A new global report indicates that children exposed to extreme heat waves worldwide could face a loss of up to 1.5 years of schooling, as climate change directly impacts education and threatens to reverse educational gains made in recent decades.
Key Findings of the Report
The report, compiled by UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) team, the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project, and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, highlights the growing impact of climate-related stressors on education outcomes. These stressors include heat, wildfires, storms, floods, droughts, diseases, and rising sea levels. The report emphasizes that most low and middle-income countries experience climate-related school closures annually, increasing the likelihood of learning loss and students dropping out. Over the past 20 years, schools have been closed in at least 75% of extreme weather events, affecting five million people or more.
Impact of Heat Exposure on Education
Exposure to high temperatures has significant detrimental effects on children's educational outcomes. Research linking census and climate data across 29 countries between 1969 and 2012 revealed that higher-than-average temperatures during prenatal and early life are associated with fewer years of schooling, particularly in Southeast Asia. According to the report, a child experiencing temperatures two standard deviations above average is predicted to attain 1.5 fewer years of schooling than children experiencing average temperatures.
High temperatures also reduce performance on high-stakes tests in China and lead to lower high school graduation and college entrance rates. In the United States, a school year with temperatures 1 degree Celsius higher than average can reduce test scores by 1% in schools without air conditioning. Very hot school days disproportionately affect African American and Hispanic students due to inadequate infrastructure, accounting for approximately 5% of the racial achievement gap.
Disruptions and Challenges
Extreme heat disrupts children's education in several ways. Heatwaves have led to school closures worldwide. Even when schools remain open, high temperatures can impair children's concentration and cognitive functions, leading to lower academic achievement. Extreme heat can cause dehydration, exhaustion, and heatstroke, posing significant health risks to children. Increased exposure to extreme heat can also elevate the risk of respiratory and kidney diseases, among other health hazards.
Furthermore, extreme heat can lead to crop failures and livestock deaths, resulting in food scarcity and higher prices, which can negatively impact children's nutrition. Heatwaves also limit children's ability to play outdoors, hindering their physical and mental development. The psychological distress caused by the climate crisis can also negatively affect children's mental health.
UNICEF's Findings
UNICEF reported that at least 242 million students globally experienced educational disruptions due to extreme weather events in 2024, including heat waves, tropical cyclones, storms, floods, and droughts. Nearly three-quarters of these students live in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Around one billion children reside in countries highly vulnerable to environmental and climate shocks, where events like storms and floods often disrupt lives and damage or destroy schools.
Addressing the Crisis
To mitigate the impact of extreme heat on children's education, schools need to be climate-proofed through insulation or the use of materials that naturally regulate temperature. Other measures include elevating buildings to protect them from flooding and building sturdier roofs. Making schools and students more resilient is crucial.
