25-4-2024 (MANILA) A blistering heatwave sweeping through the nation this month has compelled schools to resort to online classes, triggering memories of Covid-19 lockdowns and sparking concerns that escalating extreme weather events could exacerbate educational disparities.
Approximately 7,000 public schools across the Southeast Asian country took the unprecedented step last week of sending pupils home due to the scorching weather conditions prevalent in numerous regions, believed to be attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Erlinda Alfonso, a teacher at a public elementary school in Quezon City near the capital, shared the dilemma faced by her pupils – enduring stifling heat in overcrowded classrooms or attempting to study in the discomfort of their homes.
“Some students told me they prefer going to school because the heat is worse at home,” she disclosed, highlighting the plight of many students residing in nearby shantytowns who lack access to the Internet for online classes.
While teachers strive to provide offline assignments for students without Internet connectivity, Alfonso lamented that this arrangement often leaves children without recourse to seek clarification on their studies.
“If there’s something they could not understand, their parents or siblings are often not at home because they need to earn a living,” remarked the 47-year-old educator, who also leads the city’s association of public school teachers.
The Philippines endured one of the world’s lengthiest school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, underscoring the educational divide confronting children from low-income households lacking computers or reliable Internet access. However, with most public schools ill-equipped to tackle soaring temperatures and other extreme weather events, educators and unions assert that online classes have emerged as the safest alternative amidst current heatwaves.
A survey conducted last month among over 8,000 teachers in public schools across Metro Manila revealed that 87% of students had experienced heat-related ailments. Furthermore, 46% of teachers reported insufficient ventilation in classrooms, with many describing the heat as “unbearable.”
“The heat had tremendous impacts on children. Some students even collapsed inside classrooms. Teachers suffered from the heat, too, but often they would prioritise their students’ health inside classrooms,” observed Ruby Bernardo, spokesperson for the Alliance of Concerned Teachers of the Philippines – National Capital Region (ACT-NCR).
As climate change exacerbates the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, challenges faced by teachers and students in the Philippines foreshadow similar predicaments elsewhere. UNICEF projected that around 243 million children in Asia and the Pacific will confront prolonged and intense heatwaves in the coming months.
Children, being particularly vulnerable to heat stroke, risk impaired concentration and learning abilities with prolonged exposure to extreme heat. Since the onset of El Nino, the country’s weather agency has forecast “danger category” temperatures as high as 44˚C.
Filipino educators advocate for additional measures to address extreme heat in schools, ranging from addressing shortages of classrooms and teachers to providing free drinking water and ensuring the presence of school medical staff.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers has urged the Education Department to confront these challenges and has proposed a return to the pre-pandemic school calendar, aligning the hot months of April and May with the long school break.
