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Students reap health benefits by planting veggies, flowers in schools
Seven-year-old Yashasvi Godbole, a Class 3 student of zilla parishad school at Sapgaon, 40 km from Kalyan, loves getting her hands dirty at the newly built kitchen
Seven-year-old Yashasvi Godbole, a Class 3 student of zilla parishad school at Sapgaon, 40 km from Kalyan, loves getting her hands dirty at the newly built kitchen garden on the school premises.
She along with other students plant flowers and vegetables with help from teachers.
“Every morning after reaching school, we rush to see if flowers and tomato buds have bloomed. We love seeing the flowers and vegetables grow. We have learnt the importance of vegetables,” she said.
The newly built kitchen garden in the ZP school in Sapgaon has leafy vegetables, brinjals and tomatoes.
Jyoti Belavle, teacher at the school, too loves spends time in the kitchen garden with children. “It is a good way of teaching students the importance of nature as they help us plant flowers and vegetables. The fresh vegetables are regularly used in mid-day meal.”
Around two kms away from Sapgaon, students of zilla parishad school in Desalepada, are eating healthy as leafy vegetables have been included in the mid-day meal. At times, vegetables are also distributed to households which have toddlers or pregnant women.
Vilas More, president, School Management Council, Desalepada, said, “During vacations or any other holiday, we ensure that vegetables do not rot or go waste. We pluck those and share it with the villagers based on their needs, giving it to families with pregnant women and toddlers. Our children have started taking initiative in gardening and some have also shown interest in planting trees at home as well.”
The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in 2019, asked all schools across the country to build and maintain kitchen garden or terrace gardens, both in rural and urban areas. In Thane district, around 379 kitchen gardens have been proposed by the government. Seventy schools have already built kitchen gardens while 30 schools are on their way to do so.
“I have noticed that children are more attentive in class as meal has become more nutritious. Students are showing improved enthusiasm towards various activities. The iron intake through leafy vegetables has improved their health,” said Datta Umate, teacher at Pathardi ZP school.
Some schools in the district, especially in rural areas, already have kitchen gardens, said Sangeeta Bhagwat, education officer, Zilla Parishad, Thane.
She added, “The initiative will ensure that children will develop the skill of growing vegetables and fruits. As of now, around 100 zilla parishad schools are developing a kitchen garden. Depending on the availability of space and provisions, the initiative will be extended to other schools.”
As per the guidelines, provision of seeds, saplings, organic manure, training and technical assistance under the scheme can be obtained by tying up with agencies such as Krishi Vigyan Kendras, department of agriculture/ horticulture, food and nutrition board, state agriculture universities and forest department.
