Manreet Kaur ( Fellow, AirCare Centre)
As temperatures soar across India, heatwaves are no longer isolated weather events—they are increasingly disrupting daily life, particularly in schools. Frequent power outages, students fainting from exhaustion, and interrupted classes are becoming common, raising growing concern over the impact of extreme heat on education.
Summer once brought library whispers and long study sessions; now it brings shortened school days, overheated hostels, and the steady disintegration of learning environments. This is not an abstract climate issue—it is an educational emergency, and it’s unfolding in classrooms, libraries, and living rooms across the country.
Public libraries, once sanctuaries of preparation for India’s fiercely competitive exams, now shutter early as rooms become ovens. In the absence of air conditioning, fans only stir hot air. Students retreat outside for relief, their focus melted by the sweltering interiors. Concentration becomes a luxury, memory falters, ambition wilts. The pursuit of knowledge is quietly being undone by heat.
Attempts to adjust—starting school earlier, compressing syllabi—only scratch the surface. Speed becomes the enemy of depth. Exams still loom, but with less time, less retention, and more anxiety. For students in government hostels, dormitories have become pressure cookers, sapping energy long before exams begin.
And the digital alternative offers little relief. In rural and low-income urban households, power cuts slice through online classes. Devices are shared, connectivity remains patchy, and girls are often sidelined—absorbed into domestic roles when they lose access to screens. For many, the right to education is being negotiated through the prism of heat, hierarchy, and hardware.
These aren’t isolated inconveniences; they are symptoms of a system unprepared for a new normal. Classrooms without insulation, hostels without ventilation, and homes without reliable electricity are no longer sustainable. Exams held in unshaded buildings, under tin roofs, are now acts of endurance.
But amid the heat, hope stirs. Across Punjab, students are not just surviving—they are organizing. In Ludhiana and Amritsar, youth groups are greening campuses, launching climate petitions, and demanding structural change. Their call is clear: education should not depend on the weather.
The solution lies not just in policy tweaks but in reframing the issue. Heatwaves are not a seasonal inconvenience; they are structural disruptors. And they demand a structural response: climate-resilient infrastructure, widespread digital equity, heat-safe academic calendars, and curricula that treat climate change as both a science and a lived experience.
India’s young people are navigating more than just exams—they are navigating a world that is quite literally changing around them. To support them, we must first acknowledge the scale of the crisis. And then, we must act as if education itself depends on it—because it does.
If we listen—truly listen—to students, we might build an education system that doesn’t melt under pressure, but adapts and endures.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official stance or position of North News. Readers are encouraged to consider multiple perspectives and make informed decisions based on their own judgment.
