ACT: 77% of NCR public school teachers say classroom heat intolerable

As the El Niño phenomenon continued to affect the country, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)-National Capital Region Union said on Monday that their survey found that 77% of NCR public school teachers could no longer bear the extreme heat in classrooms.

ACT-NCR explained that in the online survey they took last month, the teachers were asked to describe the temperature inside the classroom during this dry season. The majority (77%) voted “hindi matiis ang init” (unbearable heat), while 22.8% said it was “katamtamang init” (moderate heat).

Of those polled, 87% admitted that the stifling heat in classrooms adversely affected the focus of students during class hours.

An “alarming” 87% of teachers also said they had students with existing medical conditions such as asthma and allergies, which could be aggravated by the hot weather.

While 34.1% of teachers reported having no diseases, some said they suffered from migraines, hypertension, allergies, asthma, and diabetes, among others.

ACT said the respondents suggested ways to alleviate the intolerable conditions in classrooms, such as allowing teachers and students to wear light and comfortable attire and providing them with free water to stay hydrated throughout the shift.

They also recommended implementing asynchronous classes or other area-specific and flexible learning modalities to minimize exposure to extreme heat.

“We reiterate however, that while these suggestions can be useful as a quick and temporary response due to current conditions, it should not be abused by the agency and the government as the perennial solution,” ACT NCR Union President Ruby Bernardo said in a statement.

“We need to build adequate classrooms, hire more teachers and education support personnel, and establish a climate crisis resilient environment to improve our learning conditions. This requires an adequate budget allocated to education which we have long demanded from the government,” she added.

ACT's survey was taken from March 6 to March 10, 2024, across all school divisions in the NCR. A total of 8,605 public school teachers participated via Google Forms.

Responding to the results of the ACT-Teachers NCR Union survey, Department of Education Spokesperson Michael Poa told GMA News Online, "Bearing in mind that the health and welfare of our learners and school personnel are of utmost priority, the principals/school heads have been reminded of their authority and responsibility to suspend in-person classes and switch to alternative delivery modes (modular, online, etc) when the school environment is no longer conducive due to extreme heat."

Last month, the DepEd reminded school heads that they can decide on their own if face-to-face classes need to be suspended in their respective schools due to the extreme heat brought on by the El Niño phenomenon.

DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said that students and teachers could also wear more comfortable clothing aside from their regular uniforms to reduce the heat they feel while inside the schools.

“That is the logical thing to do. Subject of course to dress codes,” Bringas told reporters. — Sundy Locus/DVM, GMA Integrated News