Education Resilience Amidst Disasters, Climate Change & Conflict

Education resilience means keeping children learning even when the world around them is disrupted, whether by floods, heatwaves, and families forced from their homes, or by conflict, political instability, and violence. Pakistan faces both kinds of shock. Climate change, a crisis the country did little to cause but suffers badly from, shuts schools again and again, and insecurity, unrest, and displacement have interrupted children's education across parts of the country for years, sometimes with schools attacked directly. The theme has two sides: protecting schools and learning through these emergencies, and using education to help young people understand and withstand the crises that will shape their lives.

It matters because disruption of one kind or another is now a regular part of life in Pakistan, and education is almost always among the first things lost. The 2022 floods alone damaged or destroyed thousands of schools and pushed huge numbers of children, especially girls, out of school, often for good, and conflict and instability have done the same in other regions. When schooling stops, children fall behind for years, and the poorest and most vulnerable rarely catch up. For PCE, resilience means building an education system that can keep going through disasters, conflict, and upheaval alike, and helping children make sense of the world they are inheriting.