450 billion wasted without buying a single air conditioner for schools

It is excessively hot; the start of the school year needs to be postponed until October. The call for this initiative began online and has been taken up by many teachers, as well as—naturally—some trade unions and even numerous parents. All are rightly concerned about the unsustainable conditions that pose a risk to the mental and physical health of teachers, staff and pupils. Air-conditioning is needed in classrooms, but there is no money and, above all, there is no time. Now. Because in the past there was both, but both were wasted.

When the Covid pandemic struck in 2020, Italy was the country in Europe that kept its schools closed for the longest period: 341 days, compared with an average of 138. At the time, one of the most important debates centred on classroom ventilation: installing ventilation systems in all schools was a shared priority. And resources, in the years that followed, were certainly not an issue. Between the Superbonus and the NRRP, 450 billion euros have been spent, but not a single euro has been earmarked to adapt school buildings to rising temperatures: we’ve fitted thermal insulation to seaside villas, but not air conditioning in schools. As things stand, out of around 60,000 schools, only 6–7 per cent have air conditioning. Minister Valditara has allocated 20 million euros, enough to cool just 300–400 classrooms: the Conte government spent 120 million on those useless desks on wheels.

So, after six years and 450 billion, the solution is still the same: closed schools. After all, the trade unions are fine with this too; for one thing, amongst the many strikes they’ve organised – from Gaza to neoliberalism to climate change – there isn’t a single one that comes to mind over air conditioning.