Education

Gulf News, By Noor Nazzal, Published: 16:00 October 8, 2013

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/education/eco-friendly-school-to-open-in-ajman-1.1240799

Dubai: A new eco-friendly school which will include an organic farm and where students acquire knowledge by interacting with nature will open its doors for students in April next year in Ajman.

The launch was announced during a press conference held in Dubai on Tuesday.

At full capacity, the Dh50 million Habitat School, which will follow the CBSE curriculum, will be able to take in 6,000 students. Admissions for the first phase will start from next month and include 1,800 students from kindergarten to grade six only. The second phase will start in the academic year 2014/15 and will include students up to grade 12.

Habitat School will come up on 10 acres of land and include a 50,000 square metre organic farm with a greenhouse where students will learn about plants and farming, Shaikh Sultan Bin Saqr Al Nuaimi, chairman of the school and advisor to the undersecretary of the Minister of Economy in Ajman, said.

“Students will take farming classes which will be integrated within the curriculum. We will also have small forests were students can learn about the benefits of medicinal plants,” he added.

The produce from the organic garden will be given to charity to encourage philanthropic work among students.

Green building

Shaikh Sultan also said that the school will facilitate water and electricity preservation, and thereby comply with the government’s move towards green buildings.


Personal  Thoughts

This school has taken the step towards eco sustainability, this I strongly believe is due to the influences of the government and there more towards "green buildings". 

I would expect the school to reduce there emission, using sola power, recycling and using books that have been made using recycled materials possible vegetable printing ink. If enough school requested books produced in this way then the companies who suppled them would have to rethink there approach also.

I do think that it is important for student to learn about where there food comes from, this will also give them the opportunities to be more self sufficient in the future. Giving the proceeds to charity will support the community and build social links. 

This has all been influenced by the government, this is what we need to lead our country like others forward in a more sustainable - eco friendly way.