Philippines struggles to green schools amid climate risks

[...]

"A truly resilient Philippine classroom is one with sufficient ventilation, because not all schools can provide air conditioning. We should also ensure that schools are away from flood zones. Those are just the basics," said Basilio.

Instead of reacting to heatwaves and storms as they happen, Basas suggested making crucial changes along the way.

"Are school buildings heat-proof and earthquake-proof? If it rains, are we assured that campuses will not be submerged in flood? We still have a lot of those cases in the Philippines that we have yet to resolve," he said.

The Department of Education, however, said resolving the country's classroom shortage may take more than half a century.

In the meantime, teachers' groups have urged the government to improve hybrid learning options for climate-vulnerable schools, which includes improving poor and marginalised students' access to digital learning.

[...]