School Plantation Drive Lags

Author: Adnan Lodhi
1 min read

LAHORE:

Government schools in several districts have failed to achieve the tree plantation targets.

According to sources, the authorities in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Chakwal, Gujrat, Narowal and several other districts ignored the Punjab School Education Department’s instructions to launch tree plantation as part of the provincial government’s efforts to curb pollution.

The department has asked the chief executive officers (CEOs) of all district education authorities to immediately submit the data of tree plantation in their areas.

The ambitious plan of the Punjab government to plant trees in more than 50,000 public sector schools across the province appears to have failed due to poor management.

Sources in the department said authorities in the education ministry could not ensure monitoring and motivation of the government school heads and students regarding the importance of the plantation.

An official of the school education department said the launching of the tree plantation campaign had been announced in January when the province was facing high levels of pollution.

The school heads and students initially showed enthusiasm in the tree plantation campaign but senior officials in the department and ministry did not monitor its progress and now there are reports that the initiative has not succeeded in a number of districts.

The official said the department had assigned the task of plantation to the school heads and students but not followed up the campaign.

He said unavailability of plants in several districts and lack of spare land in many schools had hampered the campaign.

The campaign failed in several districts because the posts of gardeners in the department had been vacant. Their absence also resulted in the wastage of a large number of plants because of lack of proper care and delay in the plantation in schools.

The official. said the education ministry had remained unaware of the problems faced in the plantation campaign.

It has come to light at the time of the evaluation of the whole exercise that the plantation targets have been missed badly in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Gujrat, Narowal, Multan, Kasur and even Lahore, the official added.

An official of the education ministry said schools department had asked the CEOs of all district education authorities to immediately submit data of the tree plantation.

Article (Opinion) published in the Express Tribune on 22nd March 2025

Previous Story

Zamung Kor, Panagahs To Get Budget Boost

Next Story

Impersonators Help Students Cheat In Exams

Latest from Blog

Outsourcing of Colleges: Teachers, Students continue Protests across KP

PESHAWAR: The province-wide protests against the proposed outsourcing of government colleges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have intensified as teachers and students jointly staged demonstrations, boycotted classes and warned of an escalation if the policy was not withdrawn by October 11, 2025. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Professors, Lecturers and Librarians Association (KPPLLA) had…

60,000 Students Unable To Attend School Due To Floods

LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat has said that around 60,000 children have been unable to attend school due to the recent floods. He further said that flood relief camps had been set up in 415 schools, where thousands of affected people were still living amid standing water in…

WHO Warns of Rising Vaping Among Pakistani Youth as Global Smoking Rates Fall

ISLAMABAD: As global smoking rates fall to their lowest level in decades, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that new nicotine delivery products—such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices—are rapidly spreading among youth in Pakistan due to loopholes in marketing regulations and the absence of national standards for these…

Khar Students Protest Lack Of Facilities In College

BAJAUR: The students of the Government Postgraduate College Khar here on October 7 staged a protest demonstration by blocking the main Bajaur-Mardan Artery to press for resolution of their issues. Scores of students attended the demonstration held outside the college’s main gate at the main Bajaur-Mardan Road. The protesting students,…

Floods Dampen Pakistan’s Growth Outlook

• World Bank cuts forecast by 0.5pc, predicts inflation may shoot to 7.2pc; exports to decline 1.5pc • WB official says removing barriers to women’s participation in job market can boost GDP per capita by 20-30pc ISLAMABAD: The World Bank on October 7 cut its growth forecast for Pakistan by…
Go toTop