Nearly 250 million children missed school last year because of extreme weather, UNICEF says

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Nearly 250 million children missed school last year because of extreme weather, UNICEF says

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of

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,

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,

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and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children’s Fund said in a new report Friday.

UNICEF said it amounted to one in seven school-going children across the world

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in 2024 because of climate hazards.

The report also outlined how some countries saw hundreds of their schools destroyed by weather, with low-income nations in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa hit especially hard.

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But other regions weren’t spared the extreme weather, as

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near the end of the year disrupted school for more than 900,000 children. Thousands had their classes halted after

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in Spain.

While southern Europe dealt with deadly floods and Asia and Africa had flooding and cyclones,

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were “the predominant climate hazard shuttering schools last year,” UNICEF said, as

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.

More than 118 million children had their schooling interrupted in April alone, UNICEF said, as large parts of the Middle East and Asia, from Gaza in the west to the Philippines in the southeast,

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with temperatures soaring above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

“Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heatwaves, storms, droughts and flooding,” UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a statement. “Children’s bodies are uniquely vulnerable. They heat up faster, they sweat less efficiently, and cool down more slowly than adults. Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat, and they cannot get to school if the path is flooded, or if schools are washed away.”

Around 74% of the children affected in 2024 were in middle- and low-income countries, showing how climatic extremes continue to have a devastating impact in the poorest countries. Flooding ruined more than 400 schools

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in April. Afghanistan had heatwaves

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that destroyed over 110 schools in May, UNICEF said.

Months of drought in southern Africa exacerbated by the El Niño weather phenomenon

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of millions of children.

And the crises showed little sign of abating. The poor French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean off Africa was

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in December and hit again by Tropical Storm Dikeledi this month, leaving

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out of school for six weeks.

Cyclone Chido also destroyed more than 330 schools and three regional education departments in Mozambique on the African mainland, where access to education is already a deep problem.

UNICEF said the world’s schools and education systems “are largely ill-equipped” to deal with the effects of extreme weather.

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AP climate and environment news:

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#million #children #missed #school #year #extreme #weather #UNICEF

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