Heatwave prompts calls to close schools, postpone exams

School leaders and teachers’ unions are calling on the Portuguese government to suspend classes and postpone national exams as a severe heatwave pushes temperatures close to 37°C in several parts of the country.

The appeal comes as three northern inland districts — Guarda, Bragança and Vila Real — were placed under orange weather alerts today due to extreme heat, while most of mainland Portugal remains under yellow alert.

The president of the Associação Nacional de Diretores de Agrupamentos e Escolas Públicas told Diário de Notícias that schools in the worst-affected regions should be allowed to close early, following emergency measures already adopted in several European countries facing soaring temperatures.

The proposal is backed by the Sindicato Nacional de Professores Licenciados pelos Politécnicos e Universidades (syndicate of higher education teachers) which has formally asked the Ministry of Education to bring forward the end of the school year for pre-school and primary school pupils instead of keeping classes running until the end of June.

The union is also calling for the rescheduling of national exams due to take place this week, arguing that students should not be expected to sit important assessments in conditions of extreme heat.

So far, the government has not responded publicly to the requests. It is also unclear from the requests who teachers/ syndicates expect to care for pre-school and primary school pupils if their holiday period is brought forwards so suddenly.

Hot weather ‘grips Portugal‘

The calls come as Portugal experiences the latest in a series of heatwaves affecting southern Europe. Mercifully, from reports on television, it does look as if temperatures here are a great deal more bearable than those being experienced in parts of Spain/ France and Italy.

Inland districts are expected to record temperatures approaching 37°C today (while other countries are stagging in the low 40ºCs), while forecasters are also warning of thunderstorms and heavy showers in parts of the country, including Braga, Guarda and Castelo Branco.

Most of mainland Portugal remains under yellow alert, although the districts of Faro, Lisbon, Leiria and Aveiro are not currently covered by weather warnings.

The debate comes at a critical time for schools, with more than 166,000 students sitting national exams and education authorities already managing the first nationwide digitalisation of exam papers.

School directors argue that protecting students and staff from potentially dangerous temperatures should now take precedence, particularly in older school buildings that lack adequate cooling systems.

source: SIC Notícias/

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.