By Kisean Joseph
Most students returning to school on Monday are likely to return to the sweltering classrooms to which they have become accustomed.
The Ministry of Education is still moving forward with plans to install air-conditioning in classrooms across Antigua and Barbuda, but this will not be in place at the beginning of this school year, as many had hoped.
Educators, too, feel the effects of the oppressive temperatures. Teachers report exhaustion, dehydration, and even heat-related illnesses as they attempt to engage students in stifling environments.
Director of Education Clare Browne told Observer, “The Ministry of Education has been concerned for quite a while about the heat that our teachers and our students and those who operate in schools are having to face and … one of the strategic imperatives that we have is ensuring that our educational spaces are 21st century ready, and a part of upgrading them to 21st-century educational spaces is ensuring that they’re climate-proof because, as we have acknowledged, the heat is on.
“Air conditioning classrooms … is not as easy as it sounds because all our schools are not constructed the same way and some of our schools were not constructed for air-conditioned units,” he explained.
As climate change exacerbates extreme weather patterns, the problem is only expected to worsen. Schools across the country now grapple with difficult decisions, weighing the high costs of installation and increased energy consumption against the undeniable benefits of a comfortable learning environment.
“It is an ongoing process and it is a process that, as I said, will not be completed within a short order but we’re in it for the long haul.
“We recognise that climate change is real and things are not going to be getting better, and so we must create educational spaces that are conducive to learning,” Browne added.
