By: SONIA A. LABRADOR – CUPANG INTEGRATED SCHOOL
Climate change is real, is here, and is harshly affecting the country’s education system through global warming – like a literal icebreaker before every class starts.
It was January 2024 when PAGASA officially confirmed that the Philippines was already facing an El Nino, and it was estimated to last until March to May of the same year. With the extreme heat that intensifies each day and the noticeable scarcity in freshwater supply, no one dared to doubt the news. Being in a tropical country, the Filipinos did what they usually do during the first half of every year – to endure the scorching heat in the tropics. That is until early April when the devastating phenomenon exploited the vulnerability of the classroom set-up of public schools.
During a senate hearing in August 2023 regarding the opening of classes for the Academic Year 2023-2024, DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas asserted the need to cope with the backlog of 159,000 classrooms nationwide (Sarao, 2023). Consequently, the data presented to justify the said cause claimed that 30 percent of the classrooms dedicated for kindergarten to Grade 6 students nationwide are already congested. From this alone, several concerns may arise, including the quality of education and the additional burden to teachers, but most importantly, the need for proper ventilation and the hazards of compromising it. Given the situation, the Department of Education implemented a shift schedule in severely populated schools to alleviate the congestion and prevent students from being exposed to extreme heat for longer. On April 4, 2024, it also gave the local school heads the authority to suspend face-to-face classes when the heat seemed unbearable under Department Order 037 (DepEd, 2024). These immediate preventive measures forced about 4,000 schools to implement Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM), which affected about 1.3 million learners nationwide (Servallos, 2024).
However, in some cases, despite the preventive preparations implemented by the department, the need to conduct outdoor co-curricular activities still puts the students at a higher risk of exposure to extreme heat. This includes fire and earthquake drills as well as school parades and gatherings. This shows that the immediate preventive measures currently being implemented should only be a temporary alternative and that it is necessary for continuous planning and implementation to be pursued for the schools to adapt to the increasing temperature. UNICEF also calls for education systems across the globe to be proactive because the onslaught of global warming in education is only beginning. They also warn the authorities of other possible effects to manifest in the following years including the intensified inequality, vulnerability of the infrastructures to stronger calamities, and the acquisition of climate-related health concerns (UNICEF, 2019).
As the first step to adaptation, the DepEd approved Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) Chairperson Benjo Basas’ proposal to revert to the old school calendar by the Academic Year 2025-2026. Under the proposal, the upcoming Academic Year 2024-2025 shall start early to facilitate the transition. This will enable the academic calendar to evade the hottest months of each year, which are April and May, and shall also serve as the summer vacation for the students (Malipot, 2024). With this, the department may opt to continue the shifting schedule in some schools, given that the construction of additional classrooms and other shading structures is progressive until the schools can accommodate all students simultaneously. Community involvement and third-party sponsorships should also be intensified to raise funds and construct additional facilities like drinking fountains to provide students with free hydration and ventilation appliances for each classroom. Lastly, a tad bit more empathy may save the students from the extreme heat index by giving them the freedom to wear comfortable but proper attire instead of polos and blouses or uniforms with sleeves. UNICEF calls for school systems to be proactive since the climate trend is still yet to stabilize, and the assumption that the next few years will be cooler in the tropics is still a wish upon a star.