A town in France is investing $6,000 in jackets for hundreds of schoolchildren because the classroom temperature has plummeted amid the energy crisis.
The mayor of Priers, a small town in the north-west of the country, discussed the plan on French radio station France Bleu.
In the face of a potential energy shortage this winter, officials in Priers have decided to turn down the heating in public buildings to 19C (66F), Gabriel Daube told France Bleu. He added that 19 degrees was bearable, but if it becomes very cold then fleece jackets would be useful for children in classrooms.
Daube said 350 children would benefit. “A bit like how a region gives a computer or a county gives a dictionary, we are giving a fleece to each student,” he said in the interview.
“It is necessary for students to feel good in order to learn,” Daube added.
Daube and Ville de Priers didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment made outside of normal working hours.
Priers, like many other towns and cities in Europe, has adopted energy-saving measures, including turning down the heating, as the continent grapples with short supplies of energy.
The measures come as Russia holds back gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream pipelines after the West imposed sanctions on Moscow after President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February.
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