NEARLY 4,000 SCHOOLS IN PHILIPPINES SHIFT TO ONLINE LEARNING DUE TO INTENSE HEAT

Sat 06 April 2024:

Governments across the region are grappling with how to respond. In the Philippines, almost 4,000 schools have suspended in-person classes as the heat index passed 42C in some areas, a dangerous level that the weather bureau warned could cause heat cramps and exhaustion.

During the Easter week in Manila, children played in portable pools set up in the streets to try to stay cool.

Sweltering weather has forced 3,954 schools across the Philippines to implement alternative delivery modes of learning to protect the students from the high heat index, the government said Wednesday.

The Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) said many schools opted to ditch face-to-face classes, so students can study from home instead of going to school and avoid exposure to the hot weather.

The DepEd said the number of schools translates to more than 1.3 million learners in 11 regions, including Metro Manila.

The Department of Health also warned the public against heat-related illnesses that become more prevalent with extreme temperatures.

“Prolonged heat exposure increases the probability of heat stroke, a serious condition characterized by loss of consciousness, confusion, or seizures, which can be deadly if left untreated,” the health department said.

Heat index temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius were logged in some provinces from March 28 to April 1. Those conditions are forecast to persist in the coming days, local media reported.

The latest intense weather follows warnings last month by the World Meteorological Organization that the region had also been “gripped by severe heat conditions” in February when temperatures frequently soared into the high-30s – well above the seasonal average. It attributed the scorching weather to human-induced climate change, as well as the El Niño event, which brings hotter, drier conditions to the region.

“The level of heat the globe has experienced over the last 12 months, both on the land and in the ocean has surprised science,” said Prof Benjamin Horton, the director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore. “We always knew we were going to be headed in this direction with our increasing greenhouse gases, but the fact that we’re shattering all these records in 2023, and 2024, is perhaps slightly ahead of time.”

“We’re just not prepared. There’s very few, if any, places in the world that are resilient to this type of heat,” he said, adding that societies needed to adapt.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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