Evaluation of Thermal Comfort Conditions in Public Schools in Maiduguri During Peak Heat Season

Thermal comfort conditions in educational environments directly affect student concentration, learning performance, and health, yet this dimension of applied meteorology receives minimal professional attention in Nigerian educational planning. This study evaluates thermal comfort within selected public primary and secondary school buildings in Maiduguri, Borno State, during the peak heat season of April and May. Indoor and outdoor air temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity measurements were collected over a four-week campaign in 2023 using calibrated portable instruments deployed in 18 classrooms across six schools. Thermal comfort was assessed using the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) index and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) computed from measured environmental parameters and standard assumptions for school-age occupants. Simultaneous outdoor reference measurements from a portable weather station contextualized indoor conditions against NiMet-recorded ambient values. Results show that indoor PMV values in non-ventilated classrooms averaged 2.8 during peak afternoon hours, corresponding to a clearly hot and uncomfortable category. Classrooms with natural cross-ventilation achieved PMV values of 1.3, indicating substantially improved but still marginally warm conditions. A regression analysis confirms that indoor temperature is the dominant predictor of absenteeism rates in sampled schools, independent of external ambient conditions. Recommendations include mandatory passive cooling design standards in Borno State school construction guidelines and rescheduling of examination periods outside peak heat hours. Keywords: thermal comfort, schools, Maiduguri, PMV, passive cooling.