‘The water comes up to our knees’: Climate hazards shut millions of children out of school in 2025
Climate Emergencies Interrupted Education for 171 Million Students in 2025
Qinilo.com – For 16-year-old Taudibura Garo, heavy rain can bring the school day to an abrupt end. When a creek near her school in Papua New Guinea overflows, floodwater reaches the grounds and contaminates the pit toilets. The conditions become unsafe, forcing students to leave before lessons are complete.
“Usually, the water comes up to our knees and floods the pit toilets, then it becomes unhealthy for us to stay at school, and we miss the lessons we are supposed to learn,” she explained.
Her experience reflects a far wider global crisis. Climate hazards disrupted learning for an estimated 171 million pupils during 2025, affecting roughly one in every 10 students from pre-school through secondary education. The consequences went well beyond a missed day of class: damaged buildings, inaccessible roads, unsafe sanitation, family displacement and reduced household income all made it harder for children to remain in education.
Storms, Floods and Heatwaves Close Classrooms
Storms caused the greatest share of school interruptions, affecting 109 million students during the year. Flooding and extreme heat also shut classrooms, delayed school calendars and reduced the time available for instruction.
In some places, schools suspended classes while authorities addressed immediate safety risks. Elsewhere, buildings were damaged or families could no longer reach them. Remote learning offered an alternative in certain circumstances, but it could not fully replace classroom teaching where access to devices, electricity or reliable connectivity was limited.
Each disruption can create a chain of setbacks. Lost school days reduce instructional time, while repeated closures can weaken attendance patterns and make it more difficult for children to return. For students already facing barriers to education, interruptions caused by weather emergencies can increase the likelihood of leaving school permanently.
The challenge is particularly acute in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, where three-quarters of affected students lived in 2025. Education systems in these settings often have fewer resources to strengthen school buildings, maintain safe water and sanitation, prepare emergency plans or continue learning during climate-related crises.
Major Disruptions in Pakistan and Egypt
Pakistan experienced one of the year’s largest climate-linked education disruptions. Severe monsoon flooding in August postponed the return to school for more than 28 million students. A delayed opening can affect an entire academic timetable, placing additional pressure on teachers and students to recover lost learning time.
More than 28 million students were also affected in Egypt after a powerful Khamsin wind and dust storm led to a nationwide, one-day suspension of classes in April. Although the closure was brief, the event showed how hazards other than flooding can quickly affect education on a national scale.
For communities, school closures are not only an educational concern. Schools can provide children with routine, safety and social contact. When a climate emergency disrupts those spaces, parents and caregivers may need to make difficult arrangements for supervision, travel and household responsibilities while coping with damage or displacement of their own.
Girls Face Higher Risks of Leaving School
Climate-related disruptions do not affect every student in the same way. Girls are more likely than boys to drop out after schools close or learning is interrupted. The risk can grow when homes, classrooms and sanitation facilities are damaged, or when families lose their income and are displaced.
In these circumstances, girls may be asked to take on greater caregiving duties or spend more time collecting water. These responsibilities can make regular attendance difficult even once schools reopen. Economic and social pressure can also heighten the risk of child marriage, a development that can severely limit a girl’s ability to resume her education.
“For millions of children, climate hazards do more than disrupt lessons, they destroy schools, uproot families, and push the most vulnerable children, especially girls, out of the classroom for good,” stressed UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
The situation in Papua New Guinea may become more difficult in the coming months. A stronger-than-ever El Niño climate pattern is expected to raise the risk of extreme weather, leaving students such as Taudibura and her classmates exposed to further interruptions.
The Economic Cost of Lost Learning
The damage caused by school disruptions can extend into adulthood. Students whose education was interrupted by climate hazards in 2025 could collectively lose at least $200 billion in lifetime earnings unless effective support is provided. The estimate illustrates that missed education is not simply a short-term issue for individual children and families.
At a national level, widespread learning losses and rising dropout rates can weaken workforce productivity, slow economic progress and make poverty reduction more difficult. When children lose access to consistent education, communities may also face a longer recovery from the effects of climate emergencies.
UNICEF has urged governments to increase investment in education systems and infrastructure designed to withstand climate risks. This includes protecting school facilities and ensuring that learning can continue when emergencies occur. Safe classrooms, dependable sanitation and practical plans for keeping children engaged during disruptions are central to protecting the right to education.
For students facing floodwater, storms, heatwaves or dust-filled skies, resilience is not an abstract policy goal. It can determine whether the next emergency means a temporary interruption or the end of a child’s time in school.
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