The Director of Qatar Green Building Council, Eng. Meshal Al Shamari, and Assistant Undersecretary for Educational Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Fawzia Al Khater, during the signing of an MoU at the Ministry, yesterday. Pic: B
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has launched a nationwide campaign ‘printing rationalisation’ to reduce paper consumption under a theme ‘Less Printing More Sustainability’ in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Ministry yesterday.
The initiative ‘printing rationalisation’ has been launched following the efforts of the State Cabinet for digital government strategy of 2020 which run the initiative ‘paperless government’ to reduce the wastage of natural resources, rationalisation of paper consumption and save the cost.
The paper consumption in Qatar reached over five million sheets in a day which are made of trees. The initiative will help protect the environment by safeguarding the trees throughout its paper rationalisation drive.
Under the initiative, the Ministry will implement a slew of alternative electronic services, rationalisation policies and run an awareness campaign to reduce the consumption of paper in all departments of the Ministry and schools.
The details about the initiative were given by the officials in the launch ceremony, attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Dr Ibrahim Al Nuaimi; Undersecretary for Education Affairs, Fawziya Al Khater and Director of Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), Meshal Al Shamari.
Ministry of Education and Higher Education signed an MoU with QGBC to implement the ‘printing rationalisation’ initiative which aims at reducing the printing of papers and create awareness in the community about the importance of the rationalisation of paper consumption for the protection of environment.
The MoU was signed by Undersecretary for Education Affairs Fawziya Al Khater and Director of QGBC Meshal Al Shamari in a press conference held on the sidelines of the launch ceremony.
Addressing the event, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education Dr Ibrahim Al Nuaimi said that regarding the global challenges of climate change and environment protection, the Ministry is working hard to protect the environment and the natural resources of the country for the coming generations.
He said that Qatar has recognised the importance of the concept of sustainability and the preservation of the environment and natural resources, which led to be a fundamental pillar of Qatar National Vision 2030.
The Undersecretary for Education Affairs, Fawziya Al Khater, said that the initiative to rationalise printing requires the concerted efforts and the collaboration of employees in each sector to implement the policies adopted by the government of Qatar. She said that the Ministry has issued directives to educational institutions to rationalise printing papers and use electronic alternative.
“All of our schools and kindergartens are characterised by high electronic efficiency in terms of providing modern devices, the Internet and qualified staffs, and there are no material or human obstacles in applying the electronic system as an alternative to paper printing,” said Al Khater.
The Director of QGBC Meshal Al Shamari said that the role of this initiative is not only limited to reducing paper waste in schools, but also extends to be part of students ’culture to be reflected in their consumption behaviour and environmentally friendly practice in their lives.
He said that the average consumption of printing paper in Qatar exceeds five million sheets per day, and this requires cutting more than 500 trees. Head of the e-learning team, Kholoud Al Maliki, said that necessary training has been provided to school staff for using electronic alternatives means. She said that the Ministry has launched an award which will go to the most rationalised schools in printing papers in the country.
