The Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) since its inception has been organizing programmes to inculcate good environmental practices into students and pupils in Upper East.

The GEMP aims at reversing land degradation in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions.

The programmes include quiz competition on the environment, inculcating the habit of tree growing into school children and students as well as the formation of environmental clubs in schools in the Region.

Speaking at one of such quiz competitions held in Bolgatanga last Friday, which attracted four selected Junior High Schools from the Municipality, the Assistant Programme Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mr Osman Fusieni stated that since the programme implementation, it had not left out school, children and students.

He explained that it was good to catch them at their tender ages and groom them with good environmental practice, stressing that “this will make them become more environmentally conscious and disciplined when they grow up”.

Mr Osman said the five-year project, sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA), was also supporting and empowering communities to co-manage natural resources including water resources, energy resources and soil resources among others.

He said the project had also been supporting communities with livelihood programmes in the areas of guinea fowl, basket weaving, shea butter and beekeeping among others.

“Second cycle institutions including the Navrongo Senior High School, Bolgatanga Senior High School, Bolgatanga Girls Senior High and other schools in the region, through the project, had grown trees in their schools, which were doing very well and will be replicated in more schools in the Region.

“Next week we will be organizing another quiz competition in Bawku Senior High School,” he said.

The Bolgatanga Model Preparatory Junior High School emerged first in the quiz competition followed by the Great Victory Academy.

The third position went to the Saint John Junior High School whilst Mount Sinai Junior High School got the fourth position.