Extreme rainfall is here to stay — the right to education must not be swept away

As extreme weather events intensify it has become clear that climate change is already disrupting schooling in South Africa and will continue to do so. The question is whether our basic education system is prepared to protect the right to basic education when it does. Recent extreme rainfall across parts of the country, particularly in the Eastern and Western Cape, once again exposed the vulnerability of the system to climate-related disruptions.

On 3 May 2026, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned of an intense cut-off low-pressure system expected to bring flood-inducing extreme rainfall, strong winds, damaging coastal waves and snowfall. In response to the projections and warnings from the SAWS, both the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) and the Western Cape Department of Education (WCDoE) issued directives to schools.

The ECDoE circulated the weather warnings to district directors and schools, informing them of the areas set to be affected and the anticipated impacts. Schools were advised to inform their communities of the weather warning and to advise pupils to be cautious and stay indoors. The WCDoE issued more communication, instructing 125 schools in high-risk areas to close for two days (6 and 7 May 2026), following consultation with the SAWS. Scholar transport in and around the affected areas was suspended and schools were advised to provide pupils with “suggested curriculum activities” for the two days.

The number of schools that were closed and the duration of the closures in the Eastern Cape is less clear, as decisions appear to have been left to district directors. On 7 May 2026, however, the ECDoE issued further instruction extending the closure of schools across the province to Friday, 8 May 2026 and directing that districts develop catch-up plans to recover the lost learning time. Similarly, in the Western Cape, on Sunday, 10 May 2026, the WCDoE extended school closures for 133 schools because of continued hazardous conditions and the impact of the previous week’s weather on schools.

During periods of extreme weather school closures are often a necessity. Protecting the lives and safety of pupils and teachers must remain the superseding concern. The June 2025 Eastern Cape floods in which eight pupils tragically lost their lives while travelling to school is a stark reminder of how extreme weather events can result in the worst possible outcome.

However, school closures come at a cost – the loss of teaching and learning time. In the past week alone many pupils have already lost at least four days of schooling, with some facing longer school disruptions as a result of damage to school and road infrastructure. These losses are not insignificant. In an education system contending with deep inequality and a severe literacy crisis, each day matters. As extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, in light of climate change, these learning losses are likely to accumulate, compounding learning losses over a pupil’s schooling years if the education system is not adequately adapted to deal with school disruptions.

The challenge is thus not simply whether schools should be closed but how to ensure learning continuity when school closures occur. Yet, the education sector continues to treat climate-related disruptions as isolated emergencies as opposed to a foreseeable and recurring reality. This is despite clear, binding legal obligations on the state to safeguard the right to education and children’s rights from the impacts of climate change.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its General Comment No 26 on “Children’s rights and the environment, with a special focus on climate change”, emphasises the importance of ensuring educational continuity during and after extreme weather events. It highlights the state’s obligation to maintain access to education through alternative methods such as remote teaching and learning. Similarly, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child underscores the importance of maintaining access to education during times of disaster in its General Comment No 9 on the right to education. Both general comments also underscore that the provision of alternative and temporary learning facilities, where school buildings have been damaged, may become necessary.

What is required, if the unqualified and immediately realisable right to basic education is to be safeguarded, is thus not simply better ad hoc responses to extreme weather events but a shift towards a basic education system that is intentionally designed to withstand them. This requires a basic education sector-wide approach to climate adaptation planning that includes clear remote learning protocols during and after extreme weather events. It also requires investment in climate-resilient school infrastructure to reduce prolonged school closures and limit learning loss.

In the weeks ahead, attention will turn to how the education system recovers lost teaching time, particularly as schools grapple with damaged roads and school infrastructure. However, the recovery cannot be the end of the conversation. Extreme weather events are now a feature of our reality. While disruptive, they are foreseeable. The state has an obligation to ensure that the unqualified and immediately realisable right to basic education is not undermined by avoidable learning loss, particularly for pupils in already vulnerable communities facing precarious learning conditions.

The Unesco Chair: Education Law in Africa, University of Pretoria has undertaken research examining the South African government’s obligations to climate-adapt the basic education system, alongside a second report analysing the climate justice content in the public school curriculum. Both reports underscore that safeguarding the right to education requires deliberate and coordinated action. The reports will be launched on 14 May 2026 and will be accessible on the Unesco Chair’s website. DM