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Drought, rising temperatures, heatwaves and floods are not only threatening the environment but also disrupting learning for millions of children.

As the world grapples with the effects of climate change, one significant yet often overlooked consequence which can be very harsh – is its impact on education.

A staggering 400 million students globally experienced school closures from extreme weather since 2022, according to a World Bank report, Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action, released on September 4, 2024.

Investing in climate-resilient schools and education systems is essential to ensure that every child realises their right to learn in a safe and conducive learning environment.

The comprehensive report examines the detrimental impacts of climate change on education in low- and middle-income countries and offers solutions to harness education to spur climate action. It also estimates that a one-time investment of $18.51 per child can mitigate the impact of climate shocks.

New analysis in the report shows that the climate crisis is hitting education the hardest in low-income countries, with 18 school days lost annually on average, compared to 2.4 days in wealthier nations.

Planet friendly solutions

A 10-year child in 2024 will experience three times more floods, five times more drought, and 36 times more heatwaves over their lifetime compared to a 10-year-old child in 1970. And even when schools are open, students are losing learning due to climate.

Education is not only under threat from climate change – it is massively overlooked in climate financing. Past analyses have shown that a mere 1.5 percent of climate finance goes to education. But new estimates in the report show that for $18.51 per child, schools can better safeguard learning from climate change – by improving classroom temperature, building resilient infrastructure, and training teachers, among other adaptation measures.

“The promising news is that there are many low-cost steps that governments can take to harness education and learning for climate action while adapting education systems to climate change,” says World Bank Global Director of Education Luis Benveniste.

Kenya, through the Ministry of Education on 8 October 2024 launched an ‘Operation Plan’ to scale up the Kenya National School Meals Programme (SMP) to universal coverage. Kenya committed to the global School Meals Coalition at the Unted Nations Food Systems in September 2021 during the UN General Assembly.

Developed with support from the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rockefeller Foundation Kenya’s ‘Operation for the SMP scale-up 2024-2030’ supports the national coalition’s goal of increasing the number of learners from school meals from 1.9 million learners in 2023 to over 10 million learners by 2030, with an interim goal of reaching four million in 2024. Kenya has also committed to a universal programme that advances the country’s climate goals.

“The planet-friendly approach to school feeding is at the heart of the scale-up and focus of the coalition. We are aware of the environmental impact of this programme, but also of its transformative power to help farmers and communities adapt to climate change if we get it right, like through climate-smart agriculture and shifting away from the current 90 percent use of firewood towards cleaner sources of cooking,” says Cabinet Secretary for Education Julius Migos Ogamba.

The rise in food insecurity witnessed at the height of the recent drought, the worst in 40 years, that resulted in millions of learners losing access to meals and therefore education, underscores the indispensable role of school meals in safeguarding and ensuring children’s well-being.

The integration and expansion of climate-smart school meals is fundamental and offers Kenya a unique opportunity and entry-point to tackle climate challenges that disproportionately affect Kenya’s arid and semi-arid areas.

Heatwaves, exacerbated by climate change, are becoming more frequent and intense, posing a significant educational challenge, particularly in regions with inadequate infrastructure and resources, according to Unicef.

Disrupted learning

Schools in many parts of the world, especially in low-and middle-income countries, lack proper ventilation, cooling systems, and access to safe drinking water. This can make classrooms unbearable and potentially hazardous during extreme heat. When temperatures soar, governments often face the dilemma of keeping schools opening or closing them temporarily – disrupting children’s continuity of learning.

A heatwave in Pakistan forced schools to close in late May 2024, leaving 26 million, or more than half of the country’s school-age children, out of the classroom. In April 2024, South Sudan closed its schools for 2.2 million students when temperatures soared to 45 degrees celsius (113 Fahrenheit). Thousands of schools in Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines have also had to close due to extreme heat.

In recent years these heatwaves have arrived earlier, become more severe and lasted longer, leaving schools unprepared to cope. In humanitarian contexts, the impact of heatwaves on education becomes even more urgent. Vulnerable communities grapple with multiple challenges of climate change, conflict and forced displacement, making access to quality education a critical lifeline for children. Unicef estimates that by 2050 almost every child in the world – nearly 2.2 billion children – will be exposed to frequent heat waves.

Even if students continue attending classes during heat waves, their education will likely suffer. High air temperatures and lower hydration levels are known to affect children’s ability to concentrate, retain and process information, impacting overall school achievements.

As heatwaves become more frequent and last longer, the need for urgent action grows stronger. The most disadvantage are most affected by climate change impacts. Recent data suggest that action is urgently needed to make education systems climate-resilient.

In 2023, a Unicef survey found that among 40 countries assessed as having high or extremely high risk of children’s exposure and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, only a third of such countries reported concrete government action on greening education.

Recognising the profound implications of climate change on education, governments, Unicef, the Global Partnership for Education and other actors, are working to strengthen the climate resilience of children, education personnel, schools and education systems.

Greater attention on preparedness efforts can protect marginalised populations, especially children. This includes improving schools’ infrastructure to ensure educational facilities can with stand extreme weather conditions and disasters.