Thirty-three million children鈥檚 education was disrupted in Bangladesh in 2024 as the children were among the worst affected globally for climate events, according to a United Nations International Children鈥檚 Emergency Fund report.
The United Nations body responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, unveiled the report titled Learning Interrupted: Global Snapshot of Climate-Related School Disruptions in 2024 on Friday.
According to the report, some of the children lost up to eight weeks of learning due to climate hazards such as heatwaves, cyclones and floods.
The report, first of its kind, reveals that heatwaves, cyclones, floods, and other extreme weather events led to multiple rounds of school closures around the world.
Globally, at least 247 million students in 77 countries had their schooling disrupted by heatwaves, tropical storms, floods and droughts in 2024, and South Asia was the most affected region, the report said.
In Bangladesh, nationwide heatwaves in April and May 2024 left children at risk of dehydration and heatstroke, forcing schools to close across the whole country for up to two weeks, and several districts went on to suffer subsequent school disruptions due to cyclone Remal, followed by intense flooding in June. Up to 18.4 million people were impacted by the floods countrywide, including 7 million children.
Sylhet district was the worst hit, with severe flooding causing widespread infrastructure damage and leaving more than 6,00,000 learners without access to education.
According to estimates from UNICEF in Bangladesh, children in Sylhet lost up to eight weeks of school days cumulatively and areas in Khulna, Chattogram and Rangpur districts each suffered 6 weeks of climate-induced school closures over 12 months.
UNICEF representative in Bangladesh Rana Flowers said that the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, exacerbated by the climate crisis, was having a knock-on effect on children鈥檚 education in Bangladesh and depriving them of their right to learn.
Extreme temperatures and other climate hazards don鈥檛 only damage schools, they can affect students鈥� concentration, memory and mental and physical health,鈥� Rana said, adding that prolonged school closures increase the chance of children 鈥� especially adolescent girls 鈥� dropping out of school and being married off by families to cope with economic stress,鈥� he added.
According to the UNICEF Children鈥檚 Climate Risk Index, children in Bangladesh are already among the most exposed and vulnerable to climate and environmental hazards.
The report notes that schools and education systems are largely ill-equipped to protect students from these impacts, and climate-centred finance investments in education remain strikingly low.
UNICEF urged the international climate financing institutions and donors, the private sector and the interim government to prioritise children鈥檚 needs in policies and plans.