn to look after trees under teachers' supervision, and each child will then be made responsible for caring for his or her tree. Teachers will monitor the trees' growth, and marks for planting and care will be given in the environmental assessment section of the annual exam report card.

The plan says the supply of saplings must be ensured from the local forest department and agriculture office. Places to plant trees will be identified with the involvement of local union parishads, municipalities and city corporations.

To implement the plan, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) will soon issue instructions on "One Child, One Tree". A media campaign will also be run to raise awareness.

Setting out the aims, the plan says students will plant and care for at least one crore trees a year. This will increase environmental and climate adaptation capacity and at the same time build responsibility and leadership among students. Arrangements will also be made to publicise the students' success in the media, to encourage them further.

B M Abdul Hannan, director general (additional charge) of the DSHE, told Jagonews24: "The matter has been given priority in the 180-day action plan. An administrative order will be issued soon on the education ministry's instructions. The DSHE will give educational institutions full instructions on implementing the One Child, One Tree programme."

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