The Philippines will halt in-person classes at public schools on Monday and Tuesday amid rising temperatures that reached a record in the capital Manila over the weekend.
The suspension is also due to a scheduled transport strike across the country, the Department of Education said Sunday in a statement on its Facebook page, as jeepney operators continue to protest against a state-mandated modernization push.
The temperature in metropolitan Manila soared to 38.8C (101.8F) on Saturday, according to the nation’s weather forecaster. That trumped the previous all-time high of 38.6C recorded in May 1915, ABS-CBN News reported.
The heat index, which measures the temperature felt by individuals as it takes humidity into account, is forecast to reach as high as 46C on Monday, the weather agency said.
Soaring heat in the Southeast Asian country led to school closures earlier this month, prompting a return to remote learning that became the norm during the Covid pandemic. A provincial government in the main Luzon island will implement a four-day work week through July to mitigate the impact of high temperatures on its employees and to those transacting with the agency.
The intense heat this month has also forced power plants to shut down, placing the country at risk of blackouts and prompting the government to call on people to reduce consumption.