South Sudan closes schools after students collapse due to extreme heat

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan closed all schools Thursday for two weeks due to an extreme heat wave that has caused some students to collapse.

This is the second time the country — which faces extreme effects from climate change, including flooding during the rainy season — has closed schools during a heat wave in February and March.

Deputy Education Minister Martin Tako Moi said “an average of 12 students had been collapsing in Juba city every day."

Most schools in South Sudan have makeshift structures made with iron sheets and do not have electricity that could power cooling systems.

Environment Minister Josephine Napwon Cosmos urged residents to stay indoors and drink water as temperatures were expected to rise as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Napwon proposed that government employees “work in shifts” to avoid heat strokes.

Education workers have urged the government to consider amending the school calendar so that schools close in February and resume in April when the temperatures decline.

Abraham Kuol Nyuon, the dean of the Graduate College at the University of Juba, told The Associated Press that the calendar should be localized based on the weather in the 10 states.

A civil society group, Integrity South Sudan, blamed the government for a lack of proper planning and contingency plans, saying that closing schools during heat waves shows a “failure to prioritize the education of South Sudan's children.”

The country’s health system is fragile due to political instability. Nearly 400,000 people were killed between 2013 and 2018 when a peace agreement was signed by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-deputy, Riek Machar.

South Sudan’s elections, scheduled for last year, were postponed for two years due to a lack of funds.

The country has been facing an economic crisis due to an interruption of oil exports after a major pipeline was raptured in neighboring war-torn Sudan. The pipeline was later repaired.

People work at a cement blocks production workshop in Juba, South Sudan Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux)

Traffic police officers sit beside the road in Juba, South Sudan Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux)

Modong Celina, a fruit seller sits under an umbrella in Juba, South Sudan Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux)

IDP (Internally Displaced Person) fetch water inside a camp in the outskirts of Juba, South Sudan Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

South Sudan refugee children attend a class in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Internally displaced persons (IDP) fetch water inside a camp in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

IDP (Internally Displaced Person) walk along a street in Juba, South Sudan Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Schoolgirls walk back home after being turned away from their school due to an ongoing extreme heatwave that has caused some students to collapse in Juba, South Sudan Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux)

South Sudan refugee children attend a class in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A child carries a jerry can of water on her head in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Workers at a cement blocks production workshop in the Rock City area in Juba, South Sudan Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Florence Miettaux)

South Sudan refugee children attend a class in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Muslim pilgrims from around the world congregated on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the second official day of the annual Islamic pilgrimage, considered the pinnacle of the Hajj.

Despite the sweltering heat, the pilgrims gathered on the rocky hill and surrounding plain for intense prayers and worship that often mark a spiritual peak for them. They fervently murmured prayers and poured their hearts out in supplications. Many raised their hands in worship. It is common for pilgrims on that day, some with tears streaming down their faces, to ask God for forgiveness, mercy, blessings and good health.

The Hajj, one of the Five Pillars of Islam, is required once in a lifetime for every Muslim who can afford it and is physically able to perform it.

For pilgrims, the Hajj, performed over several days, can be a deeply moving spiritual experience and a chance to seek God’s forgiveness and the erasure of past sins. As they brave the intense heat to perform religious rituals, many pilgrims have been using umbrellas for shade.

A Saudi official said on Friday that more than 1.5 million pilgrims have arrived in the country from abroad.

This year, Muslims have been pouring into Saudi Arabia for the Hajj against the backdrop of a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war and related uncertainty in the region.

The U.S. military said Monday that it carried out “self-defense” strikes in southern Iran, including on missile launch sites and boats used to lay mines, even as President Donald Trump said on social media that negotiations with Tehran were “proceeding nicely." Iran on Tuesday denounced the most recent U.S. strikes as a sign of “bad faith and unreliability” as negotiations pressed on toward a possible deal to end the war.

For many, performing the Hajj can be a realization of a lifelong dream as they spend years hoping and praying to one day be able to undertake the pilgrimage or saving up money and waiting for a permit to embark on the trip.

“This happens once in a lifetime,” Mohammad Asal, an Egyptian pilgrim, said. “People here have prepared their prayers, hoping that God will respond to them, because we know that ... the most important ritual of the Hajj is being in Arafat.”

The Hajj brings together large numbers of Muslims of diverse races, ethnicities, languages and socioeconomic classes, creating a sense of unity for many. It’s a mass, communal experience, with Muslims performing rituals together. But it is also deeply personal, as every pilgrim brings their own yearnings and experiences.

“It was incredible,” Ahmed Sufyan, a pilgrim from the United States, said on Tuesday. “The unity and peace that we feel is something I’ve never experienced before,” he added via WhatsApp.

“Our wishes are many,” Mohammad Obaid, a Sudanese pilgrim, said, adding he was praying for Sudan and Muslims everywhere.

Fam reported from Winter Park, Florida.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

A Muslim pilgrim pray atop of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims walk towards the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims are silhouetted as they pray at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims pray at top of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Muslim pilgrims read a copy of Islam's holy book Quran atop of the rocky hill known as the Mountain of Mercy, on the Plain of Arafat, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)