Heatwave pushes Italian schools to delay term start

The school year opens this week in many parts of Italy, but teachers and councils in some southern regions say the heat remains too intense for a return to the classroom, The Local Italy reports. The push to delay the start of term comes as the country endures a prolonged heatwave that has broken temperature records across Europe this summer.

According to The Local Italy, the discussions over delaying the start of the school term are concentrated in southern regions, where temperatures have remained exceptionally high even as September begins. Teachers and local councils argue that classrooms, many of which lack air conditioning, become unsafe and inhospitable for both students and staff under such conditions.

The situation is part of a broader pattern of extreme weather that has affected Italy and the wider European continent this summer. The Local Italy reported earlier that Europe has seen record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather episodes, with meteorologists warning that a supersized El Niño phenomenon could further affect the continent's climate in the coming months.

As The Local Italy notes, the country is having to make decisions about how to manage public life in the face of increasingly extreme temperatures, from transport strikes to the strain on health services. The decisions made in the coming weeks about school schedules may offer a template for how other institutions respond to the heat.