One in 10 Students Lost Learning Time to Climate Hazards Last Year

More than 171 million students experienced climate-related disruption to their schooling in 2025, according to UNICEF’s Learning Interrupted analysis. The findings show how extreme weather is becoming an education crisis, with the greatest burden falling on lower-income countries and the potential consequences extending to earnings, gender equality and poverty reduction.

Climate hazards disrupted the education of more than 171 million students worldwide in 2025, affecting roughly one in 10 children from pre-primary to upper-secondary age. Storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts and wildfires did more than close school gates: they reduced learning time, damaged facilities, displaced families and increased the risk that some children would never return.

Storms affected 109 million students in 2025, followed by floods affecting at least 70 million and heatwaves disrupting the education of approximately 50 million children. The numbers point to a global education system increasingly exposed to environmental shocks.

School closures are only one part of the problem. Extreme weather can leave classrooms damaged, cut off roads and destroy sanitation facilities. Teachers may be unable to reach schools, while families dealing with displacement or lost income may keep children at home even after classes officially resume.

Learning can also be interrupted when schools switch to remote instruction or shorten the academic day. Such arrangements may help maintain a connection with students, but their effectiveness depends on access to electricity, devices, internet services and suitable learning materials. Unequal access can leave the most vulnerable children further behind.

Lower-income countries carry the heaviest burden

Three-quarters of the students affected by climate-related school disruption live in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Many of these education systems have limited capacity to reinforce buildings, maintain emergency facilities or finance rapid repairs after floods and storms.

Pakistan saw one of the largest disruptions recorded in 2025. Severe monsoon flooding in August delayed the return to school for more than 28 million students. Egypt faced a separate nationwide closure when a powerful Khamsin wind and dust storm suspended classes for a day, also affecting more than 28 million students.

The pattern is not confined to countries regularly associated with large-scale disasters. Forty countries experienced more than one round of climate-related disruption during the year. Madagascar faced drought, tropical cyclones and floods affecting 280,000 students, while parts of Spain experienced repeated interruptions linked to storms, extreme heat and other severe weather.

Repeated shocks create a particularly difficult recovery cycle. Education authorities may reopen schools after one emergency only to confront another before students have recovered lost instructional time. Teachers and families are then forced to manage a series of disruptions rather than a single temporary crisis.

Children lose more than classroom hours

The consequences of interrupted education can extend into adulthood. UNICEF estimates that failing to address the effects of the 2025 disruptions could lead to at least US$200 billion in lost lifetime earnings among affected students.

The estimate represents a projected economic cost, not a confirmed loss already recorded. It reflects the potential relationship between reduced learning, higher dropout rates and weaker employment prospects. Students who miss significant periods of education may struggle to regain lost ground, especially where schools lack remedial programmes or resources for individual support.

Lower educational attainment can eventually affect national economies as well. A less skilled workforce may reduce productivity and constrain growth, while weaker employment opportunities can make poverty reduction more difficult. Climate-related school closures therefore have implications for labour markets and public finances, not only for education ministries.

Girls face additional pressures when climate emergencies strike. Damage to water and sanitation facilities, household income losses and displacement can increase their responsibility for caregiving and water collection. Prolonged disruption can raise the risk of permanent withdrawal from school and, in some cases, child marriage.

Households under financial stress often make difficult choices about which responsibilities children should assume. Girls may be expected to support domestic work, while boys may be pushed into paid or informal labour. Prolonged school disruption can turn those temporary arrangements into permanent changes in a child's future.

Education policy must plan for continuity

Climate resilience cannot be limited to stronger school buildings, although infrastructure is an important part of the response. Education systems also need plans for keeping students connected to learning when campuses are unsafe, inaccessible or being used for emergency purposes.

Possible measures include temporary learning spaces, flexible calendars, teacher-support systems and carefully designed remote-learning arrangements. Governments will need to match these approaches to local realities, since a solution that works in a well-connected urban area may not be practical in a rural community without reliable electricity or internet access.

Funding is likely to determine how far resilience plans can go. Low- and lower-middle-income countries may face the greatest exposure while having the fewest resources to upgrade classrooms, protect sanitation systems and support recovery. Domestic education budgets, international development assistance and climate-adaptation finance will all have a role in closing the gap.

Improved data could help governments act before disruption becomes widespread. Mapping vulnerable schools, tracking attendance and identifying areas repeatedly exposed to hazards would allow resources to be directed toward the highest-risk communities. More consistent data could also show whether students are returning to class and recovering lost learning.

Climate education has a place in the response as well. Teaching children about adaptation and climate risks can help prepare them for the conditions they will face. It cannot, however, compensate for unsafe buildings, inaccessible schools or a lack of basic services.

The key policy challenge is moving from emergency response to long-term preparedness. Forty countries already experienced repeated disruptions in 2025, suggesting that education systems need to plan for recurring interruptions rather than assume each disaster will be an isolated event.

Governments and international partners should now be judged not only by how quickly schools reopen, but also by how effectively students recover missed learning and remain enrolled. Without stronger continuity measures, climate hazards will continue to convert temporary school closures into lasting educational and economic disadvantages.