Education in times of Climate Catastrophe: a study on the impact of Sindh’s flood in TCF schools and communities

Climate change is increasingly disrupting education, yet the lived experiences of disaster-affected communities remain underexplored. This paper examines the educational consequences of the 2022 floods in Sindh, Pakistan, through a Rapid Ethnographic Assessment (REA) conducted in 2024 across eight flood-affected schools operated by The Citizens Foundation (TCF). Drawing on qualitative data from over 400 participants—including students, parents, teachers, school leaders, and community members—the study investigates how the floods reshaped educational access, learning, and community resilience. Findings show that the floods exacerbated existing educational inequalities by compounding learning losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting schooling, damaging infrastructure, and deepening socioeconomic vulnerabilities. Participants also described enduring psychological distress, limited disaster preparedness, and uneven state support. At the same time, schools emerged as vital community spaces, serving as emergency shelters, hubs for relief distribution, and anchors for educational recovery. The study highlights the positive impact of unconditional cash transfers in supporting affected households while underscoring the need for more coordinated, education-sensitive disaster responses. The report argues that education should be recognised as a core component of climate adaptation. It calls for policies that strengthen disaster preparedness, ensure continuity of learning, address psychosocial well-being, and position schools as central institutions for building community resilience in contexts of increasing climate vulnerability.