The Heat is On! Towards a Climate Resilient Education System in Sri Lanka
Since February 2020, Fumiyo Kagawa has been undertaking a UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) study on the impacts of climate change on education systems in the South Asian region as well as education system responses to climate change. Click here for further details on this consultancy.
The Heat is On! Towards a Climate Resilient Education System in Sri Lanka is the first country study report to be published as part of this regional climate change and education study.
Drawing upon desk-based documentary reviews, national stakeholder surveys and school-level focus group discussions and U-Report data, this study examines direct and indirect impacts of climate change on the education system in Sri Lanka, including school infrastructure destruction and damage caused by climate change-induced disasters, interrupted education access due to natural disasters and recurring small scale hydro-meteorological hazards, impacts of changing climate on student health and wellbeing, and difficulties in teaching and learning in unbearably hot classrooms.
The report has explored seven key education system components (i.e. Policies, Plans, Strategies; Finance; Curriculum, Teaching and Learning; Teacher Capacity Development; Communication, Coordination and Partnership; School/Community Student Participation Platforms; Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability) and has provided country-specific recommendations aimed at making the education system in Sri Lanka more resilient and at empowering Sri Lankan students to become agents of change in the face of increasing climate change risks.
The report is intended to stimulate discussion and action on the part of key stakeholders with respect to educational planning, financing, research, program development and advocacy.
Country-specific climate change and education reports on a further seven countries in the region (i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan) as well as a regional synthesis report will follow shortly.
To read the report, click here.