A TEACHING union has criticised the government’s lack of investment in school infrastructure and raised concerns about the safety and wellbeing of staff and pupils across the remainder of term.
With most state schools having two more days of term scheduled before the summer holidays, the National Education Union said the Education Department had a responsibility to maintain a reasonable temperature in schools and monitor the risks during extreme weather.
NEU president Mark Oliver has written to newly elected Children’s and Education Minister Inna Gardiner to raise the union’s concerns. Mr Oliver said: ‘With temperatures rising each year, and with a significant lack of investment in the infrastructure of local schools in order to ensure that schools don’t overheat in the summer, we may see pupils and staff falling ill as a result of the current heatwave.
‘The situation on Monday and Tuesday next week is a growing concern, as members have contacted us about the temperatures in some of their classrooms. There is no consistent monitoring in place by Jersey Property Holdings, at this time, to assess the genuine size of the problem.’
Mr Oliver said he had been advised that staff in some schools had advised that the temperature in some classrooms had reached 29°C or higher by 9am on Thursday.
The warning comes after the new £40 million Les Quennevais School had to close early most days this week after the temperatures became unbearable.
