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Learning Interrupted: Global Snapshot of Climate-Related School Disruptions in 2025 analyses data from 106 countries or territories and finds that climate hazards, including storms, floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires, led to suspended classes, damaged schools, a shift to remote learning, shortened instructional time, reduced school attendance, and increased risk of dropout for millions of students worldwide.

According to the analysis, storms were the most common cause of school disruptions last year, affecting 109 million students globally. Floods affected at least 70 million students, while heatwaves disrupted schooling for approximately 50 million children. Girls are at greater risk of dropping out when climate hazards disrupt or close schools. Damage to schools and sanitation facilities, displacement and lost family income can place additional caregiving and water-collection responsibilities on girls. At the same time, the report highlights practical solutions that are already helping protect learning from climate hazards, including integrating climate resilience into national education planning, strengthening school infrastructure, ensuring learning continuity during and after disruptions, and embedding climate education into curricula to equip children and young people with the skills needed to adapt to a changing world.

Read the report. 

After drought destroyed Layla’s family livelihood and forced them to leave home, Layla struggled to access education. Layla never stopped dreaming of going to school. When neighbours told the family about a nearby school where she could enrol through a free scholarship programme for girls, she seized the opportunity. For families facing financial hardship, scholarships can make the difference between girls staying at home and entering the classroom. Scholarships alone cannot remove every barrier to girls’ education. The GPE-funded programme takes a comprehensive approach, combining scholarships with capitation grants for public schools, menstrual hygiene management, new school construction, improved water and sanitation facilities, and community engagement.

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In the Federated States of Micronesia, Wayfinding is an education reform programme that brings Indigenous knowledge, languages, values and traditional ways of learning into the curriculum, teacher development and classroom practice. A nationwide mapping of indigenous and traditional knowledge resources has identified existing materials and resource gaps, laying the foundation for the development of culturally relevant teaching and learning materials in the next phase of the programme. The Wayfinding team is helping children, educators and community elders recognize the value of their cultures, languages and traditional knowledge by bringing Indigenous concepts into what students learn every day at school.

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For years, Moldova offered little structured professional development for educators working with its youngest children. Early education services existed, but professionals caring for children aged 0–3 rarely had access to specialized training tailored to this decisive stage of development.

Since 2023, the Moldova Early Education Initiative has worked to close this gap by professionalizing the early childhood workforce. These educators now support approximately 5,240 children across the country, including Ukrainian refugee children and children living in rural and underserved communities. Educators working in settings that also support Ukrainian refugee children are equipped to support increasingly diverse classrooms, ensuring that investments in workforce capacity benefit both host communities and refugee families. At the same time, educators are being equipped to recognize and respond to diverse needs within the classroom including developmental delays, psychosocial needs, safeguarding concerns, and the effects of displacement and trauma.

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In Luang Namtha Province in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), summer camps combine fun and learning. The camps help children – especially girls at the critical transition from primary to lower secondary – stay engaged with education, build confidence, strengthen friendships and prepare for a successful return to school after the holidays. First year program results are encouraging: of the 800 vulnerable girls supported through Foundational Learning Improvement Project, only one dropped out of school during the 2025–2026 academic year, highlighting the project’s success in keeping girls in school.

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A national early warning system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is steadily transforming how Malaysia supports students on the edge of dropping out. The system analyses each student across seven indicators: attendance, academic achievement, disciplinary record, disability or learning support needs, household income, distance from school, and parents’ marital status. Together, these factors help identify which students may be most at risk, sending automatic alerts to counsellors, teachers and district officials, so they can step in before it’s too late. In 2025, the AI system flagged students at risk of dropout, prompting targeted interventions that enabled more than 9,000 students – of whom 3,287 were girls – to return to school. The system goes beyond identifying students at risk of dropping out. It also asks an important question: once students are re-engaged, how do we keep them in school?

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In this episode of EWF Conversations, EWF Programme Director Fabrizio Trifirò talks to Pia Britto, UNICEF Global Director of Education.

Britto reflects on the challenge of a global education crisis where three-quarters of children are being failed. The conversation highlights a typology of learning failures, with education denied, disrupted, and delayed, and initiatives aimed at establishing a “future-ready” model centred on equity and 21st-century skills.

She discusses the findings of UNICEF’s work across 144 countries, the necessity of gender inclusivity through digital and STEM skills, and the impact of human-centered AI. Finally, she explores the value of EWF for fostering international partnerships, sharing examples of how the forum facilitates collective action and turns global dialogue into practical results for the most marginalized children.

Listen to the podcast episode.

Ethiopia has been working to ensure that no child is left behind in their education. This has inspired a policy shift to integrating a catch-up education model called Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) into the national education system.

The goal is to reach children who are past the normal age for starting or finishing primary or secondary school, and not enrolled in any school program. Research has now been conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses of the policy and its implementation. The research found as one of the strength that there is a strong equity focus. The policies prioritize marginalized groups, particularly displaced children and overage learners, reinforcing the inclusive mission of the program.

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The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has adopted new Guidelines on identifying and addressing intersectional discrimination against girls, adolescents, women and older women with disabilities. The Guidelines recognise how disability, gender, age, race, indigenous identity, migration status, poverty and other factors can intersect to create distinct experiences of discrimination. There are (short) sections on education in the Guidelines.

Read the Guidelines in English.