Sheikh Tamim Hasan, 13, studies in his room in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 30 as the authorities close schools during a countrywide heatwave.
Heat could make that worse, widening learning gaps between tropical developing nations and developed countries, experts said, and even between rich and poor districts in wealthy countries. On April 29, one day after reopening schools that had been closed in the previous week due to heat, the Bangladeshi authorities again closed all primary schools and educational institutions in nearly half of all districts as temperatures reached 43 deg C.Even if students continue attending classes during heatwaves, their education is likely to still suffer. High temperatures slow down the brain’s cognitive functions, lowering pupils’ ability to retain and process information.
Schools that do not are typically found in lower-income districts that already lag behind their wealthier counterparts academically. In the US, the average performance of the lowest-income students is about four years behind the highest-income students, according to a 2019 study in the National Bureau of Economic Research.