Palma schools face 31-degree heat as MÉS calls for action

Palma schools could begin the new term with serious heat problems after classrooms reached 31 degrees last school year, MÉS per Palma says. On 7 September, the party called on Palma City Council to act, naming four schools it says need urgent work. The party says the legal maximum for a classroom is 27 degrees.

David Pujol, MÉS per Palma’s mayoral candidate, said the heat makes it harder to concentrate, increases tiredness and lowers performance. He also linked it to irritability, discomfort, headaches and exhaustion, and said such spells often lead to sickness absences among pupils and teachers.

The schools named by MÉS are CEIP Aina Moll, CEIP Marià Aguiló, CEIP Maria Antònia Salvà in Son Sardina and CEIP de Pràctiques. Pujol said pupils and teachers were paying the price of a climate emergency already being felt in Palma’s schools.

Fans, shade and doors that shut properly

MÉS wants Palma City Council, known as Cort, to introduce an emergency heat plan for every public school in the city. It says the plan should check that doors close properly to improve insulation, provide fans in classrooms that need them and create shaded areas in playgrounds.

Kika Coll, a MÉS councillor at Cort, said these were measures that needed political will rather than lengthy studies. The party has also demanded an explanation from Palma mayor Jaime Martínez.

Call for a bigger cooling programme

The party is also pressing the Conselleria de Educación y Universidades for a more ambitious cooling plan with a timetable and budget. Coll said the current proposal to cool 16 schools across all the islands was inadequate when Palma alone has more than 70 public education centres.

Topics: Education · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com