The Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation announces the launch of the Green Schools project
The first project stage will start in Almaty, where the Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation will install greenhouses in 16 public schools. In the next two years, Nur-Sultan and Shymkent will join the initiative by installing 40 more greenhouses. The first greenhouse was opened at school No. 177 of the Zhetysu District of Almaty.
In the new academic year, optional classes under this initiative will be held for pupils of grades 5-7 of sixteen public schools in Almaty. The total program budget for three years will be about USD 2 million.
Green technologies and ecological thinking are a global trend that is becoming an integral part of our daily life. Therefore, it is important to foster eco-culture in children and teach them to respect the environment from an early age.
“The Foundation has experience in implementing projects in the field of preserving the country’s green resources. In 2020, we carried out a large-scale reconstruction of the Main Botanic Garden of Almaty. We tried to attract the best experts in the field of crop production and agronomy, as well as farmers of the Almaty Region, engaged in organic agriculture, to the Green Schools Project. Our big goal is to introduce greenhouse classes into the school curriculum in order to ensure the project sustainability in the future,” said Marat Aitmagambetov, Director of the Bulat Utemuratov’s Foundation.
All greenhouses are equipped with modern drip irrigation, heating and lighting systems. Phyto-tapes 60 m long with blue and red diodes are responsible for the light that is useful for plants and support the biosynthesis and vegetation of plants, improve their growth and increase productivity. To prevent freezing of vegetables and berry crops in winter, infrared heaters were installed and a heating cable was laid in the soil. Operation of the heaters depends on the data of the indoor and outdoor temperature controllers. This allows setting the required temperature in the greenhouse in advance and turn on the heaters automatically when it drops. The heating cable is laid along the perimeter of the greenhouse and prevents soil freezing; its activation and deactivation is also controlled automatically. All this helps to minimize the impact of winter cold on plants. Heating and lighting are powered by electricity supplied by a non-combustible cable, all cable lines are laid in a protected corrugated pipe, and the connecting elements are protected by branch boxes.
“This is a great initiative. Almaty has become the first city in Kazakhstan to launch the Green Schools Program, and urban schoolchildren will have the opportunity to implement projects in an all-year-round greenhouse. I am sure that practical training within the elective and biology lessons will be useful and relevant,” said Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Akim of Almaty.
Working in greenhouses will add the school curriculum with practical lessons and will be an excellent opportunity for teachers to conduct interesting elective lessons. Schoolchildren will grow vegetables, berries and herbs, and the crop will be used in demonstration projects and contests between school teams.
