In the country, for a long time and persistently, there have been discussions at all levels about the problems in the schools. There are many issues — from the lack of textbooks to the dismal state of the school infrastructure. This is especially true for rural schools.
However, against this backdrop, there are examples of schools that, with the support of the Norwegian Society for Nature Conservation, were able to solve certain problems. These are the pilot schools of the SPARE Project (School Project for Application for Resources and Energy): Novo-Pokrovskaya No. 2 named after Baranov in the Issyk-Ata district of the Chui region and a school in the village of Ak-Terek in the Jeti-Oguz district of the Issyk-Kul region.
As part of the “Energy Saving for a Stable Future” Project of the “Clean Energy” Program, the windows in two pilot classrooms have been replaced with energy-efficient ones, and energy-efficient lighting has been installed in four rooms (sewing workshop, physics and chemistry classrooms, director’s office). A presence sensor has been installed in the sewing workshop. This work was carried out by “BIOM” — the national coordinator of the SPARE network in Kyrgyzstan.
BIOM also helped the school make heating more efficient. Previously, the second floor was almost unheated, and the temperature inside reached +11°C. The heating scheme was improved, the location of the heating network was determined, and the lost plan for the heating system was restored, after which it became possible to rehabilitate the existing heating network. According to the school director Farida Nizamudinova, the school administration received recommendations on its energy efficiency.
Also, as part of the “Clean Energy” Program, BIOM constructed a bio-toilet on the school’s territory, while in the junior school on the first floor — a toilet-septic with a “Genoa” bowl. Thanks to the installation of a solar collector on the roof of the school building, there is even hot water in the cafeteria during winter due to the sun, and the school has achieved savings on costly electricity while simultaneously improving sanitary and hygienic conditions.
“Unfortunately, as a deputy, I heard about the activities of ED “BIOM” for the first time. But today, as the initiator of budget legislation, I concluded: instead of systematically addressing the problems of 480 subsidized aiyl okmotu, where 70% of the country’s population resides, it is better to give local authorities more power locally,” said the member of the Budget and Finance Committee Elmyra Jumshlieva. “Today’s trip has convinced me that local activists are a great help to the country. Of course, the problems cannot be solved at the state level solely by their efforts and the projects of international organizations, but they definitely help solve it by 30%. Therefore, this positive experience of solving local issues needs to be communicated to the Ministry of Finance, which today does not conduct work on budgeting for local self-governance.”
The Chairwoman of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Deputy Ethics Aynuru Altybaeva, who leads the Women’s Forum of deputies, shared that she comes from a family of teachers and knows very well that these people are the rural intelligentsia. “They do not protest, but solve problems, putting their whole soul into it!”
“There are many problems in schools — the second home for our children — among them, the issue of the state of the physical school environment, sanitation, and hygiene is one of the priorities. It is sad that this issue is raised by NGOs, while for the state it is pushed to the background. I liked the pilot classes of ED “BIOM,” where normative lighting and ventilation are organized, especially using low-cost energy-saving solutions!”
Aynuru Toychievna promised to regularly raise issues of sanitation and hygiene, school infrastructure within the framework of the Women’s Forum. According to the deputy, significant funds are allocated annually from the state budget for the construction of schools, so why not utilize them properly, relying on the existing experience of ED “BIOM”?!
Elmyra Imanalieva, a member of the Education Committee, called the energy efficiency initiatives of the “Energy Saving for a Stable Future” Project a good example to follow. “Those in power and other schools should get acquainted with this experience,” the deputy believes.
Well, the problems have been voiced, and solutions have been experienced. Now it is up to the State!
