Climate-related stressors such as heatwaves, wildfires, floods, droughts, diseases, and rising sea levels impact educational outcomes and threaten to reverse the educational progress of the past decade, according to the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM). Compiled by UNESCO, the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project, and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, the report highlights that many low and middle-income countries face annual school closures due to climate-related events, increasing the risk of learning setbacks and dropout rates.

The report emphasizes that climate change is already disrupting education systems directly by damaging infrastructure and causing harm to students, parents, and school staff. Indirectly, it affects education through displacements and impacts on livelihoods and health. Over the past two decades, schools have been closed during at least 75% of extreme weather events, affecting five million people or more. Frequent natural disasters have resulted in fatalities among students and teachers and have destroyed or damaged schools.

Furthermore, exposure to high temperatures adversely affects children’s educational outcomes. Research linking census and climate data from 29 countries between 1969 and 2012 shows that exposure to above-average temperatures during early life stages is associated with fewer years of schooling, particularly in Southeast Asia. The report notes that high temperatures have reduced test performance in various countries, affecting high school graduation rates and college entrance.

In India, studies indicate that rainfall shocks early in life negatively impact children’s vocabulary at age five and their mathematics and non-cognitive skills at age 15. Vulnerability to climate-induced educational challenges is particularly severe among marginalized populations. Among the countries most affected by extreme weather events, the majority are low or lower-middle-income countries, with significant climate risks affecting nearly one billion people, especially in fragile states.

The report underscores the urgent need for comprehensive climate adaptation measures in education, including multi-sectoral planning, curriculum reforms, teacher training, community engagement, and enhancing school infrastructure resilience. Despite these needs, planning and funding for climate impact resilience in education sectors remain inadequate in many countries. Awareness among education policymakers about the impacts of climate change on learning outcomes is also limited, highlighting the need for greater prioritization of climate adaptation in educational policies and practices globally.

Source: PTI

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