Ventilation and Cooling Standards in Schools to Ensure Equitable, Cognitively Optimal Learning Environment for All Students

Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Minister for Education given evidence that each additional one-degree Celsius increase in temperature reduces learning by 1-2% with greater impact on lower-income students (a) what is the Ministry's assessment of "thermal inequality" between air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned classrooms; and (b) what specific hardware standards, such as cooling, ventilation and insulation, will ensure equitable, cognitively optimal learning environment for all students.

Mr Desmond Lee: My response will also cover the matters raised in the question by Mr Patrick Tay, which is scheduled for a subsequent Sitting on 25 September 2025 1 .

MOE aims to provide a conducive learning environment, through heat-resilient school design. For example, north-south building direction for natural ventilation and shading to minimise direct sunlight, large window openings for passive cooling, supported by ceiling fans

We are adopting additional heat mitigation measures to tackle rising temperatures. To reduce ambient temperature, school building exteriors are being coated with cool paint, and more shade and greenery are provided. To enhance cooling, we are adding more and faster fans to all classrooms, while designing new schools with more windows and open spaces. We are also installing mixed-mode air-conditioning in all school halls for large-scale events. In doing so, we seek to achieve a good level of thermal comfort in an energy-efficient manner by setting the air-conditioner at an appropriate temperature and using this together with high volume, low speed fans. We have also reviewed uniform guidelines to allow physical education attire on most days of the week.

We will continue to explore further heat adaptation and active cooling measures for classrooms, such as mixed mode air-conditioning, based on scientific understanding of how rising temperature affects student learning, including the United States' research Mr Tiong appears to have cited. However, we should consider local context, including our local climate, school design, student routines and learning approaches.

We will continue to look into how we can improve the thermal comfort so that all students can continue to have conducive learning environments regardless of the school they attend.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 118:

1 Question subsequently withdrawn: To ask the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider equipping more classrooms with air-conditioners that can be used when temperatures rise to high heat stress levels to prevent compromising students’ well-being, ability to concentrate and cognitive performance.