The training program "Enhancing Waste Management Awareness at Schools" continued on July 13, 2023, at Thot Not High School. The main objective of this session was to provide instructions on sorting solid waste and composting organic materials. This training is part of a series of activities conducted under the “USAID Environmental Education for Mekong Program”, a collaborative effort between the Climate Change Research Institute (DRAGON - Mekong) and the United States Agency for International Development in Vietnam (USAID – Vietnam). Thot Not High School is the second school to participate in these training activities within this program.

Attending the training session was the Program Secretary, as well as the representative of the Project Management Board of Can Tho University (CTU), Dr. Nguyen Anh Minh, and the Secretary of CTU's Youth Union, Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Tien. Similarly, we had the participation of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, Vice Principal of Thot Not High School, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Can - the Secretary of the School Youth Union, and approximately 80 students at Thot Not High School.

Standee of the training program "Enhancing Waste Management Awareness at Schools"

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha (Vice Principal of Thot Not High School) delivered the opening speech.

Following the success of the previous event, the training session provided the students there with useful knowledge about household waste classification and methods of composting from biological products, which was enthusiastically shared by Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh, College of Environment and Natural Resources.

Mr. Nguyen Truong Thanh, College of Environment and Natural Resources.

In addition, as part of the initiative, the groups of students from CTU launched two contests: making automatic trash cans and creating flower vases out of recycled materials. During the process, the students had the opportunity to acquire new knowledge of information technology and programming languages, as well as experience building electronic components for robotic garbage cans in preparation for the approaching competition. At the end of the event, the program recognized the participation of 06 teams in the automatic trash can manufacturing contest and 10 teams in the recycled flower vase designing competition.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tri - A student from CTU, shared about how to make smart trash at Thot Not High School.

In brief, the program ended successfully thanks to the enthusiastic support from the school, the students, and the CTU project team. Through the training session, the program wishes to raise students' awareness about the environment, climate change, and solid waste classification, give them access to the method of composting, and, thereby, spread the idea of protecting the environment widely to the local community. The program is scheduled to continue undertaking training activities at the remaining high schools in the Mekong Delta.

Some pictures from the training session:

Poster: Tran Quoc Dung