Spain is immersed in a heat wave that will still accompany us for several days, although summer has not yet begun. With the suffocating temperatures we have and the children still in the classrooms the debate about if air conditioners should be installed in schools.
This week there have been lipotimias, vomiting and fainting in some schools in Madrid, even the French Lyceum has suspended classes in the afternoon due to the heat wave. Parents and teachers demand measures that, however, are not necessary from the Ministry of Education.
Air conditioning in the classroom, urgent
If the schools were considered as a workplace and we were governed by the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, school classrooms should not exceed 27 degrees of temperature so that both students and teaching staff can work in optimal conditions.
However, up to 35 degrees have been registered in the classrooms of many schools this week, and this has put parents and teachers on a war footing, which they require the departments to immediately install air conditioners or fans to withstand high temperatures.
In the educational centers does not apply the Law of Prevention of Occupational Risks, which establishes that the temperature of the premises where sedentary works are carried out own offices or similar must be between 17 and 27 ° C.
The heat we are having these days is unbearable and children are accusing him especially. Most schools are not prepared to face climatic situations like this.
- Patios that lack large extensions of shade to house all students
- swings or sandboxes in full sun that children cannot use without risk of burning,
- classrooms whose orientation encourages the entry of direct sun throughout the day,
- sports courts whose asphalt reaches infernal temperatures ... and a long list of situations that they are endangering the health and integrity of children in the last weeks.
From the direction of the schools, parents are urged to put in the backpacks a hat for the patio, a bottle of fresh water and a healthy and refreshing snack for mid-morning. But it's not enough.
Teachers and teaching staff "persecute" students in the yard hours that, oblivious to everything, only seek to play without being aware of the danger that the 40 degrees of temperature we are experiencing can bring. They put on their caps, recommend drinking water and even wet their heads and shirts.
Unions warn of the danger of the heat wave in schools
Trade Unions have urgently requested that action be taken but the Community Health Advisor of Madrid does not believe that the problem is so serious and encourage students to make paper fans and hydrate. In the words of the counselor, "air conditioning can cause damage to the eyes or neck of students."
These days, social networks smoke with the issue and hundreds of parents and students affected publicly denounce the situation:
#AbanicosDePapel 8 children transferred to the Hospital due to heat stroke at IES NEIL ARMSTRONG in Valdemoro. Shame is little pic.twitter.com/VijpQomPXL
- Sabet (@ Sabet8791) June 15, 2017
9 am in school and in class already 32 ° Preparing the paper fans #profetengomuchocalor #abanicosdepapel @jsanchezmartos @madridsalud pic.twitter.com/1txx7pQHni
- Laura Rubio (@lau_lrc) June 15, 2017
10:00 in the morning, the slide of the school and ARDE! #Villaverde pic.twitter.com/BJFXPuCrE0
- AMPA La Luz (@AMPA_LaLuZ) June 14, 2017
And if the school calendar is modified, they are roasted
This course that is about to end, has been different for the students of Cantabria who released a new school calendar from children to high school following the model of European schools.
The course in this autonomous community has been divided into five school periods between 31 and 44 days, instead of the three quarters to which we are accustomed. This change of dates It has forced the beginning of the course and to delay the end a few days.
This measure, which at the moment has only been implemented in the schools of Cantabria, could eventually be applied to other autonomous communities and in the heat wave like the one we are suffering, it is inevitable to think what would happen if this new calendar model were extended to schools across the country.
The children are wishing that the course is over, and the very high temperatures of the last weeks are making the final stretch very uphill. Finish later? In general, it seems complicatedAbout classroom temperature these days: 33 ° C
- Enrique García (@FiQuiPedia) June 13, 2017
You have thought about it by modifying the calendar, @r_vangrieken? // t.co/s2jYHPfShf pic.twitter.com/cunDERk4U1
