Heat sends 500 students to clinic at Pasay City school

At least 500 students and 100 teachers and non-teaching staff at a Pasay City school have been brought to the clinic since last week after complaining of dizziness, headaches, and nosebleeds due to the hot weather.

According to Sandra Aguinaldo's report on "24 Oras", at least 56 students and 12 teachers were taken to the clinic due to excessive heat on Thursday.

Some experienced nosebleed, headache, and high blood pressure.

“Nagdagdag po ng mga electric fan pero parang hindi po kasi siya sapat. Kasi merong rooms na kung saan yun mga bubong doon, halimbawa, may bubong dito sa kabilang school na-absorb po siguro yung init, pumapasok sa loob ng classroom,” assistant principal Dr. Cynthia Abella said.

(We added electric fans but it seems like they are not enough. Because there are rooms where there are roofs, for example, there is a roof here in the other school, that absorbs the heat. The heat thus enters the classroom.)

The school said they requested the Department of Education (DepEd) to suspend the face-to-face classes after several students, teachers, and staff were brought to the clinic.

They were allowed to have two days of online classes, two days of face-to-face classes, and a half-day class in a week starting May 2.

“Naipamahagi na o naibahagi na, pinaalam na sa mga magulang, mga estudyante yung schedule ng pag-iimplement ng mga alternative delivery mode at pwede na i-implement,” Dr. Renato Mesada, DepEd public schools district supervisor of Cluster A, said.

(The schedule for the implementation of alternative delivery modes has been disseminated while the parents and students have been informed.)

Officials of Barangay 201 said that their ambulance was on standby near the school in case of emergency.

The DepEd has said that school heads had the discretion to suspend face-to-face classes and shift to modular distance learning due to extreme heat and power outages being experienced in several parts of the country. —Richa Noriega/NB/KG, GMA Integrated News