A new global report finds that climate change, especially extreme heat, is cutting school years short for children, disrupting learning, and worsening education gaps, especially in poorer countries and vulnerable communities worldwide.
Climate change is not just about rising temperatures and disasters. It is also affecting children's learning. A new report shows that many children around the world are missing school or learning less because of extreme heat and other climate-related problems.
Let’s understand how.
What the report says
The report was prepared by three major organisations. UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team, the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada were involved in the study.
Related Articles
It shows that climate change is damaging education, especially in poor and middle-income countries. These include places in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.
Children may lose 1.5 years of schooling
The most worrying finding is that children exposed to very high temperatures early in life may end up losing up to 1.5 years of school.
Researchers studied 29 countries from 1969 to 2012. They found that children who grew up in hotter conditions went to school for fewer years. This was seen the most in Southeast Asia, where temperatures were well above normal.
Heat affects exam scores and graduation
In some countries like China, extreme heat during exams led to poor results. This made it harder for students to finish school or go to college.
In the United States, if a school year was just 1°C hotter and classrooms didn’t have air conditioning, test scores dropped by 1%. Students from African American and Hispanic communities suffered more, because their schools had worse buildings and cooling systems.
This alone caused about 5% of the racial learning gap.
Why school buildings matter
The report says that many schools, especially public schools, need to improve their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Without proper systems, students find it hard to focus or stay healthy in extreme heat.
In Brazil, children in poor areas that were also very hot lost about 1% of learning each year because of rising temperatures.
Climate disasters also destroy schools
Extreme heat is not the only danger. Floods, storms, and cyclones are also forcing schools to close.
Over the last 20 years, about 75% of major climate events led to school closures. These disasters affected more than 5 million people each time.
For example, the 2013 floods in Jakarta, Indonesia, caused schools to shut down, damaged buildings and forced some schools to be used as shelters.
Some schools are trying to prepare
The report shared one hopeful point that some schools are taking steps to be ready. In Jakarta, 81% of schools that had a flood plan said it helped them manage during the crisis. This shows that disaster planning can reduce damage and help keep schools running.
Vulnerable groups suffer the most
The climate crisis affects everyone, but not equally. The report found that marginalised children, especially those from poor families, minority groups or war-affected areas, suffer more.
Of the 10 worst-hit countries by weather disasters in 2019, eight were poor or lower-middle-income countries.
In the US, people with less income or education are 15% more likely to live in areas where pollution may cause more asthma in children.
What can be done?
The report calls for governments and school systems to:
- Improve school buildings and cooling systems
- Prepare for floods and disasters
- Support students who are most at risk
- Train teachers to handle emergencies
- Keep schools open whenever it’s safe to do so
This new report makes one thing very clear, climate change is not just an environmental problem, but a major education problem too. Without action, many children will lose out on learning, especially the ones who already face difficulties. Governments, schools and communities must act now to protect the future of millions of children.
