Nairobi — A new analysis from UNICEF reveals that climate-related disasters, including heatwaves, cyclones, floods, and storms, severely disrupted education for nearly a quarter of a billion children in 2024.
The Learning Interrupted: Global Snapshot of Climate-Related School Disruptions in 2024 report, released today, January 24th, on the International Day of Education, highlights the devastating effects of climate hazards that led to school closures or significant interruptions in school timetables. The report examines the impact of these disruptions on children from pre-primary through upper secondary levels.
In Kenya, over 2 million learners were affected by school closures due to damaged infrastructure and the loss of teaching materials caused by heavy rains and flooding during the long rains season from March to May 2024.
The report reveals that nearly 74% of affected students were in low and lower-middle-income countries, though no region was spared. In Italy, torrential rains and floods in September disrupted education for more than 900,000 students, while in Spain, similar conditions halted classes for 13,000 children in October.
UNICEF underscores that education systems are ill-prepared to mitigate these impacts, with insufficient climate-focused financial investments in education and a lack of comprehensive global data on school disruptions.
