Filipino students know about heat. Nearly half of the classrooms in the capital Manila remained empty at the beginning of this school week as officials reacted to a weather advisory.  

And in April and May last year, scorching temperatures led to almost daily cancellations of in-person classes — sometimes across the country. 

But these young people are not alone. At least 242 million students globally had their education disrupted by extreme weather in 2024, according to UNICEF. That includes heat waves, but also tropical cyclones, storms, floods and droughts — all of which are intensifying with climate change. Almost three quarters of the affected students live in low- and lower-middle-income countries.  

‘It can be life-altering’ 

Around a billion children are living in countries extremely vulnerable to environmental and climate shocks, said UNICEF, where events like storms or floods often upend lives, destroying entire neighborhoods, roads or even schools. School buildings that do stay intact sometimes double as shelters, which also delays the return to classes.  

Even though some educational facilities could technically stay open during events like heat waves, high temperatures can make it difficult for students to focus or take in information.  

“It can be a small event, but it can also be life-altering,” said Megan Kuhfeld, a senior research scientist at NWEA, a company providing education services in the US. “For many children, routine and predictability is more important than for adults. They don’t necessarily have the coping skills to handle anything that disrupts this.” 

An academic setback 

Mitzi Jonelle Tan, a climate justice activist from the Philippines, experienced these disruptions firsthand when she was a teenager. In 2009, two major typhoons, Ketsana and Parma, interrupted her schooling in a way that trickled down for years. 

“When it was time to apply for universities, there was a big chunk of stuff we hadn’t learned. So, we had to do a crash course just to be able to take the entrance exams,” said Tan, who went on to study at the University of the Philippines Diliman. 

NWEA’s Kuhfeld analyzed different US studies that look at the correlation between the time students were absent from school — not necessarily because of climate extremes — and how far behind they are in their learning.  

She found that length of absence and impact on learning didn’t map onto each other one to one. So, for example, a week of missed classes could actually set students back several weeks depending on their circumstances.  

One thing that does play a role in the impact of missing classes is how far a child is in their school career. Middle school curricula are more advanced than elementary ones, building on what students already know. So missing classes then makes it harder to keep up. 

But Kuhfeld also noted that the studies she analyzed on absenteeism due to inclement weather observed larger learning setbacks than the other studies. Possibly because many of these students are also dealing with the stress of recovering from a natural disaster. 

“This is probably picking up on the fact that it’s not just about missing school. There are other mental health aspects at play,” she said. 

Back to school. But how? 

Once schools reopen, teachers can’t necessarily pick right up where they left off, because going back to class is about more than fixing infrastructure. 

“The schools, the buildings are getting destroyed, but the learners themselves are also impacted,” said Pia Rebello Britto, Global Director of Education and Adolescent Development at UNICEF.  “If you start feeling like you are falling behind, you start to lose that motivation and engagement.” 

And this lack of motivation can hit people who are already disadvantaged especially hard. In Pakistan’s Sindh Province, Britto said she saw how hard it was for girls to stay engaged after floods closed their schools because their education is already being not promoted very much. 

In the Philippines, climate activist Tan knows of low-income students who have to choose between going back to class or supporting their families. 

“If their house has been completely flooded and destroyed, it’s very hard to ask the student to go to school and learn about something that seems so far removed from their reality,” she said. 

How to make education more resilient as the planet heats up 

Education experts agree that the school system has to become more climate resilient, though that is also a question of finances.  

In many ways they can prepare to be more flexible. Schools can come up with contingency plans if the building is damaged, like moving classes to churches or public halls. They can also adapt the school calendar to avoid months where extreme weather is more likely.  

Part of the reason schools in the Philippines have been so disrupted by heat waves is that the calendar had been altered to synchronize it with other countries. That meant students are in class during the peak of the dry, hot season in April and May. Now the government is changing the schedule back. 

But the most important step is making the schools and students resilient. That means climate-proofing the buildings by insulating them or building them with materials that naturally regulate temperature, elevating them so they are protected from flooding and building sturdier roofs to withstand cyclone winds. 

It also means arming students with better information about climate change in the curricula. That way they can make sense of what happened to them and the role that burning fossil fuels played in causing climate change and fueling extreme weather. 

“It’s important they learn about it in a contextualized way so that they see it’s something that cuts across all sectors of life and that they can participate in policymaking and policy changing,” said Tan. “They represent the generations forward.” 

Edited by: Jennifer Collins