WHEN thermometers in Lahore hit 48°C last May, it led to closures across the region. From Dhaka to Manila, some 128m Asian students found themselves locked out of classrooms, victims of what Unicef calls an unprecedented convergence of climate and educational crises. The numbers, published in a new report, are troubling: globally, one in seven students saw their education disrupted by climate events. Most were in Asia. That should worry everyone. Education has long been the subcontinent’s favoured escape route from poverty. Now nature is blocking the exit. Three-quarters of affected learners live in low and lower-middle-income countries, where rickety school infrastructure struggles to serve mushrooming populations. When temperatures soar, these schools become literal hothouses, forcing authorities to choose between risking heatstroke and halting lessons.

The timing is particularly unfortunate. The post-Covid learning crisis, where two-thirds of children cannot read competently by age 10, is being compounded by these climate-induced interruptions. More worryingly, the disruption is driving an uptick in child marriages across South Asia, as desperate families seek economic relief during climate emergencies. April 2024 marked the peak of this educational exodus, with heatwaves affecting 118m children across Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, the Philippines, and Thailand. By September, when schools reopen, at least 18 countries had suspended classes. The pattern suggests climate disruptions are no longer seasonal inconveniences but structural challenges to education systems. Solving this requires more than air conditioning. Climate-resilient architecture, robust remote-learning systems and teacher training in climate education are essential. Yet education is absent from climate finance discussions. Fortunately, some countries are taking note: India has trained 121,000 educators in climate education, while Vietnam is exploring solar power for 50,000 schools across 63 provinces. The arithmetic is simple: Asia’s ‘demographic dividend’ assumes functioning schools. Without action to climate-proof classrooms, that dividend risks becoming a debt. For Asia’s education ministries, the heat is on.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2025