Climate-related education disruptions in 2025-2026

A UNICEF report titled ‘Learning Interrupted: Global Snapshot of Climate-Related School Disruptions in 2025’ indicated that climate hazards disrupted the education of over 171 million students in 2025, representing approximately one in ten students globally.

Storms were identified as the leading cause of disruption, affecting 109 million students, followed by floods (70 million) and heatwaves (50 million). These events resulted in school closures, damaged facilities, reduced teaching time, and increased dropout risks. The report noted that 75 percent of affected children live in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

Gender-specific impacts were highlighted, with girls facing disproportionate risks of dropping out due to increased caregiving responsibilities, displacement, and child marriage. Regional examples included monsoon flooding in Pakistan, sandstorms in Egypt, and impacts on more than 3 million children in Vietnam. Economically, the report warned that these disruptions could result in a loss of at least 200 billion USD in lifetime earnings for the affected students.

By late 2026, Save the Children reported that approximately 13 million students across six countries—Venezuela, Nepal, Japan, Colombia, Indonesia, and the Philippines—experienced educational disruptions due to natural disasters and climate-related events over a three-month period. In Venezuela, mid-year earthquakes impacted roughly one million students, leaving over 21,000 without access to original schools and forcing many into temporary shelters. Other disruptions included monsoon flooding in Nepal and the Philippines, as well as seismic activity in Japan and Indonesia. In response, Save the Children called on world leaders to allocate at least $5 billion to strengthen school infrastructure through the Global Partnership for Education.