“The temperatures in the classrooms is something we are going to have to start talking about”, comments Pere Lomas, spokesman for the Sindicat de Treballadors de l’Ensenyament de les Illes (STEI), who points out that in some classes the temperatures exceed 30 degrees. “It is something we are seeing and the experts say it will increase”, insists the union delegate, who considers that a “climate control” must be established in the classrooms. Lomas recalls that only the newer centers have air conditioning and describes it as “perverse” that students and teachers have to attend class with such heat.
“You can not teach when it’s over 32 degrees in the classroom ,” adds Lomas, who stresses that this happens, especially in those classrooms that are in the sun all morning. “At the end of last year we had complaints and queries about whether the regulations allowed classes to continue with 35 degrees,” he recalls.
The problem, they all recognize, is who bears the cost of measures to ensure an adequate temperature in the classrooms. “The municipalities will say that this is beyond their authority. It’s understandable if they didn’t have the money, but we know that they have significant surpluses that they could allocate to this,” points out Lomas.
Sustainable alternatives for the classrooms
“With heat, you can neither work nor think,” agrees Pepi Costa, president of the Federation of Associations of Families of Students (FAPA) in the Pitiusas, who qualifies: “We must think that the new guidelines of the European Union prohibit the installation of air conditioners in schools. Thus, he considers that “sustainable” alternatives must be sought to avoid extreme temperatures in the classroom. She points, for example, to the installation of fans. “Formulas that do not involve taking steps backwards for the environment,” adds the spokeswoman for the families, who believes that providing a solution to this problem would be a good use for the remaining funds of the municipalities.
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