Contingency Plan for Schools in Hot Weather Scenarios

Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Education (a) whether there is a standard school continuity or contingency plan that is applied across all schools to ensure the well-being of students and staff during hot weather situations; and (b) whether parents and students are made aware of the details of these plans.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has clear guidelines in place for schools to ensure the safety and well-being of students and staff amidst the hot weather. For example, outdoor physical activities are minimised between 10.30 am and 3.30 pm. Students are encouraged to drink water before, during and after physical activities to prevent and alleviate exercise-induced heat strain. Teachers watch out for students who are more vulnerable and those who appear unwell.

To promote environmental sustainability, classrooms are also designed to be naturally ventilated to provide a reasonable level of thermal comfort. This is achieved through a mix of design measures, including providing sunshades and installing ceiling and wall fans to optimise natural cross ventilation.

When necessary, schools put in place additional measures such as reducing the duration or intensity of the activities and ensuring more frequent rest and water breaks. Schools may also explore ways to help students better manage the heat, such as allowing students to dress in PE attire or their school t-shirt, depending on their specific needs.

These guidelines are communicated to students and staff to consciously build a culture of safety and well-being. Schools also keep parents updated on the measures taken.

MOE works closely with the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE), the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) and calibrates our management measures in alignment with the whole-of-Government plans and advisories.

I thank the Minister for his reply. I just have one quick supplementary question. I just wanted to ask whether there is a consistency in these rules and guidelines that are applied across all schools, because I noticed in some of the reports that there are some schools which actually switched to wearing PE uniforms and some of them do not. So, I am just wondering whether there is a consistency that is applied across all the schools so that let us say, if I am a parent and I have got children in different schools, I do not get confused about what applies across them.

I thank the Member for the supplementary question. The guidelines are consistent but we leave it to the schools depending on the way the conditions affect them at that point in time. Schools, as I mentioned earlier, are allowed to encourage the students to put on their t-shirts should the temperature get high. Though Singapore is small, sometimes, you do get rain in one part and you get very hot weather on the other side. So, it really depends on the schools to determine what is suitable for the students at that point in time.