Caring for the future: students from the Faculty of Health and Physical Education launch an ‘eco-tuition fee’
On 30 October, near the main building of UzhNU, students and lecturers from the Faculty of Health and Physical Education planted twenty magnolia trees. The number of trees is symbolic, as the department recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. In addition to the magnolias, several thuja trees were also planted. The seedlings were provided to the faculty by the UzhNU Botanical Garden.
First- and second-year students, under the clear guidance of their lecturers, worked together to dig holes, carry water, plant the magnolias and happily take selfies.
Dean of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education Ivan Myronyuk explains: “The students approached the lecturers with a proposal to plant trees, and we, of course, supported them. They were inspired by the example of the Philippines, where a so-called ‘ecological tuition fee’ has been introduced. Every student at an educational institution is required to plant 10 trees. Thanks to this initiative, almost the entire Philippines has been greened. So our students decided to launch a similar campaign.”
The campaign was initiated by fifth-year student Myroslava Betsa and third-year student Lilia Mandzulych.
“The aim of our initiative is to introduce an ‘ecological tuition fee’ at the university. We want to involve not only students from our faculty but the whole of UzhNU in the campaign. This way, every first-year student will be able to plant and look after a tree even after they graduate. We hope that the city authorities will support the idea and allocate a plot of land to the university for our students to plant trees on. After all, we cannot stand idly by while humanity faces environmental problems,” says Myroslava Betsa.
Lilia Mandzulych says that everyone must take responsibility for the environmental situation and the future of the country as a whole. After all, many factors influence human health, and the environment in particular.
