Tree nurseries run by schools were often assumed to be a highly viable midpoint between centralised government nurseries and small private nurseries. Drawing on the experiences of three agricultural high schools in Ecuador, this paper showed that, in reality, efficient production of high quality seedlings required unfeasibly high inputs from teachers and students. The author argued that the primary focus of tree nurseries in agricultural high schools should be shifted from provision of seedlings for nearby farmers to education of students in tree propagation techniques, in tandem with development of a broader forestry curriculum, for which an institutional structure was suggested.