When education meets climate realities in Bangladesh

“In Sirajganj, Bangladesh, the question is often not whether schools will flood, but when and for how long. When water rises, schools may close or become temporary shelters. Teachers may themselves be displaced. Attendance records can be disrupted, and children may miss weeks or months of learning.”

Shafiul Islam, Assistant Inspector at the District Education Office in Sirajganj, brought these realities into a workshop room in Dhaka. His perspective came from one of Bangladesh’s most flood-prone regions, where maintaining educational continuity is not an abstract policy question. It is a recurring challenge.

From Char Fasson in Bhola, Upazila Primary Education Officer Md Mizanur Rahman brought another reality. The chars, shifting river islands formed by sediment deposits, are among Bangladesh’s most geographically isolated communities. Schools in these areas face seasonal flooding and the possibility that the land beneath them may erode or disappear.

In such places, climate resilience can determine whether children continue to have access to education at all.

These local experiences came into conversation with national planning from 10 to 12 May 2026, when government officials, curriculum specialists, field practitioners, researchers and development partners met in Dhaka for the workshop on “Analysing existing capacities to address the impacts of climate change on the education sector.”

The workshop was organized under the Climate-Smart Education Systems Initiative (CSESI), implemented through a partnership between UNESCO Dhaka, the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and Save the Children in Bangladesh, with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).