Dubai: The Knowledge and Human Development Authority has plans for Dubai schools to go green.
The KHDA aims to create a policy which will see all new schools built to the highest environmentally-friendly standards. The authority also plans to set standards for the sustainability of existing schools.
Dr. Abdullah Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the KHDA, said: "Our plans for a pilot programme for green schools in the Dubai Schools Agency at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority is our way at a micro level to contribute to the fulfillment of the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to meet the planet's environmental challenges.
"Starting with the curriculum and then the infrastructure, we hope to do our part to immerse pupils in these [green] concepts from their first days of learning."
From September, a pilot scheme in seven public schools will begin to put Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into action. This is a system which introduces green issues into every subject and activity.
Pull-down lab
A group of education experts has visited the United Kingdom and Germany to gather ideas for helping Dubai's schools "go green".
In Germany, the group went shopping for lab equipment and furniture for the new government schools under construction.
They have ordered a "pull-down lab" which has everything needed for a science lesson hanging from a beam and is operated by the teacher. The lab equipment is attached to the beam, and gas and electricity is fed through it.
It is safe and the classroom can be used as a multi-purpose room, not just as a science lab.
By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter