Climate Change Disrupting Education, Increasing Learning Loss: UNESCO

Climate-related stressors like heat, wildfires, floods, droughts, diseases and rising sea levels affect education outcomes and threaten to undo educational gains of recent decades, according to the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM).

- Gunjan Sharma

The global report compiled by UNESCO, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and the University of Saskatchewan in Canada has pointed out that most low and middle-income countries are experiencing climate-related school closures every year, increasing chances of learning loss and dropout.

"Climate change related impacts are already disrupting education systems and outcomes. Direct effects include the destruction of education infrastructure as well as injuries and loss of life among students, parents and school staff. Climate change has a negative impact on education indirectly through its displacement of people and the effects on people's livelihoods and health," the report said. "Over the past 20 years, schools were closed in at least 75% of the extreme weather events, impacting five million people or more. Increasingly frequent natural disasters, including floods and cyclones, have led to the deaths of students and teachers and have damaged and destroyed schools.