If it is 29 degrees in Mrs. Nathalie’s empty classroom at 7:49 a.m., what will it be like at 3:30 p.m., when 25 students will have spent the whole day there? “It’s hell”, answer these days of teachers.
In the middle of the ministry’s exam period, the heat wave that is hitting the province is being felt in schools that are not lucky enough to have an air conditioning system.
It is also on the way to becoming an annual classic: on social networks, teachers compete to find out who will have the highest temperature in their class at the end of the day. Since Quebec installed CO readers2 in the classrooms because of the pandemic, it’s easier. The devices display the temperature and the degree of humidity.
Thus, Mrs. Myriam, several months pregnant, noted a 32 ° C, Thursday, in her class. “Fâ hot”, she comments. Three more degrees, announces another teacher, photo in support.
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
A little over 34°C: this is the temperature it was in a class in Quebec on Thursday.
From Abitibi-Témiscamingue to Beauce, many of them share this observation and feel sorry for their students. A teacher says that in her class, a young person has been sick. Another explains that she teaches in a non-air-conditioned classroom to students in wheelchairs, some of whom wear diapers.
“Heat is an irritant. The students lacked patience and tolerance. Very painful at the end of the day, ”comments a teacher. “We are suffocating,” adds another who works in the suburbs of Quebec.
Thursday was ministry exam day for several students. Primary school leavers had a test in French, while some in 5e secondary were working on an enriched English exam.
In Montreal on Friday, the mercury is expected to pass the 31°C mark. The previous record for June 2 was set in 1970. It was 30°C.
In Quebec, according to the most recent Quebec Infrastructure Plan tabled by Quebec, 62% of elementary schools and 65% of secondary schools have a “condition indicator” of D or E, that is to say that they are in bad or very bad condition.
Schools are closing in the United States
In the United States, the decision has been made in some places to close schools due to the oppressive heat. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, it was announced on Thursday that schools would be closed for the rest of the week due to temperatures above 30 degrees.
In Pittsburgh, 18,000 students have switched to online education due to overheated classes.
With the New York Times