KAMPONG PRAHOK, Cambodia — Unlike the outright school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Iran war’s impact on education is less visible — but it is falling first and hardest on the poorest families around the world.

Soaring fuel prices are making it more expensive for children and teachers to get to school, and for many governments to fund education as national budgets come under strain.

If the war continues, it could push up to 23.4 million more children into poverty by the end of the year, according to a recent United Nations Children’s Fund report. About 80% of those children would be in Africa and Asia.

For families already living on the edge, the war’s ripple effects are forcing difficult choices: whether to pay for food, fuel, rent and electricity, or keep every child in school.

“The Iran war is likely going to force millions of children out of school and could force millions of children to make the decision not to enroll in the first place,” said Sabrina Hervey of the Qatar-based Education Above All Foundation.

Some children in Southeast Asia are dropping out of school to work.

Ly, 16, and her sister Nhi, 13, two of nine children from a fishing family on Vietnam’s rocky northern coast, have long drifted in and out of school as the family struggled to make ends meet. They are identified by their first names only because of Vietnamese laws protecting vulnerable minors.

Their father lost his fishing job after the war pushed diesel prices so high that boat owners could not afford to go out to sea. Already burdened by debt, the family was surviving on his odd jobs. It wasn’t enough to keep all nine children fed and in school.

The girls dropped out of school and moved to Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, to work long hours in a restaurant, where they were exposed to sharp tools, hot surfaces and heavy lifting.

For 13-year-old Nhi, it also was illegal because of child labor laws.

In April, the Hanoi-based nonprofit Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation intervened, and the two returned to school.

The war’s impact has unfolded slowly but is devastating, the foundation’s Michael Brosowski said.

When families reach a financial breaking point, they tend to go into triage — keeping some children enrolled while pulling others out to work, he said. The children not in school are far more vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking and homelessness.

“It’s the tipping point for a lot of families,” Brosowski said.

Higher fuel prices are driving up costs of nearly every part of education, from getting students and teachers to school to stocking classrooms with pencils and chalk. It’s more expensive for teachers and aid workers to reach remote communities. Governments also are grappling with rising food and energy bills, leaving less money for education.

War disrupts education worldwide

Developing countries reliant on imported energy have been the most exposed to disruptions from the war. Rising fertilizer costs and falling remittances also are straining these smaller economies.

The war is threatening years of progress in education and poverty reduction in Bangladesh, whose economy already was under strain.

Pressure on the government’s finances, driven by rising costs for fuel and subsidies, could leave it with less money to spend on healthcare and education, warned a report by the United Nations Development Programme.

In some South Asian nations, girls are likely to be affected more because families tend to prioritize sons, said Arshad Malik of the nonprofit Save the Children International. Economic hardships could mean more girls dropping out of school and an increase in child marriages, he said.

South Asia accounts for 45% of the world’s child brides, the highest share of any region, according to UNICEF.

More than 466 million children worldwide receive at least one meal a day at school, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. These meals help keep children in school, improve their ability to learn and concentrate and support healthy brain development.

Such programs also could come under pressure as the conflict disrupts fertilizer shipments and raises transport costs, especially in countries in West and Central Africa that rely heavily on imported food, said Hervey of Education Above All.

Across northern Nigeria, it is becoming more common for children to relapse into malnutrition, according to local health and aid workers.

“I’m really afraid to see what’s going to happen,” Hervey said.

Ghosal, Cheang and Delgado write for the Associated Press.