Practical actions: Schools and childcare
What to do, who acts, what it takes to run, what could stop it, and what it only works with.
Children in hot classrooms learn less and fall ill more easily. Most fixes are small and seasonal. The full cards, with who each protects, where it suits and its evidence, are on the live page.
What to do: A reflective coating or a ventilated second roof over the classrooms that get hottest.
Who acts: Schools and education authorities, City and local governments, Development banks, donors and climate funds
Running and upkeep: A line in the school maintenance budget for recoating; anchors checked before the monsoon. Rough cost: about US$2.6–US$3.7 per m² for a coating (₹250–₹350 at Indian prices).
What could stop it: Canopies not anchored for monsoon winds, and no budget to recoat.
Works only if: Classroom heat is logged before and after; There is money to maintain it.
Evidence: source 1 below.
What to do: Enough safe, cool drinking water for every child, with breaks in the timetable to use it.
Who acts: Schools and education authorities, Water authorities
Running and upkeep: Filter changes, cleaning and a supply that lasts the hottest weeks. Rough cost: about US$110–US$530 per point (₹10,000–₹50,000 at Indian prices).
What could stop it: One tap for hundreds of children, or filters nobody changes.
Works only if: Enough taps for the number of children; Teachers build drinking into the day.
Evidence: source 2 below.
What to do: Start earlier, shorten the hottest afternoons, move exams and sports, and keep learning going if schools have to close.
Who acts: Schools and education authorities, National governments, Weather and climate services
Running and upkeep: Little money; it needs agreed triggers and a plan for remote or make-up learning.
What could stop it: Closing schools with no plan for learning, and decisions made on the day.
Works only if: Triggers are agreed before the season; There is a plan to make up lost learning.
Evidence: source 3 below.
What to do: Trees, shade structures and less hard paving where children play and queue.
Who acts: Schools and education authorities, City and local governments, Community and civil society groups
Running and upkeep: Watering through the holidays, when nobody is at school. Rough cost: about US$2,100–US$42,000 per school, from basic greening to a full package (₹2 lakh–₹40 lakh at Indian prices).
What could stop it: Planting that dies in the first summer break.
Works only if: Someone waters through the holidays; Children help choose where shade goes.
Evidence: source 4 below.
Costs, where shown, are rough Indian planning ranges from the site’s cooling options, not quotes. Every action also needs a named owner and a running budget. Labels next to each title say what kind of evidence the card cites.
Sources
- Park, Goodman, Hurwitz and Smith, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2020. aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pol.20180612
- UNICEF, 2025. unicef.org/reports/learning-interrupted-global-snapshot-2024
- NBC News, 2024. nbcnews.com/news/world/schools-close-extreme-heat-philippines-bangladesh-asia-rcna149485
- Frantzeskaki et al., chapter 11 in Nature-Based Solutions for Cities, 2023. doi.org/10.4337/9781800376762