A recent UNESCO report highlights the impact of climate change on education worldwide. The Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM), compiled with the MECCE project and the University of Saskatchewan, shows how climate-related events are reversing progress in education, especially in low and middle-income countries.
The report identifies climate-related stressors like heat waves, wildfires, floods, droughts, diseases, and rising sea levels as significant threats to global educational systems and outcomes. These challenges are tangible disruptors impacting millions of students and educators.
According to the GEM report, climate change affects education directly by damaging educational infrastructure and causing loss of life among students, parents, and school staff. Indirectly, it affects education through displacement and its detrimental effects on livelihoods and health.
One of the most immediate impacts of climate change on education is the increasing school closures due to extreme weather events. The report reveals a statistic: over the past two decades, schools were closed in at least 75% of extreme weather events affecting five million people or more. These closures disrupt the learning process and increase the risk of students falling behind or dropping out.
The cumulative effect of these disruptions is significant. Many low and middle-income countries experience climate-related school closures each year, leading to learning losses and increased dropout rates. This trend threatens to reverse recent educational gains, particularly in regions with limited resources and infrastructure.
The Heat Factor
Heat is a major threat to education among climate stressors. The report cites an analysis linking census and climate data from 29 countries between 1969 and 2012, showing that exposure to higher-than-average temperatures during prenatal and early life stages is associated with fewer years of schooling, especially in Southeast Asia
The impact of heat on education is quantifiable and alarming. According to the report, a child experiencing temperatures two standard deviations above average is predicted to attain 1.5 fewer years of schooling compared to children experiencing average temperatures. This reduction in educational attainment can have long-lasting effects on individual opportunities and broader societal development
The GEM report emphasizes that climate-induced educational challenges disproportionately affect marginalized communities and developing nations. In the US, very hot school days disproportionately affected African American and Hispanic students, accounting for about 5% of the racial achievement gap. This disparity is largely attributed to poor infrastructure in schools serving these communities
Similarly, in Brazil, students in the most disadvantaged municipalities, exposed to heat risk, lost about 1% of learning per year due to rising temperatures. This pattern is global, with 8 of the 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2019 being low or lower-middle-income countries.
The report provides insights into the impact of climate change on education in India. A study found negative effects of rainfall shocks in the first 15 years on vocabulary at age five and on mathematics and non-cognitive skills at age 15. These effects were more severe for boys and children of parents with lower education.
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This Indian case study is part of a broader pattern observed across Asia. An analysis of disasters experienced early in life by over 140,000 children in seven Asian countries found a negative association with school enrollment, especially for boys, and with mathematics performance, especially for girls, by the time they reach 13 to 14 years of age.
Climate change is driving unprecedented displacement, complicating education access. In 2022, 32.6 million people were internally displaced due to disasters. The report identifies five displacement patterns: temporary displacement, permanent migration to urban settlements, government-planned relocation, cross-border migration, and trapped populations.
Displacement scenarios present barriers to education, often related to financial resources, documentation issues, or residency requirements. The challenges faced by displaced populations add complexity to adapting education systems to climate change.
The GEM report calls for a comprehensive approach to climate adaptation in education, including multi-sectoral planning, curriculum reform, teacher training, and community engagement. The report emphasizes the need to improve the resilience of school infrastructure to absorb shocks and adapt to climate change impacts.
The report notes that current efforts are insufficient. There’s a critical need for increased awareness among education policymakers about the impacts of climate change on learning outcomes. This awareness gap must be addressed to prioritize climate adaptation in global educational policies and practices
