Bangladesh is working to integrate climate, disaster and education data to identify vulnerable schools, guide investment in safer infrastructure and minimise disruptions to children’s learning caused by extreme weather.
Floods, cyclones and heatwaves continue to damage school infrastructure and interrupt education across the country. Although Bangladesh has extensive data on education and climate risks, fragmented information systems often make it difficult for authorities to identify vulnerable institutions, assess preparedness and direct resources to areas most in need.
To address the gaps, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), with technical support from UNESCO, are working to improve coordination among existing information systems and incorporate climate-related evidence into education planning.
As part of the initiative, a three-day national workshop under the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative (CSESI) concluded at Hotel Holiday Inn in Dhaka on Thursday, bringing together government officials, education planners and technical experts to identify weaknesses in existing data systems and explore ways to improve information sharing.
The discussions focused on the Annual Primary School Statistics (APSS), including possible revisions to data collection, the identification of information gaps and improved interoperability among education, climate and disaster-related databases.
Participants also examined ways to incorporate climate-related questions and indicators into future data collection to help education authorities make better-informed decisions.
Speaking as chief guest, Delwora Begum, additional secretary (Audit and Law Wing) of the Secondary and Higher Education Division under the Ministry of Education, stressed the need to protect education investments from climate risks.
“When any disaster or extreme heat closes a school, every other investment loses some of its value. So planning for climate is not an extra task. It protects everything else we build,” she said.
Norihide Furukawa, head of education at UNESCO Dhaka, attended as a special guest and underscored the importance of linking existing information systems rather than focusing solely on collecting more data.
“Building climate resilience in education requires more than collecting data. By connecting existing information and addressing critical gaps, we can help education authorities make better-informed decisions to protect schools and sustain learning,” he said.
The workshop was chaired by Rokeya Khaton, ndc, joint secretary and development wing chief of the Secondary and Higher Education Division.
The latest workshop builds on previous CSESI activities held in October 2025 and May 2026, which examined climate risks, vulnerabilities and institutional capacities in Bangladesh’s education system. Another workshop in September 2026 focused on climate education in curricula and teachers’ preparedness.
Together, the activities aim to strengthen the evidence base and institutional capacity needed to incorporate climate resilience into education policies, plans, budgets and strategies.
Better-integrated and reliable data could help authorities pinpoint schools exposed to climate hazards, prioritise investment in resilient infrastructure, improve disaster preparedness and maintain continuity of education, particularly for children in high-risk and underserved communities.
Led by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, CSESI is being implemented with technical support from UNESCO and the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO-IIEP), with funding from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).