Spanish schools to teach pupils how to cope with climate crisis disasters

Children as young as three will have lessons on wildfires and flooding under 10-point emergency response plan.

Spanish children will be taught how to respond to floods, wildfires, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in a drive to help prepare them for the growing impact of the climate emergency.

The plan was unveiled on Thursday after a summer of forest fires killed four people and less than a year after catastrophic floods claimed more than 220 lives in eastern parts of the country.

The aim, according to the education ministry, is to provide schools with a package that imparts "the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and values needed to deal with emergency situations in a safe and effective way". As well as natural hazards and disasters, it will cover chemical, industrial and nuclear accidents and those related to the transport of dangerous materials.

More than 8 million children in 25,000 schools will be given the compulsory training, which will be delivered using videos, infographics and other media. Infant and primary school pupils will be given a minimum of two hours of lessons, while older children will receive at least four hours. Spain's self-governing regions will be able to tailor the training to the different risks they face.

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