Schools see to students’ well-being, comfort amid heat

Schools across the country are working to ensure their students' well-being and safety amid the high heat conditions that have led to face-to-face class suspensions and schedule adjustments.

At the Legarda Elementary School in Manila, giant windows and electric fans provide ventilation in classrooms and other areas. 

Students and teachers can also get free purified water, and students are allowed to choose what to wear to be comfortable in class.

They’re also allowed to bring their own rechargeable fans.

Veronica Alcober said her three children, all studying at Legarda, have gotten sick because of the hot weather.

“Nagkaubo yung tatlo,” she told GMA Integrated News as she fanned her son.

To ensure her children’s health, she tells them to drink water “at saka yung likod nila, nilalagyan ko ng sapin [and I put a towel on his back].”

Classrooms at Legarda Elementary School in Manila are well-ventilated. Clean drinking water is also available for students and staff.

Master Teacher 1 John Earvin Lindain said reports of students and faculty members getting sick because of the hot weather are isolated cases.

“Hindi lang naman mga bata eh. Kahit mga teachers. Isolated po. Siguro dahil sa sobrang init din talaga. Di naman natin maiiwasan. Pero we make sure na ang ating school clinic, laging open yan. Tapos ang ating mga teachers naman ay well-trained when it comes to basic first aid. And we also communicate with the parents,” Lindain told GMA Integrated News.

(It's not just the children, it's the teachers as well. These are isolated cases. Probably because of the extreme heat. It cannot be avoided. But we make sure that our clinic is always open. And our teachers are well-trained when it comes to basic first aid.)

There are 5,400 students in Legarda Elementary School. As with many other schools in the country, it has adjusted class schedules, and the a.m. and p.m. shifts alternate between face-to-face and asynchronous learning.

Classes till evening

At the Palanan Elementary School in Makati, students who were early for the afternoon class—adjusted to start at 3:30 p.m. and end at 7:30 p.m.—wait in airconditioned classrooms on the ground floor before being escorted by their teachers to their classrooms.

Classrooms that do not have air conditioning have electric fans.

When asked about the security of students going home after their 7:30 p.m. dismissal, the school’s officer-in-charge Ofelia Baguio told GMA Integrated News that they have coordinated with the barangay and the School, Parents, and Teachers Association (SPTA). "Yung pag-uwi po nila, talaga po na naka-monitor po yan. At ang mga magulang, sinasabihan po namin sila na sunduin ang mga bata on time,” she said.

(We monitor them when they leave. And we tell the parents to pick their children up on time.)

Students wait for class to start in an air-conditioned classroom in Palanan Elementary School in Makati.

Palanan Elementary School is currently implementing blended learning because of the scorching temperatures.

“Ito yung nakikita nating pamamaraan upang siguraduhin na may balanse yung pag-aaral ang at the same time, yung safety and wellness ng ating mga bata,” Deped-Makati Chief Education Supervisor Neil Vincent Sandoval told GMA Integrated News.

(There are the measures we use to ensure that the children's studies are balanced with their safety and wellness.) — BM, GMA Integrated News