CAPE TOWN, South Africa — A recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund reveals that last year, around 242 million children across 85 nations experienced interruptions in their education due to extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves, cyclones, and flooding. This translates to approximately one in seven children who are currently in school being affected at some point throughout 2024, as a result of climate-related disturbances.
The report highlights the devastating impact of weather phenomena, with numerous countries witnessing the destruction of hundreds of schools. Low-income nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have been particularly hard-hit. However, the impact of extreme weather extended beyond these regions; for instance, heavy rainfall and flooding in Italy disrupted the education of over 900,000 children toward the end of the year, while thousands in Spain also faced class cancellations due to severe flooding.
Among the various climate threats, heatwaves emerged as the most significant factor leading to school closures last year, which coincided with the Earth’s hottest recorded temperatures. UNICEF reported that in April alone, more than 118 million children had their classes interrupted as excessive heat swept across the Middle East and parts of Asia, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) from Gaza to the Philippines.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell emphasized the heightened vulnerability of children to the impacts of weather-related disasters, including more frequent and intense heatwaves, storms, droughts, and flooding. She pointed out that children have unique physiological characteristics that make them particularly susceptible to heat. Consequently, they struggle to focus in excessively hot classrooms and face barriers in reaching school when routes are flooded or facilities are destroyed.
The report reveals that around 74% of the children impacted in 2024 are from middle- and low-income countries, highlighting the severe ramifications of climatic extremes in the world’s poorest regions. For instance, severe flooding in Pakistan ruined more than 400 schools in April, and Afghanistan experienced heatwaves followed by flooding that damaged over 110 schools in May.
Moreover, months of drought across southern Africa, intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, jeopardize the educational prospects of millions of children. The crises appear to be ongoing, as the impoverished French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean endured destruction from Cyclone Chido in December and was further struck by Tropical Storm Dikeledi, leaving children out of school for six weeks.
In Mozambique, Cyclone Chido not only impacted education but also obliterated over 330 schools and three regional education departments, exacerbating already significant barriers to access educational opportunities. UNICEF has indicated that global education systems are generally inadequately prepared to handle the repercussions of extreme weather conditions.
