An increasing number of schools in Nanshan District have renovated their idle rooftop terraces into gardens and invited students to plant crops and flowers as an extracurricular activity.

On June 18, Zhao Hengrui, a grade three student at Xiangshanli Primary School in Nanshan District, after school followed his teachers to water the plants in the terrace garden on the rooftop of the teaching building. Zhao visited the garden every day to look after and take photos of the crops he planted, which includes corn, cucumbers and pumpkins.

Some students sold the harvested vegetables they grew to parents and other residents at concession prices on June 16, which gained popularity among the community.

The terrace was renovated into a garden last year and is now an innovative horticulture education base for the school covering an area of over 1,000 square meters. Students can plants spices, herbs and crops, observe seeds growing and take gardening classes at the base, including such skills as building a cucumber rack and pollinating pumpkin flowers.

At Yucai No.2 Primary School in Nanshan District, the idle rooftop terrace has been renovated into a 3,000-square-meter garden that is now home to lemons, pomegranates, jack fruit, carrots, and leafy vegetables planted by the students. The garden not only serves as the venue for students to learn gardening knowledge and skills after classes, but also provides fresh vegetables and fruits to the school’s cafeteria.

Teachers at the school have also found it interesting to give classes in the terrace garden instead of in the classroom. Zhang Ning, an art teacher at the school, lets her students sketch the plants and animals in the garden and holds that learning in nature can help them develop their aesthetic ability. Huang Mengqi, a head Chinese teacher at the school, agrees with her view. “Students can get some inspiration for writing from nature while taking classes in the garden,” said Huang.

Xuefu School in Nanshan District built a garden on its idle rooftop terrace in 2006 and has refurbished it in 2018. In addition to letting students work in the garden, the school also holds gardening and cooking competitions regularly to encourage students to practice their gardening skills at home.

So far, a total of 30 schools in Nanshan District have opened terrace gardens. The construction of terrace gardens marks an important move for promoting labor education in Nanshan District, as the district education authority has been promoting the renovation of idle spaces at schools into venues for students to get in touch with labor work since 2019, according to Zhang Lihong, a researcher at Nanshan District Institute of Education Science.

Zhang also calls for the integration of technologies and labor classes in the terrace gardens. “Along with acquiring basis horticulture skills in the gardens, the students should also gain an understanding of the smart agriculture industry and the application of new technologies in gardening works,” she said. (Wang Haolan)