“Several classes have problematic air quality”
Bernard Drainville and François Legault.
Air quality continues to be a challenge in Quebec schools, with several classes still showing a quantity of CO2 greater than 1500 parts per million (ppm), the threshold recommended by Quebec public health.< /p>
On the other hand, air quality and ventilation remain acceptable in the majority of classrooms in the province. “I don’t feel like sweetening the pill for you, commented the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, in a press scrum at the National Assembly. Several classes have problematic air quality and this situation must be addressed, but most of the classes in Quebec are below 1500 ppm. It’s not ideal as numbers, but it’s acceptable according to public health.”
For winter, air quality will represent an additional challenge since the classroom windows will no longer be able to open because of the cold setting in, which will affect ventilation. The figures will be worse in the months to come, confesses the minister.
Challenge-to-size
Classrooms with poor air quality are in schools that were built 40 years ago. But modernizing the schools constitutes “a major challenge”.
“The dilapidated state of the premises is a major obstacle, since several classes find themselves in old schools dating from before 1980. The park needs to be rejuvenated. schools, and build new schools, and we are looking at the possibilities in this regard.”
In addition, the installation of CO2 readers in all classes in Quebec has been completed.
“We will not compromise on air quality and student comfort,” says Mr. Drainville. We have given ourselves a game plan for the classes, and the commitment I make to parents, teachers and children is that I will do everything to bring all classes below the 1500 ppm mark.
In terms of the mask in schools, the Minister of Education specifies that public health recommends it and that isolation in the event of symptoms remains in force.
