Climate shocks disrupting 33 million children’s education in Bangladesh, says UNICEF report

The report, "Learning Interrupted: Global Snapshot of Climate-Related School Disruptions in 2024," published on Friday, is the first of its kind, and reveals that heatwaves, cyclones, floods, and other extreme weather events led to multiple rounds of school closures around the world.

Globally, at least 247 million students in 77 countries had their schooling disrupted by heatwaves, tropical storms, floods and droughts in 2024. South Asia was the most affected region, the report said.

In Bangladesh, nationwide heatwaves in April and May 2024 left children at risk of dehydration and heatstroke, forcing schools to close across the whole country for up to two weeks, and several districts went on to suffer subsequent school disruption due to cyclone Remal, followed by intense flooding in June.

Up to 18.4 million people were impacted by the floods countrywide, including 7 million children. Sylhet district was the worst hit, with severe flooding causing widespread infrastructure damage and leaving more than 600,000 learners without access to education.

According to estimates from UNICEF in Bangladesh, children in Sylhet lost up to eight weeks of school days cumulatively and areas in Khulna, Chattogram and Rangpur districts each suffered 6 weeks of climate-induced school closures over 12 months.

“The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, exacerbated by the climate crisis, is having a knock-on effect on children’s education in Bangladesh and depriving children of their right to learn”, said Rana Flowers, UNICEF representative to Bangladesh.

She also said: “Extreme temperatures and other climate hazards don’t only damage schools, they can affect students’ concentration, memory and mental and physical health. Prolonged school closures increase the chance of children – especially adolescent girls – dropping out of school and being married off by families to cope with economic stress”.

According to the UNICEF Children’s Climate Risk Index, children in Bangladesh are already among the most exposed and vulnerable in the world to climate and environmental hazards. These disasters often put further strains on the “learning poverty” in the country, where one in two children cannot read at their grade level and two-thirds are unable to do basic counting after completing primary education.

The report notes that schools and education systems are largely ill-equipped to protect students from these impacts, and climate-centred finance investments in education remain strikingly low.

UNICEF is calling on international climate financing institutions and donors, the private sector and the interim Government of Bangladesh to prioritise the needs of children in policies and plans.

This can be done by including the following:

• Accelerating financing to improve climate resilience in the education sector, including investing in proven and promising solutions to build climate-smart learning facilities that are safe and inclusive for all children.

• Ensuring national climate plans – including Nationally Determined Contribution 3.0 and the National Adaptation Plan – strengthen child-critical social services, such as education, to be more climate- smart and disaster- resilient, and contain adequate emission reduction pledges to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

• Ensuring children and young people are part of the climate decision-making process at all levels.

“Children in Bangladesh are at the forefront of two interconnected crises - climate change and deepening learning poverty, threatening both their survival and future. As children continue to speak up and call for urgent action on the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, decision-makers must heed their calls and place their needs at the centre of climate policies and financing plans,” said Flowers.