Sustainable Education through Renewable Energy in the Governorates Affected by the Syrian Crisis As Jordan strives to take its place as a modern country on the world map, education takes an even greater role in raising the future generation. A country with few natural resources, Jordan looks to its human resources as the key element for its success in the markets of the region, and the prosperity, health, and security of its people. The country envisions a population of responsible, self-confident, and innovative learners. The ability of the educational system to develop and nurture creativity and innovation among learners will be a cornerstone that contributes to the development of a knowledge economy in Jordan. Despite the very high enrollment rates and the availability of access to schools across the Kingdom, the quality of education remains uneven. The average achievement in urban areas is higher than that in the rural and more remote areas. One of the major challenges of the Ministry of Education is to provide the schools with the required budget to provide students with a safe and healthy learning environment conducive to maximum learning in all schools across the Kingdom. The schools in remote areas lack sufficient electricity to operate daily services such as providing efficient heating and cooling systems within the classrooms lighting the classrooms, connecting computers and online learning, in extreme temperatures and lack of sufficient financial resources to improve the schools’ environment. A further challenge is, the large influx of Syrian refugees to Jordan, since 2011 has increased the load on the Kingdom’s already limited resources. Jordan hosts 1.5 million Syrians, 655,365 are refugees . The country in general, and its northern communities in particular, have come under severe stress as institutions and services are overwhelmed with the increasing demands placed upon them by the growing population. Key drivers of tension between the hosting communities and the refugees at the micro-level are safeguarding livelihoods and competition for income-generating opportunities; the struggle to find adequate, affordable housing; and challenges in the education sector such as difficulty in accessing education and a deteriorating learning environment. These drivers of tension are also prevalent on the macro-level . Jordan’s generous provision of free access to public schools to Syrian children has also increased the pressure on primary schools in intake areas. This in turn poses challenges to ensuring a healthy learning environment, and has stoked inter-communal tension in some towns where Jordanians see Syrian refugees as increasing class sizes, and straining school resources. Some Jordanians who had enrolled their children in private schools but could not continue to send them for financial reasons reportedly found nearby public schools were full due to increased Syrian enrollment further compounding the social tension between the host communities and the Syrian refugees. The link between education and poverty is a complex yet highly interdependent issue where education can be a driving factor in pulling families out of the cycle of poverty. Providing education will reduce the risks of early marriage and military recruitment of children, stabilize economic futures by increasing earning potential, and ensure that today’s youth will be better equipped to confront their uncertain futures. Moreover, the Syrian crisis has exacerbated long-standing structural challenges in the energy sector in terms of supply, demand and management. Securing a sustainable energy pathway for Jordan is more critical today than ever. The Government of Jordan has made progress in this regard, through a National Energy Strategy, currently under implementation, and the adoption, in 2012, of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Law, that provides incentives for sustainable energy solutions. A priority is to achieve local energy production, mainly by scaling-up renewable energy initiatives and improving energy efficiency across the board. This project aims to contribute to the overall efforts aiming at mitigating the impact of the Syrian crisis in line with the Jordan Response Plan (JRP) focusing on the Northern governorates (Mafraq, Ramtha, Irbid, and North of Balqa’a Governorates) that are most affected by the Syrian crisis. This will be achieved through the use of Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) systems to reduce the growing energy demands improve the learning environment in schools, increase enrollment and retention of Jordanian and Syrian students, improving the livelihood of surrounding communities and promote the social cohesion at the same time. Deliverables Description: 1.1 A clean source of energy is provided for the selected schools 1.1.1 The project contracted the National Energy Research Centre (NERC) in order to assess the current electricity consumption at the selected 100 schools and specify the needed PV systems, heating and cooling systems and lighting systems to reduce the electricity bills to almost zero and improve the learning environment at the same time. The (100) schools were selected at the northern governorates in cooperation with Ministry of Education based on certain selection criteria such as the value of electricity bills, overcrowding, poverty, number of Syrian students, elementary schools and number of teaching shifts. 1.1.2 Accordingly, three tenders were released and evaluated through an evaluation committee that gathered NERC, Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Public works. The three tenders were awarded on May and July 2017 and the work is in progress for the 100 schools. Support rendered by the Ministry of Education to this particular project made it possible to pay an outstanding balance identified in a concluded electric survey (JOD 126,007.0) due to the Electric Company. While this amount could have severely influenced available budget, MoE support made it possible that suppliers proceeded with the schedule as initially planned. 1.1.3 Several lessons learned can be documented from this experience. An important one is the necessity of schools’ roofs inspection before moving ahead with installing the PV systems or even the selection of the school in the first place. An agreement was signed with The Royal Scientific Society (RSS)/Buildings department in order to supervise the inspection of the selected schools’ roofs. When the roofs were inspected through laboratory testing, it was found that some of the schools’ buildings’ were week and can’t handle the new PV systems especially if we added the wind force and other weather factors. Some of the schools are 70 years old. Therefore, PAF’s team in cooperation with RSS’s team and the Ministry of education has extensive site visits to the northern governorates to select 19 new schools that are less than 20 years old and have similar capacities to the replaced ones. These schools have to go through NERC’s assessment in order to specify the required heating/cooling systems and PV capacities. An amendment to NECR agreement was crucial in this case to ensure proper technical supervision. 1.1.4 Currently, the Ministry of Renewable Energy has included the roofs’ inspection as a requirement and perquisite for installing the PV systems to ensure the safety of students and sustainability of the installed systems. So far, 51 schools have been equipped with PV systems, heating/cooling systems, 30 are under RESS/NERC approval and process, and the remaining 19 schools have been selected and will go through NERC’s assessment to specify the needed systems capacities. 1.1.5 The project activities have crossed with the activities of another project which is the National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (NAJMAH). This project focuses on improving the living conditions of Syrians and Jordanians through employing them in the maintenance activities of schools. This has interfered with the maintenance activities of our contractors. In order to maximize the benefit, the project decided to leave the schools maintenance for NJAMAH and utilize the saved money to benefit other schools. 1.1.6 According to the above clarified new requirements, it is expected that the work at the 100 schools will be completed by April 30 2019. This will directly benefit 48,351 Jordanian and Syrian students of which are 20,662 boys and 27,689 girls, 39,496 are Jordanian students while 8,855 are Syrians. 1.2 Improve learning environment at the selected schools: 1.2.1 The 100 selected schools profited further through their inclusion in the Eco-Schools program; where an international certified body is teaching students how to be active in changing others actions by rationalizing energy use through following best practices. Focal points and teachers from each school were selected, with assistance from the Royal Marine Conservation Society (JREDS). Focal points and teachers will remain in constant communication with the project team and they have participated in a training to gain further knowledge on climate change, energy challenges in Jordan, best practices and tools for rationing energy use and reducing costs and CO2 emissions as well as how to organize and implement team building activities between students from different backgrounds to ensure social cohesion and interaction. 1.2.2 So far, JREDS managed to complete the following; - The international Eco-Schools program was introduced to 100 schools. - TOT for 200 teachers (125 females and 75 males). - (9) Focal points volunteers appointed to follow up on activities in all selected schools. - (3,127) students were educated through the Eco-schools program. - Ran capacity building programs for the hired staff regarding action plan development, eco-schools and Shamouseh. - Printed and distributed promotional stickers in the “Turn off and save” (Tafeha o benhawesh) energy saving program across targeted schools. - Awareness campaign was launched via media outlets; Facebook, the press, e-letters and interviews organized to promote effective energy practices. 1.2.3 In so doing, three components were brought to life; Shammousa Manual, distributed to schools outlining all relevant information related to renewable energy and the environment, development and distribution of (10,000) copies of an interactive CD game to the 100 schools, and the Educational Toolkit which was developed for a Virtual Reality program. 1.2.4 The Virtual Reality educational screening was developed in parallel with the Eco-schools program to create a live experience for students about RE/EE and to teach them about the environment and energy in an engaging approach. These measures have fully engaged students and introduced them to best practices on energy saving and promoted green culture. Students participated in an interactive virtual reality video that takes viewers on a dream like journey through space to better understand the operation of PV systems demonstrating how energy is generated and saved. So far (3,127) students experienced the video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jHP5YmgZXs&feature=youtu.be 1.2.5 To further support the awareness among students that are younger in age, an interactive song is under development which will be broadcasted on famous children channels to reach out to the largest possible number of children. 1.2.6 A website was developed through a specialized media company in order to map out the location of schools that are currently receiving funds and/or assistance related to environment or renewable energy and by whom. The map will also include schools that are in need of assistance in order to ensure no overlapping of schools or donors prioritizing similar projects. The 100 selected schools have also been marked on Google Maps for future reference. The project team visited Queen Rania Center for IT (QRCIT) to explore possible cooperation channels, QRCIT host all the servers responsible for the schools’ data for in the Kingdom, their students and staff. It was agreed that the project will develop its own website for the schools equipped with RE&EE systems but the server will be hosted by the Queen Rania Center to ensure more sustainability. The first draft of the website is launched. http://solarjordanschools.com/ 1.2.7 Remedial classes and drop out of schools The project in cooperation with the local CBO’s have organized Summer remedial classes supported in the northern governorates, targeting Jordanian and Syrian students. Arabic, English and math lessons targeted out of school children, enabling them to apply for placement tests. A further professional program was developed in cooperation with “Youth Without Borders” CBO who are very active in Ramtha and one of the project CBO’s. They are going to cooperate with the Ministry of Education to attract 100 students who left school; those 100 students will be able to attend remedial classes over a three month time period and will then be enrolled back in schools. So far, 500 students have benefited from this program: 276 boys (96 Jordanians and 180 Syrians) and 224 girls (101 Jordanians and 123 Syrian). 1.3 Awareness Workshops In Communities: 1.3.1 Outside the school sphere, the project has completed a CBO mapping activity where (60) CBO’s were visited and assessed by our team. Almost (10-15) CBO’s were selected for the awareness activities while four CBO’s have been selected to further enhance the local green initiatives and employment. 1.3.2 The host communities are actively engaged in conducting awareness workshops in cooperation with the selected women CBO’s. Thematic topics address social cohesion and best practices on renewable energy that target Syrian and Jordanian women who will in turn spread awareness to their respective communities. In 2018, the project managed to conduct 100 workshops in Ramtha, Irbid, Mafraq and North Shouneh (50 days on social cohesion and 50 days on energy awareness). 1.3.3 Evaluating the pre and post surveys demonstrated the knowledge gained and the new positive attitude of 3,974 people of which are: 3,182 women and 792 men (2,854 Jordanians and 1,120 Syrians). 1.4 The role of women-led CBO’s in empowering women, reducing poverty and promoting the green culture in the surrounding communities 1.4.1 Forged partnership with four women CBO’s were established; in Mafraq, Ramtha, Sareeh/Irbid and the Jordan Valley, to develop their organizational and service minded skills for their communities. Women and youth employment is embedded within the activities through small income generating projects and the introduction of RE&EE technologies in close partnership of the private sector: - Two energy shops were created and equipped to showcase renewable energy and energy efficient technologies. The showrooms are managed by women CBO’s and employ youth from the local community. - Revolving funds for the local community to purchase RE&EE systems for their houses in order to reduce their electricity bills and reduce CO2 emissions by mainly using PV systems and solar heaters. So far, more than 50 families have benefited from the provided services such as solar heaters, AC’s that save energy as well as other systems that have reduced their energy bills. - Coordinated with JREEEF who partially support the installation of the PV systems and solar heaters so that the remaining value will be covered by the CBO’s through the revolving fund mechanism. Our plan is to collaborate and make the process clear and more transparent for local communities in the northern governorates therefore becoming a realistic option for them. - Youth trained on RE&EE and teams run energy audits in their communities, raising awareness and promoting the added value when adopting those technologies. The teams are working in different environments and can tailor required equipment for each setting. - These initiatives have managed to employ 15 youths both male and female from the local communities. - The honey production project was launched, women were trained and a showroom was built to market the products. - To ensure synergies in different programs, one CBO was supported with a solar pump in an existing water purification plant. The plant now runs a full eco-system. - Equipped training halls were and will be used for training and awareness for the local communities. These halls will act like a hub for the local community members, to announce the CBO’s available services under the project as well as be used for different renewable energy and energy efficiency awareness events. So far, four workshops were conducted which targeted 500 citizens (male and female). - Linkages between the CBO’s and the local authorities are formed for future cooperation and support. - The CBO’s premises are maintained and equipped with necessary furniture and equipment in order to improve services and to ensure consistent income generation by renting out the facilities. 1.4.2 The above small initiatives have proved their success and the positive impact in terms of youth capacity building, employment and long standing green business models. Thus, the project has decided to benefit an additional CBO in Mafraq (making it the fifth) in order to expand the benefits to additional communities. 1.4.3 Forged cooperation and support with other projects that are funded by the Dutch Ministry such as the hydroponic agriculture that is implemented by Eco-Consult Company. Our project has provided one of our CBO’s with off-grid PV system for the Hydroponic unit provided by Eco-Consult to reduce their energy bill by 100% from JOD 300.0 to Zero. 1.5 Vocational Training Centers (VTC’s) 1.5.1 To sustain the green job’s creation efforts, and by following the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Princess Alia Foundation (PAF) and the VTC’s, the project has equipped three of the main vocational training centers with on-grid and off-grid educational PV systems. - A one-week ToT session was organized by the EU TA II program manager for 5 teachers. The ToT was crucial in order for the teachers to impart to youth how to install and maintain the RE & EE systems and expand the benefits for all communities. - Energy curriculum training material was developed (in cooperation with the EU) where 250 copies were printed and distributed to VTC’s. - Photo-voltaic education simulators (on/off grids) were installed in 3 VTC’s in the northern governorates; Irbid, Jordan Valley and Mafraq. - Educational tool kits were developed and will be distributed to graduates. - 100 students; 40 females and 60 males, enrolled in a 6 month RE&EE VTC training program. Graduates shall receive a ‘skilled’ level diploma. 1.5.2 The Employment Application is under process, it will become a platform that connects the trained youth and possible employers. This application will be open to all in order to facilitate job opportunities. 1.6 Lobbying and Advocacy 1.6.1 Signing partnership MOU’s with different parties; VTC’s, Mercy Corps, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development to ensure their cooperation and support for the project. 1.6.2 PAF has managed to lobby for the inclusion of RE systems in building codes for future schools. Furthermore, it is in the process of changing the current school electricity tariffs to a lower rate as they are currently being charged with a commercial tariff (which is the highest). 1.6.3 The project has signed two contracts with two different experienced consultants. The first consultant will follow the establishment and set-up of a central/general fund, where every school can allocate their energy savings/earnings in one location. By equipping schools with RE&EE systems, they will be provided with free and clean energy for the next 25 years, allowing them to create a surplus of produced energy that can be sold to electricity companies and to transfer savings made to this trust fund. As a start, this was agreed upon and supported by HRH Princess Alia through meetings and discussions held with the Ministry of Education. They assigned two consultant one will follow through with meeting with the relevant stakeholders. 1.6.4 The second consultant will tackle the carbon trade mechanism in cooperation with the Ministry of environment as the installed systems will reduce CO2 emissions by almost 5,000 tons annually. The consultant will follow this matter with the Parliament. This will be a valuable opportunity that is applauded by the Ministry of Environment as Carbon Trade has been on hold for some time and there is a need to re-activate this topic and look for new mechanisms that are in the best interests of Jordan. 3) Are the target group engaged in the implementation of the project? Yes, Intensively. Please elaborate: - The intensive awareness workshops for the local communities surrounding the schools had mobilized the community to be part of the project activities and they are actively inquiring on educational courses to get better understanding on available technology and means of energy savings. - Introduce the revolving fund model at CBO’s to ease the economic burden: participating associations engaged in managing fund creation and operation. Once active, community members are sensitized on process and began applying for interest-free loans to finance renewable energy technologies at homes, shops and farms with confidence in the investment made and revenue on the longer term. - Renewable energy showrooms are established and illustrate RE technologies: shops display renewable energy products that the community members can purchase through an interest-free payment system, they have started utilizing the educational material in the shops to learn more on RE and EE. - CBO energy audit teams: recruited focal points and volunteers trained and tasked with energy audits are actively promoting the audit exercise, sensitizing community and illustrating saved electricity bill amounts after installing RE technology. - Community members gain confidence in RE concept and accrued savings, community members approached CBO’s to request audits at their homes and businesses and started apply for revolving fund loans. - RE&EE education and certification: youth in communities enrol in training module at the local vocational training centres to qualify for future green jobs. Due to the introduction of practical and theoretical training some post-graduate students are also enrolled. - Eco-school programs: students and teachers are enthusiastically participating in responsible energy practices and are holding science fairs and organizing events to celebrate achievements. As a result, schools falling out of the targeted lists in communities are expressing interest in participating in similar activities. - Parents-teachers councils were created in targeted schools to organize additional awareness sessions in communities while environment clubs were created and became part of the school system. - The remedial classes for students who dropped-out of school and their support in enrolment after the three month period of classes have ended. - The close cooperation with relevant stakeholders such as the VTC’s, Parliament, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment. 4) Are the envisaged aims and results of the activity realised? Yes. To what extent? satisfactory Elaboration: Most outputs have been completed or are running on schedule without delays in agreement with the set timeline. Qualitative indicators: - Introduced an innovative activity; virtual reality, to students in 5th and 6th grade proved to be significantly impressive for the learning experience. Particularly for RE&EE. The model could effectively provide an impactful experience to children in common settings where traditional means of education dominates the learning experience; (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jHP5YmgZXs) - Eco-Schools is the largest international school program promoting sustainability – the program starts in the classroom and expands to the community by engaging generations in action-based learning. Through this program, young people experience a sense of achievement at being able to have a say in the environmental management policies of their schools, ultimately steering them towards certification and the status associated with the Green Flag award. - Established environmental clubs and committees in schools (15 to 20 students aged 10-15) which support the creation of local change agents promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency practices. - Teachers are empowered to organize awareness sessions and diverse initiatives through a participatory approach with students and have created local councils. - Income generating projects supported employment in communities, provide skillsets to beneficiaries and work on improving standard of living for families. - Provided solar powered water purification systems and logistical equipment and allow local groups to benefit from these systems by reinvesting profits into their communities. - Empowered CBO’s to better serve communities and promote RE&EE technologies through different models; revolving fund, awareness sessions and energy audit exercises. - Connected CBO’s with local authorities to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and create partnerships. - Established energy shops that are managed and run by CBO’s. - Supplied targeted VTC’s with necessary manuals on RE&EE, these were used to train community members, men and women, Syrians and Jordanians, on installation and maintenance. - Established an energy audit team to provide audits for households, farms and local private companies. In the 5 CBO’s a total of 15 volunteers are involved. These energy audits help community members understand their energy spending habits and patterns to modify them in order to reduce energy bills and raise awareness. - Promoted RE&EE in a local youth conference; the Arab Noor Conference, on supporting local businesses and young entrepreneurs. Quantitative indicators (segregated by nationality and/or gender if applicable): 1. Schools program Total number of schools 101 Total number of students 48,351 Ages 10-15 Total number of Jordanian students 39,496 Total number of Syrian students 8,855 Total number of Male students 20,662 Total number of Female students 27,689 Total number of Teachers 2,626 Schools equipped with RE&EE systems 51 Capacity building programs conducted 7 Questionnaires used to measure program adoption 1500+ Students reached by eco-schools DIRECT training 3,127 Teachers DIRECTLY targeted with capacity building programs 65 (70% female) Stickers distributed for the “Tafeha o benhawesh” energy savings program 10,000 (1250 per intern) CD’s distributed to students 10,000 VR screening 6800 2. VTC program Number of VTC’s 3 Total number of trainees 103 Total number of Jordanian trainees 94 Total number of Syrian trainees 9 Total number of Male trainees 64 Total number of Female trainees 39 Total number of Trainers 5 3. CBO’s activities Number of CBO’s supported by the project 5 Number of Local youths trained and employed in the CBO’s initiatives established by the project 15 Number of energy shops established and equipped with RE&EE technologies. 3 Total number of families that benefited from revolving funds through purchasing AC’s and solar heaters that save energy as well as other EE appliances 50 Number of Citizens reached through renewable energy and energy efficiency awareness and Social Cohesion training workshops in three governorates (3,974), 1,120 are Syrian, 2,854 Jordanians, where 792 are men while the remaining are females. Number of children supported by remedial classes to enroll back in school 500 students From both Syrian and Jordanian nations Success Stories. The project managed to record several success stories in the year 2018. These in brief are as follow: 1. VTC’s centers supported by the project are now certified to train and provide youth with training and certification on installing and maintaining the PV systems, which is a new training for the VTC’s and a promising career opportunity in Jordan. Moreover, these centers have attracted women and girls to this new career opportunity and the VTC’s will graduate nearly 40 professional certified females. 2. The organized remedial classes have helped more than 200 kids to enroll back in their schools in order to continue with their academic endeavors. 3. The interactive educational tools such as the Eco-schools program and Virtual Reality experience have further profited the schools and students and encouraged them to adopt the green culture and best practices. 4. The established RE/EE shops and productive initiatives in the CBO’s have trained and employed almost 15 youth (males and females), built their capacities in a new career opportunity, improved their socio-economic conditions and reduced unemployment in these communities. Simultaneously, these shops have benefited more than 50 families and helped reduced their energy bills by more than 50%. 5. The collaborative efforts of the project team and the CBO’s have enabled the CBO’s to reach out to more than 500 citizens, improved their knowledge and taught them how to reduce their energy bills through energy audit and through adopting best practices in their houses