By Rorisang Modiba
- Weather like floods and heatwaves stopped one in seven children worldwide from going to school last year.
- Poor countries in Africa and Asia suffered the most with many schools destroyed by storms and floods.
Extreme weather kept 242 million children away from their school desks in 2024, says children’s organisation UNICEF.
The extreme weather – including heatwaves, storms, and floods – hit schools in 85 countries worldwide. This means one out of every seven schoolchildren globally missed classes.
Poor countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa were hit hardest.
Many school buildings in these regions were destroyed by severe weather.
Even rich, developed European countries were not spared. Deadly floods in Italy and Spain kept more than 900,000 children at home.
The worst problem was extreme heat. In April alone, more than 118 million children couldn’t go to school when temperatures soared above 40°C in parts of the Middle East and Asia.
Pictured above: Children looking out on a mountain.
Source: Unicef