Across Bangladesh, everyday schooling is being reshaped by climate-related hazards, with floods, heat, storms and other environmental risks making attendance and safe learning an urgent, practical problem rather than a distant policy debate. UNICEF estimates around 35 million children had their education disrupted by climate events in 2024, and some pupils lost as much as eight weeks of learning.
Schools and journeys to school are exposed to weather extremes
In rural areas, pupils frequently face flooded footpaths and waterlogged roads after heavy rain, while those in hilly parts of the country must navigate unstable slopes during monsoon downpours. Coastal communities contend with storm and cyclone damage; in urban centres, waterlogging and rising temperatures place additional strain on school buildings and the daily experience of being in class.
These disruptions play out in very practical ways: whether classrooms remain usable during spells of intense heat; whether roads are passable after flooding; whether children can safely complete their journeys to and from school when lightning or other hazards are present; and whether whole communities are isolated for days, interrupting teaching and learning.
Education is being learned through lived experience, not just textbooks
The consequence is that many children are understanding climate change through lived experience rather than through curriculum content. While climate change is typically taught as definitions and concepts inside the classroom, pupils are encountering its impacts daily — from disrupted attendance to damage to school infrastructure — that the current curriculum does not always address.
Education systems therefore face a twofold challenge: maintaining continuity of learning when events force school closures or limit access, and ensuring that what is taught reflects the realities pupils already face.
Implications for policy and school practice
Experts and practitioners will need to consider a range of measures to bolster resilience across the education system. These include improvements to school buildings to withstand heat and flooding, safer routes and contingency plans for pupil journeys, and curriculum and teacher training changes so that classroom learning connects with the immediate climate risks children experience.
On a national scale, the UNICEF figure — disruptions affecting about 35 million children in 2024 — highlights the scale of the issue and the potential for long-term learning loss if responses are not swift and sustained. The reports that some pupils missed up to eight weeks of schooling underline how repeated interruptions can accumulate into significant gaps in learning.
- Climate hazards cited include floods, cyclones, heatwaves and waterlogging.
- Disruptions affect attendance, building usability and safe journeys to school.
- Children are often learning about climate impacts through experience rather than classroom teaching.
| Issue | Educational impact |
|---|---|
| Flooding and waterlogging | School access cut off; classrooms unusable at times |
| Heatwaves | Increased heat stress in classrooms; impacts on comfort and concentration |
| Storms and cyclones | Damage to buildings; prolonged closures |
For policymakers and school leaders, the challenge is immediate: adapt infrastructure, safeguard safe travel and integrate the realities of climate risk into teaching so that education not only survives shocks but helps equip young people and communities to respond. Failure to address these issues risks further interruptions to learning and widening inequalities between regions and pupils.
As Bangladesh confronts the present-day consequences of climate change, the gap between children's lived experience and the content of classroom teaching becomes more striking. Addressing that gap will demand coordinated action across education planning, disaster preparedness and curriculum development to keep children learning despite an increasingly volatile environment.
