Across the region, a phenomenon that remains unnoticed in the educational debate has become impossible to ignore: extreme heat. Lest this become a future problem, it disrupts classes and affects the learning of millions of students. By 2024, this phenomenon has caused the suspension or modification of school activities for some 171 million students around the world, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean, and are part of it every day in thousands of schools.
Fr Heat prevention education in Latin America and the CaribbeanIn the new publication from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we found that when temperatures exceed 26.7°C, students learn less. Each day above this threshold causes a reduction of around 1% in annual learning, a slow but constant deterioration which is not felt immediately, but which accumulates to compromise the development of an entire generation. This is not a temporary problem: it is a real loss of knowledge and skills that limits the future opportunities of millions of children in the region.
The figures leave little room for doubt: over the past five years, more than a third of the region’s schools have faced between 70 and 80 school days above 26.7°C. Projections indicate that over the next 50 years, 15 million students will be at risk of not learning because they live in areas where schools do not have the capacity to guarantee thermal comfort, that is, schools without adequate ventilation, shade or access to water.
The educational impact of extreme heat does not occur in classrooms; This also affects the economic development of the region. Based on these projections, we estimate that learning losses linked to extreme heat could translate into approximately $22 billion per year (approximately €18.9 billion) in future labor income. It’s a stark reminder: allowing millions of students to learn less because of the heat of the ground jeopardizes their future, and that of the entire region.
We estimate that learning losses linked to extreme heat could translate into around $22 billion per year (around €18.9 billion) in future labor income.
The solutions that exist to increase the resilience of education systems to extreme heat are simple and effective. It is based on the adaptation of school infrastructure, time and teaching methods to protect student learning. The first line of defense against extreme heat is the school infrastructure: painting the roof or walls white, planting trees around the school, and designing windows to allow air to circulate and other passive thermal mitigation strategies are effective solutions for reducing classroom temperatures. All without consuming electricity or impacting the environment. When the heat is really extreme, fans, hot air extractors and air conditioning become an alternative to complement passive strategies and generate thermal comfort in the classroom. These solutions are also cost-effective: for every dollar (around 0.90 cents) invested in these improvements, countries can recoup between $2 and $55 (between 1.8 and 49 euros) in future benefits, thanks to the increased revenue that will help students who have not lost their learning due to the heat.
The big challenge is not technical, it’s planning
In addition to adapting the infrastructure, it is possible to adapt class time and learning methods. Adjusting school calendars, delaying the start of the day, avoiding periods of high temperature or incorporating reserve days to recover interrupted lessons, becomes a key tool to protect learning without endangering the health of students and teachers. For days when extreme heat makes access to school impossible, activating distance learning methods ensures educational continuity. With temperatures continuing to rise, the ability to adapt when and how to learn is as essential as physically improving buildings: it’s the difference between an education system that paralyzes in the face of heat and one that anticipates, adjusts and continues to teach.
The big challenge is not technical, it is planning. We know where the schools are most vulnerable to heat and what effective solutions are to ensure student learning. What is needed is to prioritize and direct resources to these schools. In this way, governments can transform vulnerable schools into prepared schools; can convert data into planning and planning into results. The challenge is simple: protect apprenticeship and, with it, the economic future of the region. To protect the opportunities of future generations, now is the time to act.
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