Southern schools delay term as heatwave tests empty towns

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, according to The Local Italy.

The dispute over term dates comes as a sustained heatwave continues to grip the peninsula, with temperatures breaking records across Europe this summer and raising questions about how public buildings — including schools — are equipped to cope.

In Molise, one of Italy's smallest and emptiest regions, the debate carries a particular edge. Schools here are often housed in aging structures built for a different climate, and the region's depopulation means fewer pupils but also fewer resources to retrofit buildings for rising temperatures.

The Local Italy reports that educators and local councils in some southern regions have argued the heat is too intense for children to sit in classrooms, pushing for a delayed start to the academic year. The report notes that the school year opens this week in many parts of Italy, with the heatwave complicating the traditional September return.

The issue is not unique to Italy. Across Europe, this summer has seen record-breaking temperatures and extreme weather episodes, according to meteorologists cited by The Local Italy. The same outlet reported on Monday that a "supersized" El Niño phenomenon could further affect the continent's climate in the coming months, potentially prolonging heat events that strain infrastructure designed for milder conditions.

From a Molise perspective, the school-heat dispute underscores a broader regional reality. With a population of roughly 289,000, the region has seen steady emigration of the young, leaving fewer students in classrooms each year. The buildings that remain — many dating from post-war reconstruction or earlier — are costly to maintain and often lack modern cooling systems, a fact that makes the heatwave debate as much about public investment as about the weather.

The push to delay term start also carries an equity dimension that foreign coverage has noted in other contexts. Wealthier northern regions, with more resources and newer school stock, are better positioned to adapt. In the South, where temperatures are often higher and infrastructure older, the burden falls on communities that can least afford it.

No decision has been reported at the national level regarding a uniform delay, and the matter appears to rest with individual councils and regions. For Molise's scattered towns, where a single school may serve children from several depopulated villages, the practical question of when to open is not administrative — it is a matter of habitability.