Heatwave cancels classes for half of Pakistan's students May 25, 2024

Students eat ice cream outside their school in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan's Punjab province, where schools will close a week early because of extreme temperatures.

AFP - Agence France Presse

LAHORE, Pakistan: Half of Pakistan's schoolchildren will be out of school for a week as the country takes crisis measures to blunt the effect of a series of heatwaves, officials said Thursday.

Some 26 million pupils will be out of school from Saturday in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, which has ordered schools to close for the summer vacation a week early due to high temperatures.

The early closure was confirmed by a spokesman for the Punjab Education Department.

Pakistan's meteorological office has predicted three heatwaves - one already underway and two more planned for the beginning and end of June.

Temperatures in Punjab are currently six to eight degrees Celsius above normal, the disaster management agency said, with the provincial capital, Lahore, expected to reach 46 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) over the weekend.

On Thursday, the government's Climate Change and Environment Coordinator told journalists in Islamabad that “global warming is causing a sudden change in weather patterns”.

Parts of Pakistan face power cuts of up to 15 hours as demand for fans and air conditioning increases, leaving students sweltering at their desks.

NGO Save the Children said that the 26 million Punjabi students who have had their classes canceled represent 52% of pre-primary, primary, and secondary school students in Pakistan.

“Prolonged exposure to intense heat affects children's ability to learn and concentrate, which puts their education at risk,” said country director Muhammad Khuram Gondal.

“Excess heat is also potentially lethal for children.”

The UN children's agency, UNICEF, said that more than three-quarters of children in South Asia - or 460 million - are exposed to temperatures above 35C (95F) for at least 83 days a year.

She warned that children are at risk of “dehydration, increased body temperature, rapid heartbeat, cramps... and coma”.

Pakistan is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the nation of 240 million inhabitants ranks high among countries vulnerable to extreme weather events, which scientists have linked to climate change.

Unprecedented monsoon rains submerged a third of Pakistan in 2022, which left millions of people homeless.

The country was also hit by above-normal rainfall last month, which killed at least 144 people in the wettest April on record since 1961, with more deluges expected this summer.

Students in Lahore also had their lessons disrupted this winter when schools were closed as the megacity was enveloped in stifling air pollution.

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