Since the start of El Nino, “danger category” temperatures as high as 44 degrees Celsius have been predicted by the Philippine weather agency. (Photo: AFP/VNA)Children at 7,000 public schools in the country weresent home last week due to unusual hot weather in many areas that forecastershave linked to the effects of the El Nino weather phenomenon.
In public schools in Metro Manila, the capital region,a survey of more than 8,000 teachers in March showed 87% of students hadsuffered from heat-related conditions.
More than three-quarters of teachers described theheat as “unbearable” in the survey conducted by the Alliance of ConcernedTeachers of the Philippines – National Capital Region (ACT-NCR), a teachingassociation.
Nearly half or 46% of teachers said classrooms haveonly one or two electric fans, highlighting inadequate ventilation measures todeal with rising temperatures.
Since the start of El Nino, “danger category”temperatures as high as 44 degrees Celsius have been predicted by country’sweather agency.
The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) on April24 said it has received at least 34 cases of heat-related illness, includingsix deaths, from January 1 to April 18 this year.
The 34 reported heat-related cases were from thecentral Visayas region in the central Philippines, the Ilocos region in thenorthern Philippines, and the Soccsksargen region in the southern Philippines./.
VNA
