In the context of a changing climate, how can we ensure that schoolchildren who live in rural areas are consistently able to attend school?

In the past few years, Zimbabwe has experienced two extreme weather events, both of which had serious implications for schoolchildren.

In February 2016, the government declared a state of disaster related to a severe El Nino-induced drought that contributed to 6,000 children in a single province dropping out of school due to hunger, and approximately 25 percent of children in some parts of the country were unable to attend school regularly.

In March of this year, the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing reported that floods had destroyed equipment and infrastructure—including toilets, boreholes, and entire classrooms—in 74 schools. These floods also washed away roads, bridges, and dams, which meant that many schoolchildren weren’t able to get to their schools in the aftermath of the crisis in any case.

Events such as these are an integral part of the contexts in which educational development efforts must operate—and yet many educational programs neglect to plan appropriately for them, particularly with regard to the most marginalized communities and populations. The climate factor has not been fully incorporated into education sector planning, education program design, and donor funding models, which makes it difficult for the sector to anticipate and/or respond to such natural crises.

The 2016 Global Monitoring Report, challenged governments and civil society to match learning to the context. But it is an extremely difficult problem to overcome, especially when one considers the interrelated challenges of making education accessible to all children, including the nine percent globally who don’t attend school at all.

Read the full article about keeping children in school during a climate crisis by Ellen Chigwanda at Stanford Social Innovation Review.