1,000 schools to become eco-friendly, says minister

ISTANBUL

Some 1,000 schools in Turkey will be turned into eco-friendly buildings as part of a project, Education Minister Mahmut Özer has said.

“Those revamped buildings will harvest rainwater and recycle waste from refectories to grow flowers,” Özer explained, noting that at least one school in 1,000 districts will be covered by the “Environment Friendly 1,000 Schools” project.

The minister also said that most of those 1,000 schools are elementary schools, where technologies that would generate energy and produce fertilizers will be deployed.

“Schools will meet their power needs with solar panels. The rainwater collected will be used in toilets, and water-saving systems will also be installed. Libraries will be built with 100 percent recycled materials,” Özer added.

The minister noted “zero-waste” libraries have been built in 328 schools to date.

The “Environment Friendly 1,000 Schools” project is part of a larger “Clean Schools Clean Energy Project.”

“Within the scope of this initiative, school staff will attend online training and classes regarding environment and climate until March 27. More than 20,000 personnel are attending the ‘Climate Change and Environment Training’ and another 20,000 are taking part in the ‘Waste Management and Zero-Waste Seminar,’” he said.

Since 2015, seventh- and eighth-grade students have been offered environment classes as a selective course, but the content of the course was widened to cover climate change and was renamed “Environmental Education and Climate Change,” Özer recalled, adding that sixth graders can also take this course and that the ministry updated the curriculum in cooperation with the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum.