‘The water comes up to our knees’: Climate hazards shut millions of children out of school in 2025
A new UNICEF report indicates that 171 million students globally, or one in ten, had their schooling disrupted by climate hazards in 2025, primarily due to storms, floods, and heatwaves. These disruptions led to suspended classes, damaged schools, and increased dropout rates, with low-income countries and girls disproportionately affected.
Why it matters
This highlights the severe and growing impact of climate change on global education, particularly in vulnerable communities, threatening the future of millions of children and exacerbating existing inequalities.
When the creek beside Taudibura Garo's school in Papua New Guinea floods, the water doesn't stop at the gate. It rises through the pit toilets – making the school unsafe – sending the 16-year-old and her classmates home without being able to finish.
She is one of an estimated 171 million students worldwide whose schooling was disrupted by climate hazards in 2025, according to a new UNICEF report released Wednesday: that’s roughly one in ten students, from pre-school through to the end of high school.
Storms were the most common cause of disruptions – affecting 109 million students – followed by floods and heatwaves.
They led to suspended classes, damaged schools, a shift to remote learning, shortened instructional time, reduced school attendance and increased risk of dropping out for millions .
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