Schools and climate change:
is Quebec ripe for a heat wave?
After the storm holidays, the heatwave holidays? With climate change, Quebec must start thinking about the possibility of using pedagogical days dedicated to force majeure events during periods of extreme heat, according to the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ).
"Our schools close for storms, but the heat is new," says the president, Éric Gingras, who represents thousands of Quebec teachers. With climate change, we're going to have to ask ourselves if there could not be other elements that are part of [the forces majeure] and that it be socially accepted."
The increase in extreme heat waves in recent years has not spared Quebec. It is no longer uncommon to experience heat waves from June or even until September, when students are in class.
The end of the last school year was marked by an episode of intense heat. A year ago, the start of the school year took place under the same conditions, pushing some schools in the Outaouais to close their doors.
A bank of pedagogical days currently exists for force majeure events, the number of which varies from one school service centre (CSS) to another and which are used in particular during severe winter weather. But this bank is almost never used to relieve students or staff when the thermometer climbs close to the 40 degrees Celsius felt.
According to Éric Gingras, Quebec is ready to address this issue, which is likely to increase, as the air conditioning of all schools is not for tomorrow.
"We're going to have to have this reflection with the population, saying: listen, it's unbearable in many environments. Yes, we need to improve schools, air exchangers, dilapidated buildings, playgrounds that are heat islands, but that takes time!"
And the discussion should not only focus on heat, since climate change also brings other natural disasters such as torrential rains.
Not messing with the calendarThe Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) also does not have a firm position on this issue. But the vice-president, Benoît Giguère, warns against the temptation to change the school calendar, especially in the context of a heat wave that can last several days.
"Are we going to stop three days of school in September, when it's a crucial time to establish a routine with the children? For us, playing with the school calendar on this issue means avoiding the discussion [of the dilapidation] of the schools," he pleads.
School principals are also concerned about the attendance of young people in class, but they believe that a discussion is necessary. "When we talk about the school calendar, we also talk about student success, one cannot go without the other," says FQDE president Nicolas Prévost, who admits that heat waves are not ideal for learning.
The office of Bernard Drainville's minister stressed that the organization of the school calendar is the responsibility of the local conventions of each CSS. "We trust them to manage these days," it says, before adding that the government continues to "invest massively" in schools to make up for the underfunding of the past.
What the Pedagogical Regime provides
"Our schools close for storms, but the heat is new," says the president, Éric Gingras, who represents thousands of Quebec teachers. With climate change, we're going to have to ask ourselves if there could not be other elements that are part of [the forces majeure] and that it be socially accepted."
The increase in extreme heat waves in recent years has not spared Quebec. It is no longer uncommon to experience heat waves from June or even until September, when students are in class.
The end of the last school year was marked by an episode of intense heat. A year ago, the start of the school year took place under the same conditions, pushing some schools in the Outaouais to close their doors.
A bank of pedagogical days currently exists for force majeure events, the number of which varies from one school service centre (CSS) to another and which are used in particular during severe winter weather. But this bank is almost never used to relieve students or staff when the thermometer climbs close to the 40 degrees Celsius felt.
According to Éric Gingras, Quebec is ready to address this issue, which is likely to increase, as the air conditioning of all schools is not for tomorrow.
"We're going to have to have this reflection with the population, saying: listen, it's unbearable in many environments. Yes, we need to improve schools, air exchangers, dilapidated buildings, playgrounds that are heat islands, but that takes time!"
And the discussion should not only focus on heat, since climate change also brings other natural disasters such as torrential rains.
Not messing with the calendarThe Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) also does not have a firm position on this issue. But the vice-president, Benoît Giguère, warns against the temptation to change the school calendar, especially in the context of a heat wave that can last several days.
"Are we going to stop three days of school in September, when it's a crucial time to establish a routine with the children? For us, playing with the school calendar on this issue means avoiding the discussion [of the dilapidation] of the schools," he pleads.
School principals are also concerned about the attendance of young people in class, but they believe that a discussion is necessary. "When we talk about the school calendar, we also talk about student success, one cannot go without the other," says FQDE president Nicolas Prévost, who admits that heat waves are not ideal for learning.
The office of Bernard Drainville's minister stressed that the organization of the school calendar is the responsibility of the local conventions of each CSS. "We trust them to manage these days," it says, before adding that the government continues to "invest massively" in schools to make up for the underfunding of the past.
What the Pedagogical Regime provides
- 180 days of educational services for one school year
- 20 pedagogical days set in the school calendar by the CSS, principals and teachers, which generally include 3 or 4 days that can be used for force majeure events