Bridget Phillipson has refused to rule out introducing temperature limits in school buildings, following the warmest spring on record for England and Wales.
Temperatures exceeded 35C in Kew Gardens last week, as the late May heatwave saw six consecutive days above 30C in some areas, according to the Met Office.
This historic spell of hot weather points to the country’s fast-changing climate, as experts warn a warming “El Niño” is 80 per cent likely this summer.
Following the heatwave, unions called on the government to set a limit on how hot schools can be before they are closed.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU teaching union, told Tes: “A maximum working temperature for schools would encourage investment into making schools heat-resilient, with mitigations such as air conditioning, which would protect learning, the important exam period, and keep staff and children safe and comfortable.”
When pressed, the education secretary did not rule out introducing such measures.
“We’ll always look closely at what schools need and I do recognise that some of the temperature fluctuations that we see, and particularly some of the hot weather in recent years, can make life really difficult for teachers and staff and can kind of have an impact on children’s learning as well,” she told The Mirror.
Earlier this year, the government unveiled a 10-year plan to transform the education estate so children and young people across the country have the high-quality classrooms that are fit for purpose and resilient to climate change from flooding and overheating.
The plan is backed by £1 billion for the education estate to fix crumbling, overheating or simply not fit-for-purpose buildings.
It comes as the government was warned in a major new report that not nearly enough is being done for the country to adapt to the escalating climate crisis.
The findings, which come from government advisory body the Climate Change Committee, include warnings that more than nine in 10 homes are not well insulated enough to keep out the heat.
Even global warming of 2C in 2050 will mean hotter, longer heatwaves, the committee added, with temperatures “regularly” exceeding 40C in parts of the UK. The global average temperature has so far increased by just over 1.3C since pre-industrial times.
Dr Emily Carlisle, Met Office scientist, said: “This spring highlights both the natural variability of the UK’s weather and the longer-term warming we are observing. While conditions varied through the season, all three months of meteorological spring recorded mean temperatures within the UK’s top 10 warmest on record.
“While we expect fluctuations from year to year, this spring shows some of the changes we’re seeing in our weather patterns, with more extreme conditions becoming more frequent. The fact that nine of the ten warmest springs in England have occurred since 2007 illustrates this ongoing shift in the UK’s climate.”
