MANILA  –  Thousands of schools in the Philip­pines suspended in-person classes Friday, the education department said, as parts of the tropical country endured dangerously high tempera­tures. The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation but conditions have been exacerbat­ed by the El Nino weather phenome­non. Many schools have no air condi­tioning, leaving students to swelter in crowded, poorly ventilated class­rooms. “Even my smartest student is not in the mood to answer questions because it’s very hot,” said Mayette Paulino, who teaches a grade two class of around 27 children near Ma­nila. She said “students feel tired and seem sleepy” as the heat intensified in the afternoon. The Department of Education has issued an advisory giving school heads the power to de­cide when to switch to remote learn­ing “in cases of extreme heat and other calamities”. Official figures for Friday showed 5,288 schools sus­pended in-person classes, affecting more than 3.6 million students. That was higher than the 4,769 schools on Thursday. 

Some schools have reduced class hours to avoid teaching during the hottest times of the day. Bheapril Bal­bin, 37, whose two young children attend a primary school near Manila, supported the decision for students to stay home during the hot weather. “The heat is too much, my children couldn’t take it,” Balbin told AFP. 

“Some of their classmates got sick, they had a headache because of the extreme heat. My youngest has an asthma, extreme heat is bad for him.” The heat index was expect­ed to reach the “danger” level of 42 or 43 degrees Celsius (107.6-109.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in several ar­eas of the country on Friday, the state weather forecaster said.

In Manila, the heat index was forecast to hit the “extreme caution” level of up to 40C (104F), when heat cramps and exhaustion are possi­ble. The country’s heat index mea­sures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity.

Friday’s actual maximum temper­ature in Manila was 35.5C (95.9F). “The heat will get worse because we’re not yet at the peak of the summer season,” Lorie Dela Cruz of the state weather forecaster told AFP, noting the first half of May was usually the hottest period. She said the actual temperature was “within the normal range” for this time of year. Nearly 300 schools in Manila had remote learning on Friday. The central regions of the main island of Luzon were the hardest hit, with more than 1,600 schools suspend­ing in-person classes. Save the Chil­dren Philippines chief Alberto Muy­ot said on Wednesday the extreme heat meant “children are simply un­able to concentrate in the classroom and their health is also at risk”.