As Malta faced an early summer heatwave this week, a huge number of classrooms were left sweltering hot, with no air conditioning facilities.
Statistics obtained by Times of Malta show almost three-quarters of state-run schools lack cooling systems, two years after concerned parents petitioned the government.
The school year has now ended for most pupils but many will start summer school in mid-July.
According to the Education Ministry, just 31 out of 112 government schools have air conditioning units. There are plans for installation in 17 other schools.
Education Minister Justyne Caruana acknowledged the problem and admitted she has been “inundated” with messages from parents and teachers struggling in the hottest June weather in a century.
“Whenever there is a heatwave, the issue of lack of air-conditioned classrooms crops up,” she said.
“I can say that as of last week, I gave clear instructions for schools to have ventilators in all classrooms. This is only an interim solution.”
This is highly disrespectful towards employees and also students
A spokesperson for the ministry explained that the installation of air conditioning requires extra loading on the electrical system of the buildings, some of which are old. This requires extensive works on the school’s infrastructure.
Caruana said she has instructed ministry officials to come up with a plan “over a number of years” to have all classrooms installed with air conditioners.
“I will be overseeing the drive to have pleasant acclimatised classrooms in the coming months.”
Marco Bonnici, president of the Malta Union of Teachers, said that even schools – or extensions to schools – built in the past decade lacked cooling systems in most classrooms.
“Schools are the only government buildings which to date still lack ACs,” he said.
“This is highly disrespectful towards employees and also students who have to withstand at times the same outdoor temperature indoors. The situation was made worse with the pandemic protocols and the requirement to leave windows and doors ajar,” he said.
Two years ago, thousands of parents, relatives and teachers signed a petition calling on the government to install cooling systems in classrooms, as children returned home from summer school soaked in sweat.
The issue did not resurface as much last year when attendance at Skolasajf, the state-run summer programme, was down by half due to the coronavirus pandemic.