DISABLED children have won a long-running battle for cooler schools.
More than 2,000 physically handicapped and severely mentally handicapped children will enjoy air-conditioned classrooms following a government agreement to relax noise abatement rules.
The rules prohibit the installation of air-conditioners in schools where outside noise levels are below 65 decibels, with pupils expected to simply open their windows to cool off.
The Education Department said the plan to install air-conditioners for disabled children, irrespective of their schools' noise levels, would cost about $100 million.
About 40 per cent of government and aided school classrooms are air-conditioned. But more than 492,000 students still sweat their way through lessons in classrooms without air-conditioners.
The Government has refused to install air-conditioners in all classrooms - a move it estimates would cost $5 billion.
