Climate change has been a concern since the 1980s, when global temperatures began to be at a record high. I would only exist after a decade and have enjoyed cool days in the Philippines before the turn of the millennia.
A typical classroom setup for me would be an array of tables and chairs (or chairs with armrests) where students gather to discuss, take tests, and conduct activities. Classrooms were always ventilated with wall fans (from elementary, high school, and university). However, when I was at uni, computer laboratories always had air conditioning (for the computers, of course).
But when I was in elementary, those classroom fans would suffice. However, I can notice the change in how the days seem to get hotter and hotter than the ones I enjoyed in the 1990s. I only knew why it was so when I watched the documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ on cable TV in 2006.
I attended public school from elementary to high school and then received my bachelor’s degree from a state university. Usually, these institutions were designed with fans in their classrooms to beat the heat (or at least when I was still a student).
Just this summer, 4,000 schools in the Philippines suspended their on-site classes due to extreme heat, which caused “unbearable classroom conditions.” This was when electric fans were no longer helping us with cooling because they started to blow hot air, too.
If schools would like to address this problem by adding air conditioning to classrooms, you can imagine how it would translate to higher student fees. And not all families can afford expensive education.
From Call it Everything Change:
Hotter classrooms reduce student learning: Heat waves are increasing are increasing in frequency, intensity, and duration. One of the many social effects of these climate extremes is their effect on education in classrooms that are too hot for students to learn in. Older schools without air conditioning or with inadequate cooling are much more prevalent in low-income areas, creating a serious equity issue.
And if hotter classrooms hinder students from learning better, how would this further affect the turnout of graduates? While a shift in the academic calendar was proposed in the Philippines to not hold classes during the summer, perhaps, in a hotter world, asynchronous learning is the way to go.
jessa 