Extreme weather conditions disrupted the education of approximately 242 million children across 85 countries in 2024, according to a report released by the United Nations children's agency UNICEF on Friday.

One in seven students could not attend school due to heat waves, floods, cyclones, and other extreme weather conditions.

Last year was the hottest on record, with recent years seeing global average temperatures temporarily surpassing the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold.

South Asia the most affected region

According to the report, heat waves affected at least 171 million children. In April alone, temperatures spiked in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Thailand and the Philippines, hitting 118 million children.

Later in September, the start of the academic year coincided with the devastating Typhoon Yagi, which hit East Asia and the Pacific.

But the hardest hit region was South Asia, where 128 million school children were affected. The majority, 54 million, were in India. Most of them were hit by heat waves, which also affected 35 million in Bangladesh.

Over 400 schools were ruined by flooding in Pakistan in April, whereas in Afghanistan, heat waves followed by severe flooding in May destroyed over 110 schools.

The report estimates that nearly 74% of the children affected were based in middle and low-income countries.

Months of drought in southern Africa, exacerbated by El Nino, threatened the schooling and futures of millions of children. Cyclone Chido and Tropical Storm Dikeledi left the French territory of Mayotte in ruins and destroyed over 330 schools in Mozambique, severely disrupting education.

UNICEF highlight 'overlooked' aspect of climate crisis

Catherine Russell, UNICEF's executive director,  stressed that education was among the services most frequently disrupted by climate hazards.

"Yet it is often overlooked in policy discussions," she warned. "Children's futures must be at the forefront of all climate-related plans and actions."

Russel also stressed that children were the "most vulnerable" to extreme weather.

"They heat up faster, they sweat less efficiently, and cool down more slowly than adults," she said in a statement.

"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."

rmt/lo (AFP, AP)