The French government, in partnership with the energy state-owned company EDF and major financial institutions, announced an urgent budget injection of over 130 million euros (approximately 4.95 billion baht) to install cooling systems and renovate buildings in over ten thousand schools and childcare centers nationwide. This follows an unprecedented severe heatwave that has disrupted key exams for more than 850,000 secondary students.
The French government, together with the national energy company EDF and leading financial institutions, announced an urgent budget allocation exceeding 130 million euros (about 4.95 billion baht) to support installing cooling systems and improving infrastructure in schools, kindergartens, and childcare centers across the country to prepare for an increasingly severe heatwave crisis.
This initiative comes after most school buildings in France, originally not designed for extreme heat and lacking air conditioning, faced record-breaking heatwaves. On Thursday, 25 June, the hottest day of the week, around 3,500 elementary schools temporarily closed, while more than 10,000 others adjusted school hours to ensure children's safety.
This situation made teaching extremely difficult in classrooms hot like ovens and affected important exams for over 850,000 secondary students, causing some schools to postpone oral exams. Meanwhile, the French teachers' union organized strikes to protest what they called "unacceptable and deteriorating working conditions."
According to project details, EDF, the French electricity state-owned enterprise, will allocate the initial 80 million euros (about 3.1 billion baht) budget in two main parts. The first 40 million euros will be used to purchase over 100,000 cooling devices such as fans, misting machines, mobile air conditioners, and permanent air conditioning units to be distributed to more than 10,000 educational and childcare institutions by the end of September 2026.
The remaining 40 million euros will be distributed as lump-sum grants of 10,000 euros (around 380,000 baht) per institution to assist in fundraising for long-term cooling projects through to the end of June 2027.
Bernard Fontana, CEO of EDF, said in a statement, "As heatwaves increasingly affect our country, we want to implement concrete measures to support schools and childcare centers by providing ready-to-use cooling equipment and making long-term system improvements."
Additionally, a group of financial institutions including Banque des Territoires, Banque Postale, and the Local Energy Efficiency Organization (ACTEE) announced an additional 50 million euros (about 1.9 billion baht) to renovate over 12,500 schools. There is also a supplementary 60 million euros available from the "green fund" to further support these efforts.
Roland Lescure, France's Minister of Economy, told France Culture radio, "We will begin immediate action next week with 2,500 pilot schools that are most at risk and at the frontline of heat exposure."
These vulnerable schools, including those recently closed due to heat, will receive an emergency fund of 10 million euros in the coming days to quickly implement solutions such as installing sunshades, ceiling fans to circulate air, sun protection devices, and ventilation systems. For the hardest-hit schools, the government is considering installing reversible heat pump systems that can function as air conditioners in summer to ensure at least one comfortable classroom for students and staff.
Previously, delays in government management forced many parents to seek immediate, makeshift solutions to reduce classroom temperatures, such as applying white chalk powder to windows to reflect sunlight or attaching emergency foil blankets to windows as heat barriers.
Education Minister Édouard Jeanneret praised the plan, emphasizing that it offers concrete and tangible solutions to schools "starting from this summer break onward" to prevent the country's education system from being paralyzed by future climate change crises.
. . .Ouest-France/ AFP