Prime Highlights
- Youngsters who get exposed to increasing heatwaves will likely miss out on 1.5 years of school, with long-term learning affected.
- Climate-related issues now cause millions of children to lose schooling annually, primarily from low- and middle-income countries.
Key Facts
- Increased school temperatures correlate with declining test scores and graduation rates.
- Almost a half of all schools in the United States need immediate replacement of the HVAC system from constant exposure to heat.
Key Background
A recent worldwide report reveals a profoundly frightening link between intense heat exposure and learning loss. Kids who spend their formative years growing up in hot temperatures can lose up to 1.5 years of education from low learning yield and high absenteeism. The study, which used data from 29 nations, shows increased longer-term exposure to abnormal temperatures results in extended learning loss, decreased school graduation, and even fewer opportunities for further education.
Southeast Asia is one of the hardest-hit regions. Heatwaves caused extensive learning losses in nations such as China and Brazil. Temperatures accounted for nearly a 1% reduction in effective learning time on an annual basis in Brazil’s poorest municipalities. These learning shortfalls are compounded in low-resource settings, where there is no climate control of school buildings and communities have recovery barriers after climate events.
The United States also has this crisis. An increase in one degree Celsius of school-year temperatures equated to a 1% decline in student achievement. The effect wasalletingly grave on African American and Hispanic groups, revealing deeply entrenched infrastructure disparities. With close to 50% of public school districts requiring upgrades to HVAC systems, millions of American students are at risk from the negative impacts of climate change on their education.
Currently, worldwide, a total of 75% of school closures due to extreme weather are related to climate-related hazards like heatwaves, floods, or storms. In most developing countries, recurring school closure is driving children, and particularly girls, out of schools and the education system altogether. Fragile states, which constitute the vast majority of the world’s most climate-exposed countries, are mostly incapable of resilience or resources to stand behind students during environmental crises.
This is an early warning: if schools respond quickly to climate change, the rising heat may turn back the clock on four decades of educational progress and increase inequality everywhere.
