Schools cleared to reopen after temperatures drop

By Simon Deng

The Minister of General Education and Instruction, Awut Deng Acuil on Tuesday announced the reopening schools on April 2, 2024 after they were closed due to heat wave that had seen the temperature rise to above 43 degree Celsius.

“The government has decided to reopen schools from Tuesday 2 April 2024, however because of the unpredictability in the climate, we caution teachers in schools to minimize playground activities to early morning and preferably indoors,” said Acuil during a press conference held in Juba.

The schools were closed on March 18, 2024 to protect learners from the adverse effects caused by high temperatures. The country had been experiencing high temperatures ranging from 41 to 45 degrees Celsius.

Acuil cautiond teachers in schools, to ventilate classrooms, provide water for learners during school time and also monitor children, especially the young ones for signs of heat exhaustion and heatstroke.

She said that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry through it’s routine monitoring of the temperature revealed a steady drop in the heat waves, adding that the forecast suggests lessening of heat waves and the start of the rainy season.

Joseph Africano Bartel, the Undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry said that the extreme heat wave is a result of climate change.

“The temperature will be going down but because of climate change it is not going to be steady, there are some days where there will be spike, most of the temperature will be hovering around 30 to 34 and the coming Friday will be about 39 and 40 degrees Celsius,” said Bartel.

“We have come out from the heat wave but we are going to have some heavy rain which will also cause flooding, the level of the Nile will be increasing and low land areas like Jonglei and Unity States will also experience some flooding,” he .disclosed.

Yolanda Awel Deng Juach, the Minister of Health said that the extreme heat waves have been affecting children under -5 years, the elderly and people with underlying conditions such as diabetes.

 She disclosed that diseases such as Meningitis, yellow fever, dengue fever and malaria are directly exacerbated by extreme heat waves.

“We need to continue to wach out signs for heat exhaustion, the temperatures are coming down but humidity will continue to remain high and humidity is the aspect that contributes to people having issues to do with heat stroke and heat exhaustion,” said Juach.

The Ministry of General Education and Instruction in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry said they will continue to closely observe the weather situation and advise accordingly.