NEU chief: retrofit schools and move exams to beat heat — SkimNews
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- Daniel Kebede called on the government to launch a mass retrofitting programme, saying UK schools were built "for a different climate" and needed to be "fit for the century we are living in" ahead of next summer's El Niño-charged temperatures
- Kebede suggested considering moving exams from the hottest part of the year, earlier start and finish times, longer summer holidays, and reordering the school year as climate adaptation options
- This summer's heatwaves pushed classroom temperatures above 40C and triggered closures that kept at least 760,000 schoolchildren in England and Wales out of school for more than 15 million hours of lesson time
- Kebede said the level of panic among teachers was the worst he had seen since the Covid pandemic, reporting he was "routinely contacted by members in distress" who felt there was "real risk" to themselves and pupils
- The union warned that heat disruption is hitting disadvantaged pupils hardest, as children are sent home to flats unsuited to high temperatures while affluent-area schools can absorb the impact, creating a "two-tier system"
- Many UK schools are housed in Victorian-era or 1960s–70s buildings, neither of which Kebede said was designed for the extreme heat now expected to be the summer norm
Why it matters: Kebede leads the UK's largest education union, giving the retrofit demand and exam-timetable debate direct lobbying weight on government capital spending ahead of next summer. The 760,000-pupil figure from a single bout of heat quantifies the disruption cost, and the inequality framing — deprived urban schools bearing the brunt — hands ministers a politically defined constituency ahead of an El Niño-charged 2026.
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