Panaji: After setting up kitchen gardens in schools across Goa, now, under the National Education Policy (NEP), govt and aided schools will get urban wildlife host corners on their campuses. Around 500 teachers teaching from Classes VI to VIII have been trained by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India-Goa, for the Goa state council for educational research and training (SCERT). Schools have started identifying a patch on campus where host plants will be grown for the habitat gardens.The patches will be allowed to deliberately grow without any manicuring, letting it host birds, insects, and small mammals like squirrels. The aim is to not just allow children to observe and learn wildlife conservation through projects under vocational subject of NEP, but to also offer patches of thickets to act as links for wildlife to thrive in urban areas, said Aditya Kakodkar, Goa state coordinator, WWF India-Goa.“Last year, 500 teachers were trained, mainly computer teachers, to help Class VI students learn about kitchen gardening as part of the vocational subject for NEP. Now, the same 500 teachers have been trained again about habitat gardens. Each student from Class VI to VIII will develop a folio from their observation of the habitat garden,” said Kakodkar.He said schools have already been provided a guide by WWF on host plants and how to develop gardens to attract butterflies.“Apart from this, the patch will deliberately be left without trimming or pruning, allowing it to be chaotic and letting nature take over. As the plants grow, teachers and students will introduce certain elements like broken tile pieces or wooden pieces, to provide hiding spaces to host insects and small animals. Then bird bath will also be introduced to attract birds,” said Kakodkar.He said these patches will also be able to encourage pollination of urban trees in the long run.“It is important to leave such small habitat patches untouched, otherwise we will never be able to hear bird songs and see dragonflies in urban areas. Children will also learn about the ecological services of each species like the importance of dragonflies in preying on mosquitoes. The habitat will be like a natural lab, where students learn by seeing,” said Kakodkar.Students participating in preparing village biodiversity register will also be part of the vocational education subject.Under the new subject, students from Class VI onwards are provided exposure to different fields like conservation and sustainability through projects like kitchen garden, school habitat garden, biodiversity register, water audit, hydroponics, and animal husbandry.
