conditions disrupted the education of approximately 242 million children across 85 countries in 2024, according to a report released by the United Nations children’s agency on Friday.
One in seven students could not attend school due to heatwaves, floods, cyclones, and other extreme weather conditions.
Last year was the , with recent years seeing temporarily surpassing the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold.
South Asia the most affected region
According to the report, heatwaves impacted at least 171 million children. In April alone, 118 million children were affected, with temperatures spiking in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Thailand and the Philippines.
Then later in September, the start of the academic year coincided with the devastating typhoon Yagi, which hit East Asia and the Pacific.
But the hardest hit region was South Asia, where 128 million school children were affected. The majority, . Most of them were hit by heatwaves, which also affected 35 million in Bangladesh.
Over 400 schools were ruined by flooding in Pakistan in April, whereas in Afghanistan, heatwaves followed by in May destroyed over 110 schools.
The report estimates that nearly 74% of the children affected were based in middle and low-income countries.
Months of drought in southern Africa, exacerbated by El Nino, threatened the schooling and futures of millions of children. Cyclone Chido and Tropical Storm Dikeledi left and , severely disrupting education.
UNICEF highlight ‘overlooked’ aspect of climate crisis
UNICEF’s executive director Catherine Russell stressed that education was among the services most frequently disrupted by climate hazards.
“Yet it is often overlooked in policy discussions,” she warned. “Children’s futures must be at the forefront of all climate-related plans and actions.”
Russel also stressed that children were the “most vulnerable” to extreme weather.
“They heat up faster, they sweat less efficiently, and cool down more slowly than adults,” she said in a statement.
“Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away.”
rmt/lo (AFP, AP)
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