In Italy, the start of the school year is spreading this year between September 8 and 16 depending on the regions, but already some votes claim a postponement because of the heat, even though schoolchildren have just enjoyed three months of summer vacation – the longest in Europe. If summer is coming to an end, temperatures are always very high in certain regions, especially in the south.
As in many European countries, heat waves are more and more frequent and intense in Italy. But only 6% of the country’s schools have air conditioning, according to the Ministry of Education, while temperatures are maintained at around 30 ° in Bari (South), Bologna (North), Naples (South) or Florence (center).
“Intolerable temperatures”
In the small classrooms, “the sun creates a greenhouse effect” and causes “intolerable temperatures”, described to AFP Antonino Rinaldo, an establishment director in Palermo, in Sicily. “We cannot continue with the same school calendar as 50 years ago at the time of climate change,” insists Marcello Pacifico, leader of the Anief teaching union.
He stresses that students also suffer from the rise in temperatures in May and June, a period of end -of -year exams. And the heat also threatens teachers, 55% of whom are aged 50 or over. “In addition to the consequences on health, we cannot guarantee the quality of teaching,” says Antonino Rinaldo, also mentioning the problems of concentration of students.
Europe heats up twice as fast
In Sicily, where temperatures of 33 degrees are announced for next week, some schools have announced that they would close their doors at noon, says Antonino Rinaldo. “We must think seriously, and not only in Italy but throughout Europe” with the consequences of climate change on the school, “continues the union official Marcello Pacifico.
In France, nearly 1900 schools had closed on July 1 due to the heat wave. According to the European Institute Copernicus, Europe has heated twice as fast as the world average since the 1980s. “Summer conditions are now installed earlier in the spring and last in autumn,” AFP Francesca Guglielmo, a Copernicus scientist.
But calls to delay the start of the school year are not well received by Italian parents, who struggle to find solutions to keep their children in September. Many demand on the contrary a shortening of the summer school holidays – 97 days in Italy, against 77 in Spain, 56 in France and 44 in Germany, according to the European network Eurydice. A petition in this sense has collected more than 76,000 signatures in Italy.
Dilapidated establishments
Half of the Italian schools, built between 1950 and 1992, were dilapidated and often unsuitable. “Too hot in summer and too cold in winter,” says Nunzia Capasso, a secondary teacher in Frattamaggiore, near Naples. In the deprived regions, the school plays an essential role, in particular by “removing the children of the street”, she underlines. The government and regional authorities must invest in school infrastructure so that schools can remain open “all year round,” she said.
