Time running out for climate-proofing the basic education sector

Daily Maverick

a day ago

During the past week, extreme weather events wreaked havoc across South Africa, particularly in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Heavy rainfall, strong winds and landslides caused a tragic loss of lives and widespread destruction to infrastructure. Among the most heartbreaking losses are the lives of schoolchildren. Schools that are meant to prepare learners for a brighter future have also been destroyed. These devastating events have again highlighted the urgency with which we must climate-proof South Africa's education system.
Following his visit to the Eastern Cape, days after the disaster, President Cyril Ramaphosa attributed the inclement weather to global warming: 'This is a catastrophic disaster for us, which is caused by climate change,' he said.
International climate change expert bodies have already sounded the alarm bells on the impacts of climate change on South Africa. In its last report, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected, with high confidence, that extreme rainfall and flooding would become more frequent and intense in southern Africa. It is therefore imperative that our systems are urgently adapted to this new and perilous reality.
Eastern Cape provincial government officials confirmed the deaths of four learners whose scholar transport minibus was swept away by floodwaters, with four of their schoolmates still missing. In KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial government also reported that four learners were injured and rushed to hospitals after the roof of their classroom was torn off by gale-force winds. Reports from the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga reported a combined number of 168 schools that had been damaged, disrupting the education of thousands of learners. What makes this disaster even more disruptive for learners is the fact that it coincides with mid-year examinations.
This is not an isolated event. Three years ago, in April 2022, floods in KwaZulu-Natal damaged 356 schools, with repair costs estimated at more than R235-million. The cumulative impact of climate change and extreme-weather events on basic education is severe and growing. Climate change demands a whole-of-government response to protect learners and the education system.
A comprehensive plan to manage and adapt to climate change impacts on the education sector is long overdue. The Climate Change Act, assented to by President Ramaphosa in July 2024, provides the legal framework for such a plan. However, it is yet to be fully operationalised.
Among its comprehensive climate change governance provisions, the Act requires several sectors, including the education sector, to develop a 'sector adaptation strategy and plan'. This includes an assessment of the risks and vulnerabilities of the education sector due to climate change and the formulation and implementation of adaptation measures to mitigate against the identified risks and vulnerabilities.
These measures should include the development and institutionalisation of early-warning systems and standard protocols for school closures to avoid the death or injury of learners travelling to and from school or while on school premises.
The infrastructure of schools located in areas prone to gale-force winds and flooding could be made climate-resilient through the use of materials and building designs tailored for climate and disaster resilience. Another measure that could possibly form part of the strategy and plan could be emergency response training for school staff and scholar transport operators.
In addition to domestic legal obligations, South Africa is also guided by its obligations under international human rights law. General Comment No. 26 (GC26) from the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child offers critical guidance to states such as South Africa on what their obligations are in relation to protecting children's rights and the environment in the face of climate change. South Africa would do well to heed the guidance provided by GC26 in the development of its basic education adaptation strategy and plan.
GC26 stresses the importance of ensuring that school infrastructure is appropriately renovated and climate-resilient. This should be addressed through the Department of Basic Education's (DBE) Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure, which set out the minimum requirements for all public school infrastructure.
However, they disappointingly fail to take cognisance of the impact of climate change-induced extreme weather events.
GC26 further calls for educational continuity during and after extreme weather events. Where access to school premises is curtailed, GC26 calls for educational continuity through alternative methods such as the provision of mobile educational facilities and remote learning.
This provision is particularly important because, as the Covid-19 pandemic revealed, the education system is weak at facilitating remote learning, affecting learners from poorer communities who suffer from learning losses the most. Last, GC26 stresses that long-term school disruptions such as the use of school facilities for emergency housing should be avoided where possible.
While the Climate Change Act was passed into law almost a year ago, the President has been tardy in bringing into operation the provisions of the Act requiring the Department of Basic Education to formulate a sectoral adaptation strategy and plan. On 17 March 2025, the President proclaimed the commencement of the operation of a portion of the Act, with some key provisions excluded.
The provisions not yet in operation include those relating to the Presidential Climate Commission, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and importantly, the climate adaptation planning obligations of local, provincial and national governments, including the education sector.
The President's delay in bringing the sections related to adaptation planning into operation is unfortunate as it leaves the education sector vulnerable and unprepared, as we have just experienced, with tragic consequences. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment says the reason these provisions are not yet in operation is that the department is in the process of developing regulations for their implementation. However, as we have seen, we do not have the luxury of time.
The South African Constitution safeguards several rights which are directly affected by climate change and its impacts. These include the immediately realisable right to a basic education, the right to a healthy environment which is protected for the benefit of both current and future generations, and the best interests of the child principle, which requires that children's best interests are treated as paramount.
These rights, with South Africa's international law obligations, require that the President acts with the necessary urgency to ensure climate adaptation in the education sector.
While the heavy rains and flooding may have subsided for now, there is scientific consensus that these extreme weather patterns are here to stay and will return – and with greater severity.
South Africa simply cannot afford further delays. Climate-proofing the education system must be a national priority. The President and all of government must act with urgency to ensure that schools and learners are better prepared for the storms that lie ahead. DM