The climate crisis impacts every sphere of life and poses numerous threats to human rights. In the education sector, the increasing severity and frequency of climate risks put pressure on South Africa’s already fragile and unequal schooling system, where learners and school communities in marginalised areas and mostly rural provinces are disproportionately burdened. Despite its increasing threats to socioeconomic rights like education, the South African government has not been responsive to climate risks in its planning and policy development toward ameliorating the impact of climate-related shocks on education provisioning in affected communities. Consequences of the government’s lack of climateresponsive planning and policy are salient in poor school infrastructure conditions that adversely affect the provisioning of quality schooling as well as impede school communities’ ability to become climate resilient. Extreme weather events such as flash floods, drought, and heat waves are beginning to impact learners’ access to schooling, with severe consequences for schooling outcomes. The paper conducts a desktop review of national and provincial South African disaster, risk and resilience (DRR) and climate adaptation plans to show the current climate resilience and nature of existing shock-responsive plans in South Africa’s schooling
sector, contributing to localised understanding of children’s vulnerability to climate change. Additionally, the paper underscores the need for urgent policy reform, responsive budgeting, and long-term planning to protect vulnerable learners and school communities in the context of the evolving climate crisis.
Bridging the Gap: Planning for Education and Climate Risks in South Africa
