Minister of Education and Minister of Environment discuss enhancing cooperation
Mr. Mohamed Abdel Latif, Minister of Education and Technical Education, received today Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, to discuss enhancing cooperation between the two ministries to integrate school students into environmental work and root the culture of environmental conservation.
The meeting was attended from the Ministry of Environment by Dr. Emad Adly, Advisor to the Minister of Environment for Community Dialogue, National Director of the Small Grants Program and Head of the Egyptian Forum for Sustainable Development, Dr. Sherine Fikry, Assistant Minister for Coordination and Implementation of Environmental Policies and Head of the Central Administration for the Minister's Office Affairs, Ms. Yasmine Salem, Assistant Minister for Coordination and Governmental Relations, Eng. Mohamed Mustafa, Director of Training and Awareness at the Minister of Environment's Office, and Dr. Rahab Youssef, Director General of Culture and Awareness.
From the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, Ms. Sherine Hamdy, Advisor to the Minister for International Relations and Agreements and Supervisor of the Central Administration for the Minister's Office Affairs, Dr. Iman Hassan, Head of the Central Administration for Student Activities, and Dr. Akram Hassan, Head of the Central Administration for Curriculum Development attended the meeting.
At the beginning of the meeting, Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif stressed that the meeting comes as a continuation of the cooperation between the two ministries, stressing the ministry's interest in integrating modern environmental concepts into educational curricula, such as climate change, biodiversity and environmental sustainability, and teaching their correct concepts at a young age, in addition to the necessity of our students assuming social responsibility and integrating them into serving their environment, and applying them on the ground.
The Minister of Education added that the ministry is keen to cooperate closely with the Ministry of Environment in implementing all steps that would root the concept of environmental conservation in students' behavior, including activating the "Waste Recycling" initiative inside schools, in addition to the ministry's interest in continuing to plant trees in schools across the republic within the framework of the presidential initiative (100 million trees).
For her part, Dr. Yasmine Fouad appreciated the fruitful and constructive cooperation between the two ministries, hoping to complete the process of cooperation and build on the achieved successes, whether in the process of integrating the environmental dimension into educational curricula or participating in the waste management system within schools, and implementing cleaning and afforestation campaigns within them, in line with the Ministry of Education's orientation and the new thinking to develop schools, pointing to the efforts of the Ministry of Environment through its arms from regional branches in the governorates and civil society to raise environmental awareness in schools, through a group of diverse environmental activities.
The Minister of Environment explained the possibility of cooperation between the two ministries in the waste management system by expanding the dissemination of the idea of recycling waste in all schools across the republic and raising awareness among students of the value of waste, especially plastic and electronic waste, by forming a working group from the two ministries that is responsible for determining the names of schools across the republic and their geographical location, explaining that work will be done to expand the involvement of civil society to implement the aforementioned activities, and a plan will be developed by the Ministry of Environment to determine the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in these activities.
Dr. Yasmine Fouad also suggested holding a competition to select the best school in collecting and sorting waste throughout the year, similar to the annual competition launched by the Ministry of Environment on recycling, and distributing prizes to the winners through a major celebration. She explained that in parallel with the implementation of this competition, awareness seminars will be held throughout the year, thus motivating male and female students, raising awareness and developing positive behaviors towards the environment. She stressed that the school will be a promising model for maximizing the idea of recycling waste and implementing it on the ground, and a comprehensive presentation will be presented on how to implement this initiative. Dr. Yasmine Fouad also praised the Ministry of Education's cooperation in implementing tree planting campaigns in schools, and its keenness to provide the factors that help spread them in all public and private schools, explaining that the Ministry of Environment is implementing tree planting campaigns in various governorates of the Republic in cooperation with civil society, and the focus is on planting trees around schools to serve as a message to school students about the importance of planting trees with the aim of instilling a culture of tree planting and preserving the environment among young people and introducing them to the importance of preserving natural resources. Low-water-consuming tree species will be identified for planting and criteria for selecting those trees will be set according to the nature of each governorate, noting that this can be used to plant trees in schools and take care of them in a sustainable manner.
During the meeting, the two ministers reviewed the mechanisms of cooperation between the two ministries, through the "Waste Recycling" initiative inside schools across the Republic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Development and the relevant authorities, in addition to continuing to complete the presidential initiative (100 million trees), in confirmation of the presidential directives to care for the environment and increase environmental awareness among school students.
In this regard, the two ministers also agreed to hold awareness seminars inside schools in order to change behavior and motivate students inside schools, provided that schools are identified in each educational administration, as well as the need of each school for trees according to the available and appropriate space for the success of tree planting operations, as well as following up on the organization of camps to raise awareness among students about the importance of preserving trees, good planting methods, how to benefit from water, rationalize consumption, and take into account the use of low-cost tree species that have a high degree of tolerance to climate conditions, soil salinity, and water shortages and do not require much care.
For his part, Dr. Emad Adly explained that the school will be a center for changing society, so it will be important to launch an initiative from the Ministries of Environment and Education together, in cooperation with recycling companies, pointing out the possibility of the Sustainable Development Department participating within all educational directorates in implementing the aforementioned activities, stressing the need to determine the implementation mechanisms, suggesting that the application be carried out on a specific number of schools as a model to be generalized to all schools in the governorates of the republic. He also suggested the possibility of implementing the recycling initiative within schools through coordination with school principals and cleaning companies, which will receive the quantities collected from schools.