A large group of teachers from Secondary School 13 in La Plata issued a statement in which they asked the authorities of the Province of Buenos Aires to suspend classes due to the lack of ventilation devices in the midst of the sweltering heat and in view of the orange alert. that governs the Region due to high temperatures. As they maintain in the text, as they have already raised in other schools, the problem makes it difficult to teach classes but also “puts the health of students and teachers at risk.”
In the letter they listed that the establishment of 22 between 48 and 49 lacks fans in the classrooms, which also have sealed windows and do not have ventilation to aerate the study spaces. “We request the suspension of classes until this situation continues, since the health of both students and education workers is put at risk,” they argued.
In the text they indicated that the measure “is contemplated both in article 195 2.1 of the regulation of educational institutions and in the School Calendar 2023 (Annex 2 4.5).
In turn, they demanded a “survey of the infrastructure conditions of the establishment” and that “all problems can be solved in order to carry out the pedagogical activity in decent conditions.”
In this regard, before consulting this newspaper, from Buenos Aires Education indicated that suspending classes due to the heat wave is not being evaluated.
On the other hand, the Directorate of Schools denied the veracity of a statement suggesting that children not attend classrooms, and that it was circulating on WhatsApp and social networks.
student sit-in
The heat wave does not stop in the Region and more and more schools become spaces for complaints due to different problems to teach in the midst of the heat. In most of them, the educational communities raise the drama of the lack of fans, which, although it greatly afflicts public establishments, is also a shortcoming that some private institutions present.
In this sense, during this week there were claims and street demonstrations. And, apparently, Friday was reached in the same way, since the students of the Justo Santa María de Oro Institute held a sit-in on the public highway early on precisely to state that “there are classrooms without fans.”
“We made the claim to the school and since there were no responses we decided to hold a sit-in,” students explained. “For example, there is a grade that does not have a classroom, and there are more than 50 students who have to go to classes at the SUM, where there are no fans.
They also pointed out that “many boys broke down due to this heat wave and the lack of ventilation equipment at school.”
“The idea is that the authorities listen. We also want to anticipate another claim, which is the lack of stoves in the school. So in winter we hope to have stoves to be able to teach under the minimum conditions,” they said.
Another school where they screamed to heaven because of the suffocating heat is Nuestra Señora de Lourdes High School, on 19 and 38 streets. “There were girls who felt bad and had to go home, but from school instead to accompany them in the situation they gave them half a foul,” they stated.
According to parents, “there are fans here, but they are turned off because otherwise what the teachers say is not heard, that is, they must be turned off and study in subhuman conditions that are harmful to health.”
