UNITED NATIONS, United States, Jan 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Extreme weather disrupted the schooling of about 242 million children in 85 countries last year -- roughly one in seven students, the UN children's agency reported Thursday, deploring what it said was an "overlooked" aspect of the climate crisis.

The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF, has urged stakeholders to intensify efforts to address the alarming statistic of 10.2 million primary school-aged children currently out of school in Nigeria.

In November, UNICEF warned in its State of the World’s Children report that climate crises are expected to become more widespread between 2050 and 2059, with eight times as many children exposed to extreme heat waves, and three times as many exposed to extreme river floods, compared to the 2000s.

"Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from sweltering heat."

At least 242 million children in 85 countries had their schooling interrupted last year because of heat waves, cyclones, flooding and other extreme weather, the United Nations Children's Fund said in a new report Friday.