A target has been set for schools to plant trees before leaving the National School Championships taking place at various places across the country.
The Principal Secretary State Department of Basic Education Dr. Belio Kipsang, encouraged the Kenya Secondary School Sports Association to ensure participants including students and officials, plant trees before leaving the competitions.
He was speaking in Kakamega during the official opening of 2023 term two secondary school games, bringing together schools across the country.
In Kakamega, KSSSA has set a target of planting 2000 trees, 1200 trees at Kakamega School and 800 trees at Mukumu Girls High School, where the sporting activities are taking place.
The PS said the programme was in line with the Government’s greening project, which is aimed at planting 15 Billion trees by 2030 to manage the effects of climate change.
The greening programme will also be undertaken in Embu, Kisumu and at Dedan Kimathi University, where other National Co-curricular activities are taking place.
The Director Field Coordination and Co-curricular Activities at the Ministry of Education Hassan Duale, said the National Music Festival taking place at Dedan Kimathi University is the biggest school event in the Horn of Africa, with over 120 000 students participating.
A total of 1264 students, including 592 girls and 672 boys, are participating in the National secondary school competitions in Kakamega.
He noted that participation in the National Co-curricular activities is very high and very competitive.
“In relation to our presidential directive related to greening and planting trees, we have incorporated tree planting for this particular activity; we want to plant as many trees as the number of officials and students,” he said.
By Moses Wekesa
