Pupils Condemned to Freeze in 'Eco-friendly' School

Not every preservation campaign has a happy ending, or enthusiastic participants, for that matter. This seems to be the case of the Ansford Academy in Castle Cary, Somerset, whose efforts of minimizing its ecological footprint has attracted the anger of hundreds of parents.

Apparently, the school's headmaster, Rob Benzie made a risky decision, with a beneficial impact on the environment, in his opinion, Daily Mail reports.

Benzie thought it is time to preserve some heat, lower the carbon offset and let hundreds on pupils freeze in their desks while temperatures reached rates below 1C.

Apparently, children have been forced to cope with the negative temperatures relying on hats and gloves. Most of the parents have been shocked by this decision aiming to green up the school's conduct. It seems that this attitude is also embraced by other teachers, who think that nobody could work efficiently under these circumstances.

Moreover, even the keen green activists want no part in this “barbaric” experiment that puts pupils’ health in danger, mostly since the school also has a number of children suffering from physical and mental disabilities. 640 have been exposed to freezing temperatures, most of them under 16 years old.

“I have never heard of such a ridiculous idea. Turning off all the heating in December is just mental,” has stated one of the furious parents for the Daily Mail.

Despite that this initiative has been widely criticized both by teachers and family members, Beznie rejects all their arguments, firmly stating that his idea has been a major “success,” in terms of environmental preservation.

“We turned off the heating as an experiment to see if we can lower our carbon footprint. I considered the day a success. In fact I believe we have too much heating,” added Beznie, the headmaster behind this controversial project.

In his opinion, using too much heat during classes can make pupils fall asleep, therefore eco-friendly, strict preservation measures of this kind are always welcomed at the Ansford Academy.