400m students affected since 2022: WB report

An estimated 404 million students have faced school closures due to extreme weather events during the period between January 2022 and June 2024, according to a World Bank report.
These widespread disruptions spanned at least 81 countries, with 63 of them being low-and middle-income nations.
Schools were forced to close temporarily due to floods, storms and heatwaves, it added.
The report examined the detrimental impacts of climate change on education in low-and middle-income countries and offered solutions to harness education to spur climate action.
It also estimates that a one-time investment of $18.51 per child can mitigate the impact from climate shocks.
New analysis in the report titled "Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action" published on Thursday has showed that the climate crisis is hitting education hardest in low-income countries, with 18 schooldays lost annually on average, compared to 2.4 days in wealthier nations.
A 10-year-old in 2024 will experience three times more floods, five times more droughts and 36 times more heatwaves over their lifetime compared to a 10-year-old in 1970.
And even when schools are open, students are losing learning due to climate. In Brazil, students in the poorest 50 per cent of municipalities could lose half a year's learning due to heat alone.
"Young people are directly impacted by this crisis and they are eager to act. Yet education systems are not delivering the information, skills and opportunities they need in a climate-affected world," said Mamta Murthi, vice-president for the People Vice Presidency at the World Bank.
Education is not only under threat from climate change - it is massively overlooked in climate financing. Past analyses have shown that a mere 1.5 per cent of climate finance goes to education.
But, new estimates in the report show that for $18.51 per child schools can help better safeguard learning from climate change by improving classroom temperature, building resilient infrastructure and training teachers, among other adaptation measures.
Luis Benveniste, global director of education at the World Bank, said, "Improving school infrastructure, ensuring learning continuity and leveraging students and teachers as effective agents of positive change can all contribute to a more livable planet."
Surveys in the report shed light on disconnect between the eagerness of young people in low-and middle-income countries to do something and the lack of knowledge and skills to act.
Around 65 per cent of young people across eight countries believe their futures are at stake if they don't develop green skills, but 60 per cent also believe they didn't learn enough about climate change in schools.
The report lays out evidence, data, on-the-ground examples, and a policy agenda to support country efforts.

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