Principal Secretary (PS), State Department for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Dr. Esther Muoria, Friday, joined the community in her former ACK, Ciamanda Primary School in Runyenjes Constituency, Embu, to plant fruit trees in marking this year’s Mazingira Day.
The school fraternity and community planted over 2,000 fruit tree seedlings, including hass avocado, mangoes, oranges and pawpaws, in the school compound and the neighbouring schools.
The PS implored parents to inculcate the culture of tree planting and nurturing among the young ones to embed environmental education in the hearts of young children, as well as assist the country in attaining the target of growing 15 billion trees by 2032.
She said the Government was leveraging schools to achieve the target by taking advantage of the big population of learners.
“As Government, we want to leverage schools, as they provide an easy space for getting to our target of 15 billion trees,” she said.
She reported that schools should not be treated as places for learning alone but as gardens for inculcating other values such as patience, care, responsibility and the importance of nurturing life through tree planting and nurturing.
“That single act of planting a tree can grow into a lifelong commitment to protecting the environment,” she said.
She called on the community to make tree planting a tradition and not a one-off event to progressively increase the country’s tree cover as a means of combating climate change.
The PS said protection of environment should be a sacred duty of every Kenyan for the sake of future generations
Consequently, PS Muoria said Mazingara Day should be treated as a call to action and a reminder that the environment is the livelihood of the nation, as it sustains the food and water consumed.
She said the responsibility to care for the environment was not confined to the government or experts but was a shared obligation for all Kenyans.
By Samuel Waititu
