The country’s schools are now having to grapple with the reality of how the extreme heat of the dry season can make it comfortable, and even dangerous for young learners who are still in crowded classrooms during these hot summer months, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shift of the academic year so schools now remain open during what everyone knows are the hottest months of the year.
As teachers and students raise concerns on the impacts of the summer heat on their health as well as the conduct of classroom learning, the Department of Education has of course issued reminders to parents and teachers to safeguard the wellbeing of learners.
The Department of Health also urged parents and students the following: remind children to drink water often, make children wear light clothing for comfort, not to go outside when sunlight is intense, and bring umbrellas.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire also reminded teachers and school personnel to open windows and doors of classrooms, and to turn on electric fans during classes, which makes perfect sense.
The DepEd also reminded heads of public and private schools that they can suspend in-person classes and instead implement modular distance learning due to extreme heat, acknowledging that extremely high temperatures can “considerably affect the conduct of classroom learning and put the learners’ health and well-being at risk.”
One of the concerns that always came up every time a proposal to change the schedule of the school year came up would be the extreme temperatures that come with summer in the Philippines. It may have sounded like a minor complaint then, but now that the schedule has shifted, the harsh reality has been difficult to bear, especially for the learners who have to deal with exceptionally hot days which are also brought about by climate change.
If DepEd is going to stick to its guns and make the schedule change permanent, it will have to do more than issue reminders, thoughts and prayers for the millions of Filipino students who have to experience the heat of the hottest months of the year inside overcrowded classrooms. Building more summer-friendly classrooms should be a priority, along with a program to retrofit current ones to be cooler and have better ventilation.
The combination of changing the school year and climate change is turning out to be a bad one. Government will have to do recognize that something needs to be done so the following school years are more tolerable for Filipino children, especially during the summer time.*
