In an eco-friendly tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 151st birth anniversary, more than 4,000 students of Sharjah Indian School made his iconic round-framed glasses with recycled paper, used matchsticks and cardboards to create his famous charkha and paper plates to depict the three monkeys.

The students ranged from classes 1 to 9, the Khaleej Times reported.

Craft teacher, Rashida Adil, who is holding all her classes remotely, said: "We decided to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 151th birth anniversary in an eco-friendly way as that's what the leader always propagated.

"So, I started this project with 750 students from Grade 8 and 9 where I taught them to sketch and paint on old newspapers."

The teacher said she had planned to dedicate a wall in her school to Mahatma Gandhi by putting up paintings and art creations made by students using eco-friendly materials, but due to Covid-19 pandemic, the school has advised students to opt for distance learning.

She later decided to engage the younger classes and sent out a plan to teachers of Grade 1-7 to start different craft projects based on Gandhi and his teachings.

As a personal homage, Rashida created an artwork, showing Gandhi on his charkha, using around 1,000 recycled buttons.

She gifted it to the Indian Association of Sharjah..