English
Laura McInerney, a teacher from the UK, has reported a human rights breach.
She accused the authorities of the country of the fact that, due to freezing temperatures in the classrooms, students have been forced to wear coats in lessons. Some students even bring woolen blankets from home.
These are the preventive measures taken in UK schools with a view to reducing the risk of contracting coronavirus. In accordance with the official recommendations, teachers must regularly ventilate the classrooms. Moreover, 65% of educators claimed they were actually instructed to keep their windows open all the time. Given the unpleasant English weather, and the fact that many schools turn down heating to save on bills, this could well have a negative health impact on students.
Electrical devices which were previously used in the classroom (computers, projectors, etc.), have now been removed too: according to the authorities, shared keyboards are also "carriers" of coronavirus. The disease can be transmitted from coming into contact with such devices. Hence, UK schools were often left without any sources of heat whatsoever.
The situation further escalated when a low of 13 degrees C was recorded in one classroom. The authorities do not deny that such a low temperature is an acceptable learning environment. According to local regulations, the minimum temperature should not be below 16 degrees C.
Local schoolteachers say funds should be allocated to schools to maintain optimal classroom temperatures. Emergency leave for the holidays (for at least two weeks) is also one of the compromises on offer to solve the problem. Such measures will reduce the number of coronavirus cases, warm children up, and prevent possible transmission of the common cold.
