School Prototypes (research project)

Yemen

Yemen, a country with highly developed culture and among architects known as the country with the most beautiful buildings made of clay.

A major problem in the school building there, is the fact that many buildings were built at the time when Yemen had development relations with the former GDR. They were all together built of concrete and are now in a dilapidated condition.
To promote the economic development of the country after the collapse of the Eastern bloc, the World Bank wanted to improve the primary education in collaboration with the KFW.
Developing prototypes for schools for the three different climatic regions of the country was the purpose.
A fact is that girls do not attend school because there are no latrines existing in the schools. Furthermore the rooms have very few openings because of the fact that the girls should not be seen.
Besides the fact that this project was an opportunity to learn about a very interesting culture, it was a challenge to develop ideas which are accepted by the Yemenis.

How do you manage classrooms with very limited openings, but yet sufficient to be naturally lit and ventilated?