TEHRAN – A total of 32 green schools are under construction across the country, aiming to promote energy management in the education sector, Mehrollah Rakhshanimehr, director of the Organization for Development, Renovation, and Equipping Schools, said.

Eco-schools, also known as green schools, bring a range of benefits, including waste management, waste reduction, biodiversity, energy, water, transport, health, global sustainability, healthy nutrition, citizenship, and climate change. Countries considering their own socioeconomic and cultural characteristics must be able to adapt these criteria into their own particular circumstances.

The materials used in these schools are nature-friendly, and each is built in four days and costs about 40 percent lower than the regular schools, IRNA reported on Saturday.

By managing the consumption of energy, water, and materials, eco-friendly schools will play an important role in the development of knowledge and the formation of environmental ethics, he further emphasized.

In fact, organizations today intend to minimize environmental damage by developing green buildings in cities and villages and managing energy, water, waste, and materials, he highlighted.

Rakhshanimehr went on to say that the country is facing problems in the field of energy that have reached their peak this year.

So that, energy-saving comes to the center of attention, in addition to culture promotion, construction is important and green management indicators should be observed in building schools, he said.

Many eco-schools in different parts of the country were built, among which, a school was opened in Tehran's District 5 with a green management approach, and is planned to make maximum use of solar energy and water recycling, he explained.

Earlier in March, Barekat Charity Foundation, affiliated to Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, inaugurated 100 nature-friendly schools across the country.

Current environmental problems are rooted in the lack of proper awareness and cultural weakness regarding the relationship between man and nature. Under such circumstances, environmental issues have only belatedly been recognized in school activities worldwide and led to the initiation of green schools. Effective school programs should not only help students to progress the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for responsible environmental behavior, but also have the potential to spread awareness of the concept.

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