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Schools • Fans and good ventilation alone are not good enough to combat hot weather
The Straits Times
|June 30, 2026
The recent spotlight, amid Europe's severe heatwave, on founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s push to install air-conditioning in workplaces reminded me of an important question: If air-conditioning was considered essential to improve productivity decades ago, should we not be having the same conversation about our schools today?
Schoolchildren spend six to eight hours each day in classrooms, yet many continue to learn in increasingly warm and humid conditions. While schools have fans and good ventilation, rising temperatures mean they may no longer be enough.
This story is from the June 30, 2026 edition of The Straits Times.
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