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In Central and West Africa, only 3.9 per cent of funding appeals for education had been met by the beginning of September. By way of comparison, 30.5% of calls for funds were met for the entire humanitarian sector in the region in September. Despite the explosion in needs, education is all too often neglected.

"Education is a lifeline for children. But for millions of children in Central and West Africa insecurity means they will be stuck outside the classroom this coming school year, unable to learn. Many will be forced to work, to join armed groups, or to get married, shattering their futures," said Hassane Hamadou, NRC's regional director in Central and West Africa. "The right to education is a fundamental right, regardless of the political and security situation of the country in which it is exercised. The signatory states of the Safe School Declaration must do their utmost to ensure its implementation and guarantee children a better future."

The situation in the Central Sahel is particularly acute. The number of schools closed increased nearly sixfold between 2019 and 2023, from 1,700 to almost 9,000. Burkina Faso alone accounts for half of the school closures recorded in Central and West Africa, with more than 6,100 schools closed as of July 2023.

In some cases, schools are the target of direct attacks by non-state armed groups. 147 incidents were reported between January and August 2023 across the region. In other cases, schools are deserted or abandoned following forced population displacements. Faced with conflict, families and teachers flee. Schooling is abruptly interrupted, not only for displaced children, but also for children from host communities whose schools are still standing and are overcrowded.

"In a region where the protection of civilians and their access to basic services is increasingly threatened by insecurity and conflict, we have a collective duty to act to ensure that schools remain safe spaces for all forcibly displaced children and youth and those from host communities", said Xavier Creach, Deputy Director of UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa.

Esther, 13, lost her father when an armed group attacked her village, Otomabere, in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. She fled with her mother and siblings, leaving behind her daily life as a little girl. "Many things have changed in my life. I haven't heard from my friends. I don't even know if they're still alive. And if they are, I don't think they can read or write any more, because the schools haven't reopened for two years in Otomabere," said Esther, who now goes to school in Oicha in North Kivu province. "I would like to learn a trade like tailoring because my father is no longer there to support me," she added.

"Protecting schools from threats and violence is a critical step to breaking the cycle of crisis and reducing the likelihood of future conflicts," said Felicité Tchibindat, UNICEF's Regional Director for West and Central Africa. "Schools should be safe places for children."

In the region, the closure of schools is disrupting the education of 2.5 million pupils, including one million in Burkina Faso. For these children and adolescents, the consequences are immense. "The oldest children are exposed to risks and abuse, such as unwanted pregnancies and child exploitation", said Etiendem Bridget, 54, a displaced teacher in Buéa, Cameroon.

In a context of protracted conflict and crisis, the future of whole generations of children is being jeopardised and will continue to be so unless urgent action is taken by governments and other key actors across the region.

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Insecurity forces closure of 13,000 schools for the upcoming school year in Central and West Africa

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Over the past four years, the number of school closures due to insecurity has almost doubled, reaching more than 13,200 closed schools in eight countries of the region. The education of 2.5 million...

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War on education: Israel’s destruction of Gaza universities to set strip back ‘decades’

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Every university has been damaged or destroyed in the offensive since October, throwing the academic futures of tens of thousands of young people into doubt

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DR Congo: Students, Schools at Risk in Conflict Zones

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DR Congo: Students, Schools at Risk in Conflict Zones

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DR Congo: Students, Schools at Risk in Conflict Zones

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In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups have attacked schools and recruited children at school or while on their way to school. Armed groups and the Congolese army have also taken over schools for military purposes. Many children and parents told Human Rights Watch that fear of being abducted or raped kept students from attending school.

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By Kimaiyo Evans

Learning has been paralysed in five schools in insecurity-prone areas of Baringo County following run-away banditry in the region over the past two weeks.

Kosile, Ngaratuko, Kibenos, Kagir and Yatya primary schools closed after a series of attacks in the area which saw two people killed including Kagir Primary School head teacher.

According to reports, bandits from the neighbouring Tiaty constituency killed a 59-year-old man on Wednesday when they attacked Yatya village forcing locals to flee for safety.

Speaking to the media after visiting victims of banditry who are still recuperating at Baringo Referral Hospital, Baringo North MP Joseph Makilap said the situation is getting out of hand urging the government to immediately stop the attacks.

This year, eight people have so far been killed in Baringo North and Baringo South by bandits with locals' hopes on the government to quell the attacks already fading.

A National Police Reservist became the latest victim after bandits attacked three people on a motorbike in Nasokuro, Baringo South. Two sustained injuries in the attack.

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Five schools closed in Baringo over banditry attacks

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Learning has been paralysed in five schools in insecurity-prone areas of Baringo County following run-away banditry in the region over the past two weeks.

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(Nairobi) - All warring parties in Tigray have been implicated in the attacking, pillaging, and occupying of schools since the conflict started, Human Rights Watch said today.

On just one example, government forces used the historic Atse Yohannes preparatory school in the regional capital, Mekelle, as a barracks after taking control of the city from the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, in late November 2020, and continued to use the school through mid-April 2021. Recent government efforts to reopen schools have partly been hindered by continuing insecurity, damage to schools, and protection concerns for students and teachers.

"The fighting in Tigray is depriving many children of an education and the warring factions are only making matters worse," said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Occupying and damaging schools ends up affecting the lives of Tigray's future generations, adding to the losses that communities in Tigray have faced for the last six months."

Human Rights Watch conducted telephone interviews between January and May with 15 residents, teachers, parents, former students, and aid workers about the situation facing Tigray's schools, and assessed reporting by media outlets, aid agencies, and national human rights institutions. Human Rights Watch also reviewed satellite imagery that confirmed the presence of military vehicles inside the compound of Atse Yohannes high school in December and March, as well as videos and photographs showing damage to school property.

Several Mekelle residents said that in early December, Ethiopian forces began using the Atse Yohannes school as a base. After occupying the school for several weeks, they left; trucking away computers, plasma screens, and food. Interim authorities soon began to repair the damage so that classes could resume, but soldiers returned in February and occupied the school for another three months.

During this time, troops posted armed sentries at the school gate and built fortifications using stones around the school grounds. A Mekelle resident working near the school witnessed women enter and leave the school's guarded compound on several occasions. "I saw different women taken inside. Sometimes they would stay two, three, or five days, and we would see them go in and out of the school," she said. "They appeared beaten and were crying as they would leave... No one could ask the women what happened to them, and the atmosphere made it difficult to do so."

Human Rights Watch was unable to confirm whether the soldiers sexually exploited or otherwise abused the women, but during the conflict there have been widespread reports of sexual violence by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, including in Mekelle.

After Ethiopian forces suddenly left the school in April, Mekelle residents found widespread damage to classrooms and offices, and destruction of electrical installations, water pipes, and other property. Videos posted on social media and photos sent to Human Rights Watch corroborated their accounts. In April, Tigray's interim government presented aid groups with a list of damaged and pillaged property at the school, from pens and student records to 288 burned chairs and three destroyed science labs.

"I have given my life and service to the school," one teacher said. "There is now nothing left to try and begin again, to resume classes. The school won't be functional even for next year, because of the damage. Everything was taken."

Ethiopian soldiers also left behind walls covered with hateful and vulgar anti-Tigrayan messages. "On the walls were phrases insulting Tigrayan people," said one parent. "It was painful to see and read, let alone repeat again."

Government authorities are now trying to reopen schools in Tigray, where an estimated 25 percent of schools have been damaged. In western Tigray, fighting displaced many teachers and left shortages of learning materials. The Education Ministry estimated that 48,500 teachers are in need of psychosocial and mental health support, and that some teachers at private schools are struggling to feed their families due to unpaid salaries.

Under the laws of war applicable to the armed conflict in Tigray, the occupation of a school by military forces makes the school subject to attack. The military's destruction or seizure of civilian property not justified by reasons of military necessity is prohibited and may be a war crime. An extended military deployment without providing alternative educational facilities can also deny students their right to education under international human rights law.

The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child has called on African countries to "either ban the use of schools for military purposes, or, at a minimum, enact concrete measures to deter the use of schools for military purposes."

The African Union Peace and Security Council has urged all African countries to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment - currently supported by 108 countries - to take concrete measures to better protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack during conflict, including by refraining from using schools for military purposes.

The Ethiopian government should endorse the declaration and incorporate the declaration's standards in domestic policy, military operational frameworks, and legislation, Human Rights Watch said. Forces affiliated or allied with the Tigray People's Liberation Front should also refrain from using schools as barracks or to store weapons. For schools that are housing internally displaced persons or need repair, the authorities should consult with communities and assess their needs and priorities, including protection concerns before pushing for schools to reopen, and request assistance from the United Nations and aid agencies to ensure that students deprived of education are provided safe and suitable alternative facilities.

"The conflict in Tigray has taken a terrible toll on children and their education," Bader said. "International partners should now urge the Ethiopian government to take all necessary steps to ensure schools can reopen safely, including by ending the military use of schools and punishing military personnel responsible for abuses."

For background information and further accounts of the Tigray conflict, please see below.

Attacks and Military Use of Schools during Tigray Conflict

Following a prolonged disruption in education due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools in Tigray briefly reopened, only to shut down again after the outbreak of fighting in early November. Since then, warring parties have attacked, looted, or used schools as military bases across the Tigray region, leaving some unusable for educational purposes.

Attacks on schools in Tigray ranged from indiscriminate shelling to pillage and destruction. Human Rights Watch documented the unlawful shelling by Ethiopian forces of urban areas in Tigray, which struck near schools during military operations in November. Similarly, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the Tsegaye Berhe secondary school in Adwa - which once accommodated over 1,200 students, but now houses families and communities displaced by violence - was hit by rockets early in the conflict, leaving at least two classrooms "littered with the smashed remains of computers, monitors, chairs, and books," and the roof of the building exposed.

In January, satellite imagery revealed extensive damage to UN and humanitarian facilities, including a school and a clinic at two refugee camps hosting Eritrean refugees in Tigray.

According to Human Rights Watch's research, armed forces pillaged food and school materials in at least three schools and a university in Tigray. Several residents said that Eritrean troops looted food and materials reserved for students at Axum University after Eritrean forces massacred civilians in the town. Eritrean refugees at Hitsats camp witnessed Eritrean forces loot offices and education facilities in mid-November.

Throughout the conflict, all parties have used schools as military bases. Residents in Axum described the occupation of Basen primary school by Eritrean forces, who used it as a camp after Ethiopian and Eritrean forces took control of the town in mid-November. In the farming village of Bissober, in southern Tigray, Tigrayan armed groups occupied the local elementary school before the conflict began and remained for several months, digging trenches around the school, and storing weapons in the principal's office, according to media reports. Ethiopia's National Human Rights Commission also described the school as partially damaged by heavy artillery after clashes between Tigrayan fighters and Ethiopian soldiers.

Tigrayan forces also occupied a secondary school outside of Shimelba refugee camp - satellite images show that the ground around the secondary school had burned down before fighting broke out near the camp between Tigrayan and Eritrean forces in December, according to refugee accounts.

While the Education Bureau appears to collect some data to track military use and damage of schools, the authorities were only able to conduct assessments in larger towns to which they had access, but not those occupied by Eritrean and Amhara forces. Although it is likely an underestimate due to limited access, the authorities in May had determined that 15 schools in the region had been significantly damaged in Tigray, while 53 others had some damage, and 2 primary schools in southern Tigray remained under occupation by Ethiopian forces.

The military occupation and attacks on schools have taken place in the context of mounting reports of laws-of-war violations, including apparent war crimes. These involve unlawful shelling, widespread pillage, destruction of crops and infrastructure, extrajudicial killings and large-scale massacres targeting young men and boys, sexual violence, and forced displacement. More than 60,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Sudan.

Over a million Tigrayans are now internally displaced within the region, some hosted in makeshift shelters or by families; others have sheltered on university campuses and in schools, including those damaged by artillery fire or from looting during the early phases of the conflict.

Even prior to the Tigray conflict, the Ethiopian government had failed to adequately protect schools from attack and occupation. In 2012, Ethiopian military forces used a school in Chobo-Mender, Gambella region as a prison. During the 2015-2016 Oromo protests, federal defense forces occupied schools and university campuses, where they harassed, beat, and arrested students. In 2007, Human Rights Watch documented that Ethiopian forces in Somalia carried out indiscriminate attacks from a base inside the Mohamoud Ahmed Ali Secondary School in Mogadishu.

Military Use and Pillage at Atse Yohannes Preparatory School

Atse Yohannes preparatory school is a public school that sits on a main road in Tigray's regional capital, Mekelle, near government offices, including the police commission and the education bureau. The school was built over 60 years ago and recently renovated through alumni donations and support from organizations. It had approximately 2,000 students and 150 staff.

After taking control of Mekelle in late November, Ethiopian soldiers began occupying the school and prevented staff and local residents from entering the grounds. "It was difficult ... to observe what [the soldiers] were doing in the school," said one resident. "We saw when they were leaving, or when they sat with the coffee and tea sellers across the road. When they left the school, they were carrying different property with them on trucks that passed by our homes."

Administrators and residents assessed the pillaged property after the soldiers evacuated the school in January and wrote letters to the Education Bureau outlining losses and damage. As preparations began for classes to resume, a second contingent of soldiers arrived in February, forcing local officials and administrators to leave.

"They brought different army equipment," said one staff member. "They built a fort, inside and outside of the school, it looked like a war zone." Soldiers fortified parts of the school with stones, sandbags, and material from collapsed old buildings. Residents said they also placed weapons on the roof of the school building. "They used the school to control and patrol the town," said one man.

Even though the Ethiopian military's northern command headquarters is based in Mekelle, three to five kilometers away, a Tigray interim official said that the city did not have a functioning police system, so the federal forces justified the use of the school as "they needed a camp nearby to deploy and respond quickly... So the [military] would just come and go...We can't guarantee that the forces won't come back."

After the military vacated the school in mid-April, they left uniforms in classrooms and metal ties used to bind hands. One parent said: "We found blood on the floors and livestock parts in the school. Maybe they were butchering animals in the school. And they had also burned and destroyed student documents." Signs of fortifications, including stones and sandbags, were also visible, creating the risk that the school may be identified as a military target.

Parents, teachers, residents, and officials began to assess the damage and provided a long list of property looted and damaged during the total occupation of the school. "After the second round, we made an inventory too, but everything was destroyed, from electric installations, the toilets, the elevators, everything," a teacher said. "The buildings are just left standing."

Several Mekelle residents and officials said that what was most striking and painful was the hateful slogans written in Amharic on the school walls. One person explained the graffiti:

It was insulting to Tigray and its people: "Tigray and snakes are the same"; "Tigray must be cleansed"; "Tigray must be cleansed for the development of the country"; "insults about junta, Tigray are junta." There were a lot of different things that were written about Tigray women that I cannot repeat. It is too painful.

Many experienced trauma and financial loss, underscoring that the harmful consequences of military use and attacks on schools go beyond the immediate impact of the closures.

"When they left the school, everyone was happy and relieved. They stayed for several months, and they terrified us," one man living near the school said.

Concerns about Reopening Schools in Tigray

As administrators prepare for schools in Tigray to reopen, professionals and parents have expressed protection concerns. "There is no security in Mekelle because there is war around Mekelle and in Tigray," said one teacher. "They want to reopen the school to be able to say Tigray is in peace, that everything is ok, that there is no war. But that is for propaganda purposes Even now, I don't even have a guarantee to go home safely at night."

Interim authorities admit that there are ongoing security challenges, including the need to provide psychosocial services to address the community's trauma. "We've been talking to communities, teachers, trying to convince them to return to school," said one official. "But even families in Mekelle don't want to send their children back."

The ongoing threats and intimidation by armed forces, as well as reports of sexual violence, shootings, and arrests were the reasons parents and others frequently cited for not wanting to send their children to school. One teacher said:

I don't feel comfortable. There is no security. The students can't come to the school. I am crying ... sad, desperate. I am not happy to reopen the school. They [the forces] can come back again at any point.

For many parents and residents, however, the protection concerns stem from fear of abusive Ethiopian government forces. A parent said:

The soldiers must withdraw. They are raping women, killing people. So even if the schools reopen, it is hard to send our children to school if they are still raping women and girls and killing people. The international community needs to help, for our children's sake.

Protecting Schools from Military Use in Africa

Under Ethiopia's criminal code, during wartime the "the confiscation, destruction, removal, rendering useless or appropriation of property such as ... schools" is a war crime.

Other countries on the African continent have more explicitly banned the use of schools for military purposes. For example, in 2020, the Central African Republic criminalized the occupation of schools on the same basis as an attack on a school, susceptible to 10 to 20 years in prison, and/or a fine of 5 to 20 million francs (US$9,000 to $37,000). In 2017, the Sudanese Armed Forces issued a command order prohibiting the military use of schools in areas of active conflict. In 2014, South Sudan's army chief of staff issued an order reiterating a prohibition on occupying schools in any manner, subject to "the full range of disciplinary and administrative measures."

In 2013, the Democratic Republic of Congo's defense minister issued a ministerial directive providing for criminal and disciplinary sanctions for soldiers who requisition schools for military purposes. Currently, Nigeria - which will host the Fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration later in 2021 - is considering a proposed amendment to its Armed Forces Act that would state that "No premises or building or part thereof occupied for educational purposes or accommodation of persons connected with the management of school or vehicles and other facilities of educational institutions shall be requisitioned."

Ethiopia is also one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations. Such troops are required to comply with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations' " UN Infantry Battalion Manual," which includes the provision that "schools shall not be used by the military in their operations." In January, the African Union adopted a new doctrine requiring troop contributors to its peace operations to "ensure that schools are not attacked and used for military purposes."

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Ethiopia: Tigray Schools Occupied, Looted

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All warring parties in Tigray have been implicated in attacking, pillaging, and occupying of schools since the conflict started.

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Bandits torch homes, schools despite ongoing operation in Ol Moran area, Laikipia

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The devastating attacks on school children has been going on for a very long time and has largely gone unreported by mainstream media.

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Interesting quantitative analysis regarding terror attacks on schools in Pakistan.

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What do we know about Iran’s schoolgirl poisonings?

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The Take looks at the wave of reported poisonings of girls in schools around Iran and the country’s protest movement.

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Some general info about education in Palestine

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Some general info about education in Palestine

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We support efforts to ensure quality basic education for all

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The impacts of attacks on education and military use in Myanmar by GCPEA

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The impacts of attacks on education and military use in Myanmar by GCPEA

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Reuploaded by Maylin_2024, Credit went to GCPEA.

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The impacts of attacks on education and military use in Myanmar

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An oversized class more than 100 students in one class because of closed schools du to terrorist attaxks

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One of the schools closed in Bartabwa area in Baringo North Constituency. Learning has been paralysed in many schools in the North Rift as a result of rampant cases of insecurity in the region. PHOTO/Wycliffe Kipsang

The fate of hundreds of learners from schools affected by banditry in West Pokot county hangs in the balance as many have not reported to school since January.

This despite the government announcement to rehabilitate schools that were vandalised by bandits and beef up security in the volatile areas.

People Daily has established that many learners were forced to move away from the region and sought refuge in neighbouring schools while some learners have dropped out of school.

A total of seven schools in troubled areas of Chesegon and Turkwel were shut down two years ago due to runaway insecurity.

The government allocated Sh100 million to restore the infrastructure and the purchase of new facilities in the schools.

The schools are Cheptulel boys, Samplomoi, Chesegon, Arpollo and Ksa primary schools along the West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet border where learners did not sit for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) exams last year due to banditry witnessed in the region.

Other are Lonyangalem, Kour Songok and Karon primary schools in North Pokot Sub County and Tirap, Cheratat primary schools in Pokot Central sub-County.

Local residents and leaders have called on the government to fast-track the rehabilitation of schools for learning to resume.

According to the locals, those rehabilitating the schools were deployed to the area for a very short time and left and have wondered if the reconstruction stopped or if it will continue.

Deserted villages

People Daily has established that many learners are not yet in the affected schools.

At Cheptulel Secondary School, learners are still at Surumben Primary School in Masol ward, more than 50km away.

The schools also lack the promised National Police Reservists to man the schools.

Villages in the area remain deserted after locals migrated from the area due to fear of perennial attacks.

Chesegon Technical Institute that was under construction stalled due to attacks and now it houses security officers.

Kelvin Mweutich a local of Cheptulel area said the Government did a shoddy job in rehabilitation of the schools.

"No proper renovation was done. There are no toilets. The dining hall and dormitories were set ablaze and windows that were vandalised by bandits have not been replaced. They only painted the face of the school. We want to know where the funds for renovation went and who was responsible," said Mweutich.

According to Cheptulel boys secondary school James Koitilo, there is no water in the school after pipes were vandalised, kitchen demolished, teachers' quarters vandalised, iron sheets removed by bandits and toilets damaged by termites.

He said the school was relocated but they are very ready to go back in case the pending issues are addressed.

"We are receiving students and we have 52 Form Ones. Last year, we only had eight. The school opened in March last year before we were hosted temporarily at Surumben," said the principal.

He said the school has no good fence, adding that the population of the school shrunk but it has started picking up.

Pending rehabilitation

"We now have 150 students being hosted at Surumben. The school had grown to 400 students with a good number from the neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet County before the school went to unbearable levels. The presence of Kenya Defence Force (KDF) officers in the area had boosted the confidence of the community," he said.

West Pokot Senator Julius Murgor, Sigor MP Peter Lochakapong and West Pokot women Representative Rael Kasiwai said that the schools are not yet ready to host learners because the rehabilitation was still pending.

They said schools in the area have been exposed to danger after KDF officers who were stationed at Cheptulel area were moved to the neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet County.

"Nothing happened in the staff room and laboratory. The schools need more renovations and it has not reached the level where learners can come," said Lochakapong.

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West Pokot learners miss class over bandit attacks

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The fate of hundreds of learners from schools affected by banditry in West Pokot county hangs in the balance as many have not reported to school.

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This file photo from December 2020 shows an empty classroom with school bags and wares belonging to pupils at the Government Science school where gunmen abducted students, in Kankara, in northwestern Katsina state [File: Kola Sulaimon/AFP]

Gunmen have attacked a school in northwestern Nigeria and kidnapped dozens of pupils as they were about to start the school day, local residents and authorities say.

Police in Kaduna state did not immediately comment on the abductions, which happened at the Local Government Education Authority School in the town of Kuriga on Thursday.

Keep reading

The number of pupils taken was not immediately clear.

The assailants stormed the school shortly after morning assembly about 8am (07:00 GMT), taking the pupils hostage before any help could arrive, Joshua Madami, a youth leader in the area, told The Associated Press news agency.

"They were surrounded from all angles and left with almost 200 pupils and students," Madami said.

According to Salasi Musa, chairperson of the Chikun Local Government Area in Kaduna, the number of pupils abducted was "far more than 100".

Abductions of students from schools in northern Nigeria are common and have become a source of concern since 2014 when Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in Borno state's Chibok village.

In recent years, the abductions have been concentrated in the northwest and central regions, where dozens of armed groups often target villagers and travellers for large ransoms.

The last major reported abduction involving schoolchildren was in June 2021 when gunmen took more than 80 students in a raid on a school in the northwestern state of Kebbi.

'We don't know what to do'

Parents of the missing children told the Reuters news agency that the gunmen started shooting sporadically on arrival at the school before abducting the children and escaping.

The school educates primary and secondary school students.

"We don't know what to do. We are all waiting to see what God can do. They are my only children I have on Earth," Fatima Usman, whose two children were among those abducted, told Reuters by phone.

Another parent, Hassan Abdullahi, told Reuters that local vigilantes had tried to repel the gunmen but were overpowered.

"Seventeen of the students abducted are my children. I feel very sad that the government has neglected us completely in this area," Abdullahi said.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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Dozens of pupils abducted by gunmen in Nigeria's northwest

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Gunmen escape with children from a school in Kuriga town in Kaduna state.

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The right to education of the refugee girl affected by armed conflict in Kenya: insights from the jurisprudence of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

by

Robert Doya Nanima

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The human right to education is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia in such a way that education is available to everyone, under equal conditions, in accordance with their abilities, as well as that compulsory education is free in accordance with the law. Since the Ombudsman for Children is responsible for children's rights and, consequently, children's right to education, we primarily monitor the realization of the right to higher education in the Republic of Croatia.

Therefore, in this chapter, we present the issue of the impact of the epidemic of the disease COVID-19 on studying, the difficulties in realizing the rights from the student standard and the awarding of scholarships, and the problems in the implementation of procedures for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications. At the same time, we point out the shortcomings of the legislative framework that regulates certain health professions.

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Pravo na obrazovanje
Ljudsko pravo na obrazovanje je Ustavom RH zajamčeno na način da je obrazovanje svakome dostupno, pod jednakim uvjetima, u skladu s njegovim sposobnostima, kao i da je obvezno obrazovanje besplatno u skladu sa zakonom. Kako je za prava djece te posljedično i pravo djece na obrazovanje nadležna pravobraniteljica za djecu, primarno pratimo ostvarivanje prava na visoko obrazovanje u RH.

Stoga u ovom poglavlju navodimo problematiku utjecaja epidemije bolesti COVID-19 na studiranje, poteškoće u ostvarivanju prava iz studentskog standarda i dodjele stipendija, te probleme u provedbi postupaka priznavanja inozemnih stručnih kvalifikacija. Ujedno ukazujemo i na nedostatke zakonodavnog okvira koji regulira pojedine profesije zdravstvenih djelatnosti.

Izvješće EK o utjecaju bolesti COVID-19 na visoko obrazovanje navodi da polovina studenata u EU smatra da su pandemija i posljedični prelazak na online studiranje negativno utjecali na stjecanje novih znanja i iskustvo studiranja. Iz istraživanja „Studenti i pandemija: Kako smo (pre)živjeli?" o utjecaju epidemije u Hrvatskoj u akademskoj godini 2020./2021., kojeg je AZVO provela u rujnu 2021.godine, proizlazi da je 63% studenata prvih godina istaknulo da zbog pandemije nisu u potpunosti doživjeli iskustvo studiranja, a većina je navela da nije imala osigurane uvjete za kvalitetno studiranje na daljinu.

Iako su natječajni postupci za dodjelu studentskih stipendija posljednjih nekoliko godina značajno unaprijeđeni, još uvijek su prisutne određene nepravilnosti pri provedbi natječaja od strane pojedinih javnih tijela.

Tako smo zaprimili pritužbu u kojoj se ukazivalo na netransparentnost provedbe natječaja za dodjelu državnih stipendija u STEM područjima znanosti za akademsku godinu 2020./2021. zbog nejasno definiranih rokova natječajnog postupka te nemogućnosti izjavljivanja pravnog lijeka. Analizom tada važećeg Pravilnika o uvjetima i načinu ostvarivanja prava redovitih studenata na državnu stipendiju u STEM područjima, utvrdili smo nedostatke u osiguravanju prava na žalbu, na što smo ukazali MZO-u.

Navedeni nedostatci su uklonjeni donošenjem novog Pravilnika u rujnu 2021. godini, kojim je propisano da se prigovor na rang-liste može podnijeti u roku od osam dana od njene objave te da o njemu odlučuje Povjerenstvo za dodjelu državnih stipendija u STEM područjima znanosti u daljnjem roku od 30 dana, čime je osigurana zakonitost i transparentnost natječajnog postupka.

U pojedinim reguliranim profesijama i nadalje se uočavaju problemi proceduralne naravi koji značajno otežavaju postupak izdavanja odobrenja za obavljanje regulirane profesije na području RH. Naime, temeljem Zakona o reguliranim profesijama i priznavanju inozemnih stručnih kvalifikacija, osobe koje žele pružati usluge obavljanjem određene regulirane profesije, a stručnu su kvalifikaciju stekle u inozemstvu, podnose zahtjev nadležnom tijelu (komori ili ministarstvu), koji izdaju odobrenje za obavljanje regulirane profesije u RH.

Ukoliko se u postupku utvrde značajne razlike između stručnih kvalifikacija podnositelja zahtjeva i stručnih kvalifikacija koje se zahtijevaju u RH, nadležno tijelo od podnositelja zahtjeva može zatražiti provedbu jedne od dopunskih mjera - razdoblje prilagodbe do tri godine ili provjeru kompetentnosti. Postupali smo po pritužbama radi nemogućnosti provedbe dopunske mjere razdoblja prilagodbe do tri godine, kao uvjeta za priznavanje inozemne stručne kvalifikacije za obavljanje regulirane profesije psihologa u RH, pri čemu smo utvrdili određene pravne i provedbene nedostatke. Naime, Hrvatska psihološka komora (HPK) usvojila je zaključak temeljem kojeg se pritužiteljima nude dvije dopunske mjere - razdoblje prilagodbe u trajanju do tri godine ili provjera kompetentnosti.

Međutim, u praksi je dostupna samo provjera kompetentnosti. Prilagodba do tri godine uopće se ne provodi jer zbog nezainteresiranosti visokih učilišta za njenu provedbu, HPK nije uspjela realizirati suradnju s visokim učilištima na kojima se provode studiji psihologije. No, HPK navodi i da je započela rad na izmjenama i dopunama Pravilnika o postupku priznavanja inozemnih stručnih kvalifikacija s ciljem stvaranja preduvjeta za provedbu navedene mjere u okvirima vlastitih kapaciteta, čije se usvajanje očekuje tijekom 2022. godine.

Preporuka 37.
Ministarstvu zdravstva, da prijedlogom izmjena i dopuna Zakona o djelatnostima u zdravstvu prepozna razinu obrazovanja magistar medicinsko-laboratorijske dijagnostike
Preporuka 38.
Ministarstvu znanosti i obrazovanja, da Pravilnik o uvjetima i načinu ostvarivanja prava na pokriće troškova prehrane studenata uskladi sa Zakonom o strancima[/pullquote]

Tijekom 2021. obratila nam se Hrvatska komora zdravstvenih radnika ukazujući na nedostatak zakonske regulative u području profesije magistara medicinsko-laboratorijske dijagnostike, zbog neusklađenosti nacionalnih propisa s europskim direktivama, što za posljedicu ima otežavanje pristupa tržištu rada. Profesija magistara medicinsko-laboratorijske dijagnostike nije prepoznata u sustavu djelatnosti u zdravstvu, jer nije regulirana Zakonom o djelatnostima u zdravstvu, radi čega smo još 2017. godine preporučili MZ-u da izradi prijedlog izmjena navedenog Zakona s ciljem popunjavanja nastale pravne praznine i uklanjanja štetnih posljedica na pravo na rad ove kategorije zdravstvenih radnika. S obzirom da navedena problematika još nije adekvatno riješena, a nastavili smo primati pritužbe, ponavljamo ovu preporuku.

Uslijed neujednačene primjene zakonskog okvira koji se odnosi na prava studenata državljana država koje nisu članice EU, zaprimili smo pritužbu studenta s odobrenim stalnim boravkom u RH radi nemogućnosti ostvarivanja studentskog prava na subvencioniranu prehranu. Naime, Pravilnikom o uvjetima i načinu ostvarivanja prava na pokriće troškova prehrane studenata (Pravilnik) pravo na ovu potporu ne ostvaruju državljani država koje nisu članice EU, izuzev iznimki propisanih čl. 2 st. 4. Pravilnika, koja se ne odnosi na kategoriju studenata s odobrenim stalnim boravkom.

Međutim, Direktivom Vijeća 2003/109/EZ i Zakonom o strancima propisano je da osobe s dugotrajnim boravištem i stalnim boravkom uživaju jednak tretman kao i državljani RH s obzirom na obrazovanje. Iako je MZO početkom 2018. godine uputilo okružnicu svim visokim učilištima da navedeni studenti ostvaruju jednaka prava kao i hrvatski državljani, odredbe Pravilnika još nisu usklađene sa Zakonom o strancima.

Diskriminacija temeljem obrazovanja

Epidemija koronavirusa, kao i mjere za njeno suzbijanje, obilježili su sustav obrazovanja i u protekloj godini te je utjecaj pandemije na visoko obrazovanje ostao jedna od najvažnijih tema.
Uz online nastavu, učenici i studenti ostali su bez vršnjačke potpore, a procesi i rezultati učenja uvelike ovise o vlastitim sposobnostima, ali i podršci. Takve okolnosti učinile su još vidljivijima nejednakosti između onih sa zadovoljavajućim materijalnim i socijalnim uvjetima i onih koji te uvjete nemaju.

Prema Istraživanju o dosegu i utjecaju pandemijskih okolnosti na iskustvo studiranja u ak. god. 2020./2021., svega 54% studenata imalo je uvjete za kvalitetno studiranje na daljinu u smještaju u kojem je boravilo. Brucoši navode da su im najveći izazovi bili nedostatak kontakta uživo s kolegama sa studija (48%), online nastava umjesto nastave uživo (39%) i nedostatak motivacije za učenje uzrokovan neizvjesnošću trajanja i posljedica pandemije (39%). Gotovo polovina sudionika istraživanja smatra da je pandemija negativno utjecala na ponudu studentskih poslova, što posebno negativno utječe na studente koji se u većoj mjeri sami financiraju.

Online nastava u školama i fakultetima svima je otežala pristup obrazovanju, što je posebno teško pogodilo one nižeg socio-ekonomskog statusa, a nametnulo se i pitanje njezine kvalitete. U težem su položaju bili učenici i studenti iz udaljenijih, ruralnih krajeva u kojima ne postoji infrastruktura koja omogućava korištenje Interneta bez teškoća. Prema očitovanjima visokoškolskih ustanova, dodatne teškoće je uzrokovalo i neujednačeno informatičko znanje studenata te nedostatne kompetencije nastavnika za korištenje platformi putem kojih se odvijala nastava.

Sve je to, prema istraživanju Odsjeka za psihologiju Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Rijeci, narušilo procese studiranja i dovelo do pada motivacije i koncentracije, straha zbog neizvjesnosti u vezi s polaganjem ispita i završetkom akademske godine. Kako pokazuju dostupna istraživanja, online nastava i ispiti na daljinu izravno su utjecali na količinu usvojenog znanja. Prema istraživanju AZVO, 47% anketiranih studenata smatra da studiranje u online okruženju pruža više prostora za neetično ponašanje pri provjeri znanja.

Nakon donošenja odluke Stožera civilne zaštite o uvođenju EU digitalne COVID potvrde za ulazak u sva javnopravna tijela, temeljem koje su pojedina visoka učilišta donijela odluku o njezinom obveznom posjedovanju, odnosno negativnom testu, kao uvjetu pohađanja predavanja i vježbi, zaprimili smo veći broj pritužbi studenata. Problematizirali su odluke visokih učilišta navodeći da im se ograničava pravo na obrazovanje i da su diskriminirani.

Dio studenata isticao je da su ovim odlukama visokih učilišta dovedeni u neravnopravan položaj jer se onima koji ne posjeduju EU digitalnu COVID potvrdu ili drugi odgovarajući dokaz nameću troškovi testiranja, o čemu više pišemo pri razmatranju pojava diskriminacije temeljem imovnog stanja. Iako izvan izvještajnog razdoblja, navodimo da je Ustavni sud početkom 2022. godine Rješenjem U-II-7149/2021 ukinuo mogućnost da visoko učilište studente obveže da pri ulasku u prostore visokog učilišta predoče EU digitalnu COVID-potvrdu ili drugi odgovarajući dokaz o testiranju, cijepljenju ili preboljenju.

Zaprimili smo i pritužbe studenata koji su stručnu praksu obavljali u odgojno-obrazovnim ustanovama i ustanovama socijalne skrbi, a koji su temeljem odluka Stožera civilne zaštite bili u obvezi testirati se prilikom ulaska u navedene ustanove, pri čemu su sami morali snositi troškove testiranja. Zatražili smo postupanja nadležnih ministarstava radi pronalaženja rješenja navedenog problema te nas je MZO obavijestilo da će obrazovne ustanove u kojima su studenti obavljali stručnu praksu nadoknaditi studentima troškove testiranja, dok odgovor MRMSOSP-a još nismo zaprimili.

U Nacionalnoj strategiji socijalne dimenzije obrazovanja, kao jedan od ciljeva se navodi i poticanje završavanja visokog obrazovanja ranjivih i podzastupljenih skupina studenata, među kojima su i oni slabijeg imovnog stanja.

Unatoč tome, pritužbom nam se obratila osoba koja se zbog financijskih teškoća morala ispisati sa fakulteta i prekinuti redovno studiranje. Nakon što su mu se financijske prilike popravile, podnio je molbu da mu se odobri ponovni upis i nastavak ranije započetog studija, koja je odbijena uz obrazloženje da se pojedini studijski program može upisati samo jednom. Istovremena uputa da upiše neki drugi studijski program na istom veleučilištu ili nastavi isti studij na drugom visokom učilištu, ukazuje na izazove u provedbi cilja iz Nacionalne strategije. Upućivanjem na ponovni upis prve godine nekog drugog studijskog programa, izlaže ga se i dodatnim, većim troškovima od onih za nastavak prekinutog studija.

Temeljem naše preporuke i upozorenja sporna su pravila promijenjena tako da je na navedenom visokom učilištu pod određenim uvjetima sada ipak moguć nastavak ranije započetog studija.

Preporuka 39.
Ministarstvu znanosti i obrazovanja, da u suradnji s visokim učilištima, doradom podzakonskih akata uredi mogućnost nastavka prekinutog studija te promjena studijskog programa u cilju poticanja završavanja visokog obrazovanja ranjivih i podzastupljenih skupina studenata[/pullquote]

Na diskriminaciju temeljem obrazovanja ukazuju i pritužbe zbog teškoća pri dobivanju licenci za rad koje, temeljem javne ovlasti, izdaju strukovne komore u zdravstvu i drugim reguliranim profesijama.

Primjerice, nakon odrađenog pripravničkog staža i položenog stručnog ispita pri MZ, Hrvatska komora fizioterapeuta (HKF) je pritužitelju odbila izdati licencu za rad ne priznavši mu kvalifikaciju stečenu kroz verificirani program obrazovanja odraslih koji je, prema očitovanju MZ i AZOO, dio jedinstvenog obrazovnog sustava RH te se provodi po propisima iz područja odgoja i obrazovanja i na temelju programa definiranih za redovno obrazovanje. Tako stečena kvalifikacija podrazumijeva kvalifikaciju stečenu završetkom srednjoškolskog obrazovanja, a stručna znanja, vještine i sposobnosti dokazuju se javnom ispravom - svjedodžbom o prekvalifikaciji, koja je istovjetna onoj iz redovnog obrazovanja te dokazuje činjenice koje ne mogu biti predmet provjere.

MZ je po provedenom upravnom nadzoru izreklo HKF mjeru da svoje akte uskladi s relevantnim zakonima, a u postupcima izdavanja licence za rad da poštuje odredbe Zakona o fizioterapeutskoj djelatnosti, što do danas nije provedeno. Obzirom da je uskrata licence pritužitelju uvjetovana vrstom obrazovnog programa kojeg je završio, kao središnje tijelo za suzbijanje diskriminacije utvrdili smo osnovanost sumnje na diskriminaciju temeljem obrazovanja. Dodatno, naplatna provjera osposobljenosti na koju HKF upućuje sve potencijalne članove u istoj pravnoj situaciji, utječe na dostupnost takve provjere nezaposlenim osobama.

Nažalost, kada govorimo o diskriminaciji temeljem obrazovanja, moramo spomenuti slučaj Općine Drnje, i Odluku o jednokratnoj novčanoj potpori povodom rođenja djeteta, o kojoj smo pisali i u prošlogodišnjem izvješću. Iako su načelniku Općine upućena upozorenja zbog utvrđene sumnje na diskriminaciju temeljem obrazovanja, bračnog i obiteljskog statusa, društvenog položaja i temeljem rase ili etničke pripadnosti ili boje kože, u navedenoj se Općini i dalje onemogućava ostvarivanje prava na ovu pomoć temeljem nekih od diskriminatornih kriterija.

Naime, nakon upozorenja Odluka je samo djelomično izmijenjena tako da potpora za novorođeno dijete i dalje nije dostupna ukoliko je jedan od roditelja kažnjavan ili se protiv njega vodi kazneni postupak te bračnog ili obiteljskog statusa. Dodatno, roditeljima kojim je potpora za novorođeno dijete uskraćena ranijom primjenom zabranjenih, diskriminatornih kriterija, uključujući i kriterij završene osnovne škole, nije omogućeno naknadno ostvarivanje ovog prava, čime se i godinu dana nakon upozorenja nastavlja diskriminatorno postupanje.

Povezane teme u Izvješću pučke pravobraniteljice za 2021.:

„ Utjecaj potresa na ostvarivanje ljudskih prava", „ Pravo na dobro upravljanje", „ Pravo na rad", „ Diskriminacija pri zapošljavanju i na radu", „ Diskriminacija temeljem dobi", „ Socijalna skrb: Siromaštvo i ljudska prava", „ Pravo na adekvatno stanovanje", „ Prava nacionalnih manjina" i „ Diskriminacija temeljem rasnog ili etničkog podrijetla ".

Cijelo Izvješće pučke pravobraniteljice za 2021. možete otvoriti u interaktivnoj verziji i u PDF formatu.

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Pravo na obrazovanje i diskriminacija temeljem obrazovanja

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Pravo na obrazovanje Ljudsko pravo na obrazovanje je Ustavom RH zajamčeno na način da je obrazovanje svakome dostupno, pod jednakim uvjetima, u skladu s njegovim sposobnostima, kao i da je obvezno obrazovanje besplatno u skladu sa zakonom. Kako je za prava djece te posljedično i pravo djece na obrazovanje nadležna pravobraniteljica za djecu, primarno pratimo ostvarivanje prava na visoko obrazovanje u RH.

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In Kosovo, during a few days in March 1990 more than 4000 patients, above all school children, got ill with symptoms, indicating they could have been poisoned. The mysterious disease, as it was called, continued to strike the population for the rest of the year, and probably more than 8000 Kosovars were stricken with illness.
It could start in a school with a pupil noticing a strange smell, after which he opened a window but in vain "as I saw my class-mates faint and collapse in their benches".
Another pupil tells this about what happened nine class-fellows: "I saw foam getting out of their mouths and their eyes were filled with tears, and some of them lost consciousness."

The Serbs denied the patients had been poisoned. Albanian doctors, who treated the patients, were convinced most patients were poisoned. Many Albanian doctors were maltreated or arrested by police.
At first, the Serbs maintained that the patients had simulated; they were actors, who could go to "the film festival in Cannes". But in April a federal commission (Jugoslavian) came to the conclusion that the symptoms were caused by mass hysteria. The chairman of the commission, Anton Dolenc, later confessed he regretted he had accepted that conclusion. He had done it because of pressure.

A study of the symptoms shows that there is ground for his hesitation. Almost all patients had inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis) and most of them had redness in the face. Is there really a single mass hysteria causing such symptoms?

You can say the same thing about patients feeling smarting pain in eyes, noses and throats. And presumably also inflammation in mucous membranes must be caused by something else than mass hysteria.
The pupil above seeing what happened to nine class mates observed hypersalivation.That symptom characterizes nerve gas-poisoning. But mass hysteria?
A very common symptom was also rotating eyeballs (oculargyric crisis), usually caused by strong drugs.
There was another eye symptom, sensitiveness to light. The many symptoms affecting the eyes mean you could get the impression the mysterious disease was an eye illness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_student_poisoning_incidents_of_1990′s

A French doctor, Bernard Benedetti, took blood samples from 150 patients and declared somewhat later that a "massive poisoning had taken place". A Fact finding Mission from Geneva was "100 procent sure" the patients had been poisoned and that the poison could be an "organophosphate such as employed against the Kurds in refugee camps in Turkey". They add one important thing. The poison was used against school children but also against "factory workers". Western authors writing about what happened, generally only mention "school children" as the victims.

But there was a setback for the Albanians in 1991, when the British doctors, Alastair Hay and John Foran, who had also taken blood samples, published their result in a short notice in the well-known medical paper the Lancet. They had not found any poison.

That short notice has had a very great influence. (Go to The British Doctors and you will find much more information about how Dr Hay has influenced the opinion to the poisoning!)

In 1996 Zoran Radovanovic, a Serb professor, published a long article in another medical paper, where he tried to prove Kosova in 1990 was hit by mass hysteria. He and the British doctors are the main reason the world outside Kosova believes in the Serb version about what happened in 1990.

But there are many shortages in his work. In my book I have tried to describe most of them. Here I will point at some important.
Radovanovic´ (and also the British doctors) made the mistake of believing the mysterious disease occurred some days in March 1990. Then game was over. He also had to admit that he had problems with his sources, because the hospital archives were in a bad condition. His description of the symptoms is based on too few individuals. Inflamed eyes, the most common symptom, is uncommon in his description. It is easy to get the impression that he avoids to mention symptoms, which hardly could be caused by mass hysteria (as inflamed eyes).
His starting-point seems to be to find similarities between Kosova 1990 and mass hysterias. If he had also pointed at differences, then his conclusions could have been different.

Mass hysteria experts usually mention a list of typical characteristics for mass hysteria. Radovanovic´ says that all of them were found in Kosova. Three of them are rapid spread and rapid recovery of the symptoms, which also are quite
But you can raise an objection against the use of rapid spread as a proof Kosovo had mass hysteria. It is true there was "rapid spread (after one single day there were cases all over Kosova) but this fact can also be used as a "contra argument.", or proof that the epidemic was not mass hysteria. "Was the hysteria spread via telephone?" is one commentary.
More important is that there are many patients who can give evidence of something quite else than rapid recovery and modest symptoms. One example is a doctor, in 1990 17 years old: In her class room she felt a smell like perfume. When she had taken her place, it was suddenly difficult to breathe and her head started to ache. She must have fainted, because suddenly she was - in an hospital. "All my body was shaking, blood was flowing from the nose, tears from eyes and they were burning".
The shaking started again after five minutes. After two weeks she had lost 11 kilo of her weight.
She writes that she still has problems "with the breathing, big changes of the blood pressure...I have tachycardia" (rapid heart) This witness must have had symptoms at least five years after 1990. And no one can say she had moderate symptoms!

Of course, symptoms lasting such a long time were not usual, but many patients had them more than a month. So Radovanovic´ makes another mistake by saying "it was normal" the patients had recovered after 1-2 hours.

Worst of all: there are some patients, who still have symptoms, which are very serious.

Read about a man, in 1990 student in a high school:

He says that the day it happened was an unusual day, as the Serb students were not in the school.
(Did they know what would happen?)
During a lesson he saw that under the class-room door "smoke started to come". Students opened the door and discovered a lot of smoke in the corridor and he felt a "smell like orange." On the floor students had fainted.

"I and my friends grabbed the collapsed students in order to get them out in the school yard but on the way we were going crazy and we collapsed... I also started vomiting"

At last they reached the schoolyard and there a lot of students were lying in the ground.
My nose, my eyes were running like a rain and I was vomiting so much and my head turned crazy, I could not see people around me or anything else... I can not remember what happened then and I don't know how long time it took, but I guess after a while I opened my eyes a little and discovered I was at home and a lot of other poisoned students were in my house...my parents put something on my eyes"
"We couldn't go to hospitals, because the police was accusing us as liars.

But after deserting the Yugoslavian Army in Croatia in 1992 I went to Switzerland.
I stayed in a Zurich hospital for three weeks without getting a clear diagnose from the doctors; they just told me that I have to be checked from doctors very often. One of them said for the rest of my life. After the hospital my eyes went on hurting and hurting me very bad and sometimes pushing me almost to grab a knife and kill my self!!! "
"Now doctors in Belgium told me that my eyes have been burned with some war chemicals and they said they almost never have seen eyes in so bad condition as mine.

But I was not alone getting poisoned; My sister was also a victim at that time, and I have friends around Europe, who still have a lot of problems with their eyes and weird headaches.
From the moment the smoke reached me in my school my life was destroyed!"
Mass hysteria experts also say the hysteria always takes place in segregated groups, and so it was in Kosova, according to Radovanovic' , as all patients were Albanians. He had made this conclusion after having completed his bad archive study by looking in (Serb?) papers. Also there he only found Albanian patients. But if he had studied Albanian patient lists, he had even found a Serb police-man among the patients!
Here an evidence from a Serb woman:
"I was sitting outside my house at around eight o'clock. I could scent a strong aroma, it penetrated my lungs and I started choking. I started crying for help. I was told by the women around that Serbs would kill me if I spoke of this".

There are more Serb witnesses and there are Serbs, who don't want to talk publicly.
And how does Radovanovic' explain that a Serb policeman, maybe convinced that the Albanians were simulating, got ill? Mass hysteria?

Many things indicate that Radovanovic´ and other Serbs have based their conclusions from unsatisfying sources and little contact with the patients. A Serb professor, Ljubumir Eric, was shocked when he learnt that the supposed teenage hysteria also hit children 2-3 years old. Could children of such young age take part in a mass hysteria?

Radovanovic´ states that no poison was found in Kosova. He doesn't mention Bernard Benedetti, which may be excused, because the French doctor never could show a lab report about his blood samples. According to Benedetti a French minister had stopped the publishing of the report. But Benedetti has not said a word that he himself took part in this stop process by urging Albanian media to be silent about what had happened. The relations between France and Serbia could be disturbed!
But Benedetti was not alone finding poison. Also Franjo Pllavsic, biochemist in Zagreb, found poison in samples taken from school children with symptoms. He should have presented his investigation together with an Albanian doctor, Besnik Bardhi, on a symposium in Zagreb 1990, but had disappeared, when he should do it! However, Besnik Bardhi had the report in his hands, so he took over and described it.

There are other circumstances, strengthening the suspects about poisoning. In many clinics police took or destroyed journals.
Albanian doctors, who hadn't done anything else than treating their patients, got visits from Serb security police. And worse, if they had expressed their suspects about poisoning. In that case it could be threat, maltreatment or arrest.

A doctor student, now living in Sweden, was called on by policemen, who urged him to sign a testimonial that no poisoning had taken place. His commentary to this: "it was the first time I experienced torture."

Serb police seemed to be prepared about what would happen: When the first patients arrived to hospitals, they were met by police. Also the behavior of the Serb doctors is strange. In the beginning they behaved as the Albanian doctors. But suddenly they retired and refused to treat patients. One illustrative example is the Serb chief doctor Baljosevics. At first he accepted a statement from a Serb-Albanian expert group: It is necessary to make toxical analysis to be sure about what has caused the symptoms. But some hours later he talks in television about a "play like the Film Festival in Cannes".
And how could Serb doctors in Serbia already 22 March protest against Albanian doctors? They had not been close to a single patient. Pressure?

Schools in Kosova were segregated in 1990. Albanians and Serbs weren't allowed to stay in school at the same time. After the "reform" Serb pupils stayed in school in the forenoon, Albanian in the afternoon. The change was carried out just before the epidemic started, and exactly because of that fact Albanians believe the segregation was a preparation for the poisoning. However, more facts are needed for such a conclusion. But there are some interesting witnesses.
At first the student who saw what happened to nine class-mates:
"In my school we also had two classes with Serbs (60 pupils) but just that day (the poisoning) no one of them came to school".

Here a girl, describing the day her school was poisoned. At that time she was 8 years old:
" In my school we had Albanians, Serbs and Romanies. But that day only Albanians were there, which we reacted against. We were small children, but we understood that something was wrong, because it had never happened earlier that both Serb classes stayed away".

There are more witnesses, who have delivered the same message.

The segregation had not been carried out everywhere. And in such schools there is a tendency that Serb children stay at home the day the epidemic hit the school.

The Geneva Commission, convinced about poisoning, made a presentation to United Nations. One of the members of the Commission Dr Charles Graves, has written this about what happened:
"The general reaction to our report in 1990 U.N. Sub-Commission of Human Rights Commission was polite but hardly enthusiastic. In those days no one was interested in human rights in Yugoslavia. Only later after the Bosnian and Kosovo wars (and ethnic cleansing) did the international community wake up to human rights abuses by the Serbs. By that time our report was forgotten and, anyway, the international community was against the Serbs in general and any previous abuses were overlooked in the wake of the atrocities at Srebrenica or the mass expulsions and killings of Kosovars."

Yes, the mysterious disease was shaded by burnt villages, massacres and the expulsion of one million human beings. Maybe those in power today in Kosova accept that the poisoning is forgotten. After all, they have to show that the relationship with the remaining Serbs works. So, reminders about what happened in 1990 could cause disturbance.
The mysterious disease has been transformed into the forgotten disease.

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In Kosovo, during a few days in March 1990 more than 4000 patients, above all school children, got ill with symptoms, indicating they could have been poisoned. The mysterious disease, as it was called, continued to strike the population for the rest of the year, and probably more than 8000 Kosovars were stricken with illness.

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Schools and universities are often targeted in war zones, as seen in Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan. This not only disrupts education for students but can also endanger their lives

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Schools and universities are often targeted in war zones, as seen in Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan. This not only disrupts education for students but can also endanger their lives

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This text is about understanding and looking for the implementation of the guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict

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This text is about understanding and looking for the implementation of the guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use during armed conflict

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Catalina Bonilla Párra

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Attacks on education are widespread and affect everyone - between 2013-2017, in at least 70 countries, students of all ages, teachers, academics, members of teachers unions, and education institutions were the target of thousands of intentional attacks for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons.

The vast majority of attacks involved either the bombing, shelling, or burning of schools or universities, and/or the killing, injury, kidnapping, abduction, or arbitrary arrest of students, teachers, and academics.

From 2014-2018, more than 14,000 attacks on education were reported in 34 countries, where there was a systematic pattern of attacks on education by state security forces and non-state armed groups.

In at least 30 countries in the past five years, educational institutions were used for military purposes: this is the majority of countries in which there were conflicts during this time period.

Young women are nearly 90% more likely to be out of secondary school than their counterparts in countries not affected by conflict.

Governments should investigate, prosecute, and punish individuals responsible for ordering, bearing command responsibility for, or taking part in, the range of violations of international law that constitute attacks on education.

All parties should refrain from using schools and universities for military purposes.

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Schools and universities should be safe havens where students and educators can work toward a better future. Instead, in countries affected by armed conflict, insecurity, and weak systems of human rights protections or political pluralism, education is often targeted for attack. Types of attacks include killing, disappearance, abduction, imprisonment, torture, and maiming of students and educational personnel, as well as bombing, and burning of educational buildings and destruction of educational materials. Attacks also include sexual violence at, or on the way to, school or university and recruitment by parties to the conflict at school and on the way to school. In addition, schools and universities have been used for military purposes, such as bases and barracks, weapons stores, and detention centers, by state armed forces and armed non-state groups. Attacks on education occur at all levels of the education system, from pre-school to higher education.

Attacks on education violate the right to education and other internationally protected human rights applicable at all times, and can constitute war crimes. Military use of an educational institution can convert it from a civilian object to a military object under international law and can place the school at risk of attack by opposing forces.

Attacks on students, educators, and education institutions can have devastating impacts on access to education and education systems and on a society's overall development in the long-term. Existing information suggests that attacks on education disproportionately affect girls and women. The impact of military use of schools and universities can also be severely damaging, as these institutions may be taken over completely by armed parties and closed for education, or students may be forced to share their schools with armed soldiers. Military use of schools and universities also increase the likelihood of other forms of attacks on education, including attacks on the educational institution by opposing forces, child recruitment, or sexual violence.

The safety of all schools should be a priority to ensure the continuation of education in emergencies.

Key Messages

Attacks on education are widespread and affect everyone - between 2013-2017, in at least 70 countries, students of all ages, teachers, academics, members of teachers unions, and education institutions were the target of thousands of intentional attacks for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic, or religious reasons.

The vast majority of attacks involved either the bombing, shelling, or burning of schools or universities, and/or the killing, injury, kidnapping, abduction, or arbitrary arrest of students, teachers, and academics.

From 2014-2018, more than 14,000 attacks on education were reported in 34 countries, where there was a systematic pattern of attacks on education by state security forces and non-state armed groups.

In at least 30 countries in the past five years, educational institutions were used for military purposes: this is the majority of countries in which there were conflicts during this time period.

Young women are nearly 90% more likely to be out of secondary school than their counterparts in countries not affected by conflict.

Governments should investigate, prosecute, and punish individuals responsible for ordering, bearing command responsibility for, or taking part in, the range of violations of international law that constitute attacks on education.

All parties should refrain from using schools and universities for military purposes.

This collection was developed with the support of Amy Kapit, Research Director at Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack.

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© Enayatullah Azad, NRCSchools and universities should be safe havens where students and educators can work toward a better future.

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Countries where education is under constant attack

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Countries where education is under constant attack

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"We want to go back home and go to school," say sisters Mariam, eight, and Sukaina, seven years old, from Al Jawf, Yemen (Mohammed Hamoud / UNHCR)

Barriers to education, Children in conflicts, Discrimination of marginalised children, Education in emergencies, Girls' education, International Women's Day, Safe schools

This week we have been marking International Women's Day with inspiring stories about people who are tackling gender inequality. Here we look at the continuing attacks on girls' education.

Around the world there are 121 million children and adolescents who don't go to school.

Girls make up 53% of those out of primary school and 52% of of those out of lower secondary school, even though only 48% of the world's under-15 population are girls, according to the Global Partnership for Education.

Girls' access to education is often restricted - just because they are girls. During violent conflicts, they are deliberately targeted by armed groups and government forces. They can also suffer sexual violence, abduction, intimidation and harassment.

A United Nations report in 2015 said there were attacks on schools in at least 70 countries between 2009 and 2014.

"In situations of displacement, girls are particularly vulnerable," it said. "In addition to discrimination related to race, religion or ethnicity, girls are also often subject to abuses based on their sex and therefore to multiple forms of discrimination."
Here's a look at 10 of the countries where girls' education has literally been under attack in recent years.

16-year-old Tinalbarka dreams of becoming a lawyer but her education was disrupted when her family sought refuge from conflict in Northern Mali (UNHCR / Aaron Dragaj)

Afghanistan

More than 300 schools were attacked in two months late last year - mainly by the Taliban waging war on education.

In October, armed men burst into a girls' school in northern Jawzjan province at night, beat up security guards and burned down the school.

More than 210 girls' schools were closed down in 2016 - denying nearly 51,000 girls access to education - said a UN report.

The UN reported more than 1000 attacks on education between 2009 and 2012, including schools being set on fire, suicide bombings, bombs, killings of staff, threats to staff and abductions.

Attackers frequently targeted girls' education. "Night letters" - threatening letters placed outside schools, en route to the school or outside teachers' homes - were distributed in the southern, south-eastern, central and northern regions, warning entire communities not to send their daughters to school and calling on teachers and government employees to close schools, especially girls' schools.

In 2012, around 150 Afghan high school-aged girls were poisoned in northern Afghanistan in an attack on females seeking education. They were poisoned by contaminated water in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, causing them to have severe headaches and vomiting.

India

In July 2013, four girls at a Christian school in India were abducted and raped. They were aged between 12 and 14.

Iraq

The so-called Islamic State has persecuted Yazidi girls and women since 2014, having abducted hundreds from their villages. Many were raped and/or kept as slaves. In October 2014, a UN report revealed that ISIL had detained up to 7000 Yazidi women in northern Iraq.

Young girls walk to school in Bama camp in northeast Nigeria. Girls have been particular targets for Boko Haram militants and many were severely traumatised by years of violence (UNHCR / Helene Caux)

Mali

Girls have been targeted for sexual and other forms of violence in schools for failing to adhere to strict dress requirements imposed by armed groups. Only 56% of girls are enrolled in primary school, compared to 70% of boys.

Nigeria

Boko Haram - whose name means "Western education is a sin" in the Hausa language - has been responsible for the abduction of hundreds of girls in northeast Nigeria, as well as attacks against teachers and schools. They abducted 276 schoolgirls from the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok in April 2014.

Boko Haram has destroyed more than 900 schools and forced 1500 more to close.

Pakistan

The Taliban's attacks and violent threats against girls resulted in 120,000 female students and 8000 women teachers stopping going to schools in the Swat district in 2009.

In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was just 15 when a gunman boarded her bus as it headed home from school. He shot her in the head and neck but she survived. Malala was targeted for promoting girls' education in Swat Valley.

In 2014 girls' schools were blown up in Bara and Bajaur.

Somalia

In 2010, girls were kidnapped from schools in Somalia to become "wives" of Al-Shabaab fighters. The Islamist terror group also recruited girls from schools to fill its ranks via propaganda and material rewards.

Human Rights Watch reported that a girl who refused to join was shot in front of her classmates. In another incident, 12 girls were forcibly taken and 150 females dropped out of school.

A six-year-old girl in Qudsaya, Syria, writes in an old school book. The conflict has ended her formal education (UNHCR / Qusai Alazroni)

Syria

In 2015, an Islamic State mortar attack on a school killed nine students and injured another 20 in an attack in northeast Syria. The shells hit the Harabesh primary school for girls in a government-held part of Deir el-Zour.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported nine female students were killed and around 20 injured when the mortar shells hit several parts of the school.

Uganda

During armed conflicts, girls have been abducted and forcibly recruited into the armed forces precisely because of their education.

For example, the Lord's' Resistance Army targeted secondary school girls in northern Uganda as their superior literacy and numeracy made them valuable recruits for military communications work.

Yemen

Getting access to education - even a primary school education - is one of the biggest challenges facing children in Yemen, especially girls. Nearly half of primary school-age girls do not go to school. Two out of three women in Yemen are illiterate.

Since the conflict escalated in March 2015 hundreds of children have been killed or injured. In one of the worst atrocities, a car bomb killed 15 school girls on a bus in the Yemeni province of Bayda in 2014.

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10 countries where girls' education has been under attack

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This week we have been marking International Women's Day with inspiring stories about people who are tackling gender inequality. Here we look at the continuing attacks around the world on girls' education.

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The Education Deficit: Failures to protect and fulfill the right to education in Global Development Agendas 

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The Education Deficit: Failures to protect and fulfill the right to education in Global Development Agendas 

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130 million girls denied education: UN experts

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Education under Attack in Myanmar

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An airstrike on a school in Myanmar's south-eastern Karenni state killed four children and injured at least 15 others, according to five witnesses.

The victims, all boys aged 12 to 14, were students at the school in Daw Si Ei village, which served about 200 students and was run by local community members and former government teachers. Two additional children remain in critical condition after being wounded in the head and abdomen.

The mother of one of the victims reported seeing an plane, followed by a fighter jet, fly over the village at 10am on Monday.

"I didn't even dare to go and look outside in the moments after the bomb dropped," said Hay Blute Moo. "My children were so scared that they hid under the bed and cried after they escaped from the airstrike, especially the youngest one. He hugged me and cried for a long time."

Witnesses said students at the school were attempting to run into a bunker when the strike hit. Communities across Myanmar routinely dig bunkers outside to protect themselves from military airstrikes.

The attack reportedly reduced the school facilities to rubble and left the surrounding area stained with blood.

Residents of Daw Si Ei village, Karenni state, Myanmar attend a funeral for four children who were killed in airstrikes. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

A 16-year-old boy, who arrived at the school shortly after the attack, said he saw the bodies of three of the victims, including his 14-year-old brother. The fourth victim, he said, died as people attempted to transport him to the nearest medical facility run by local resistance forces and community members.

Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, Myanmar's military has struggled to subdue opposition to its rule and has relied on airstrikes and scorched earth tactics to push back against opposition.

Although the military has not yet issued a statement on Monday's airstrikes, it has in the past targeted civilian areas and infrastructure including schools, medical facilities and religious buildings.

Junta-affiliated media outlets claimed reports of an airstrike on the village were false.

A funeral for the four children killed on in the airstrike. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

In January, the UN said that as part of the military's strategy, it routinely targets places protected under international humanitarian law, including medical facilities and schools. Disruption to basic communications services, it said, means that civilians often have little or no warning in advance of these attacks.

Karenni state has been the site of heavy fighting between the military and pro-democracy forces. The fighting escalated in November, when local resistance forces launched a new offensive and the military retaliated by scaling up its attacks, including on civilian areas.

Maw Lay, who lost his 12-year-old son in Monday's airstrike, said the attack occurred while students were preparing for their exams. "I'm very sad but I can't do anything during the war ... even if [the military] targets my house," he said.

A 36-year-old teacher, who was at the school at the time of the incident and who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to security concerns, questioned why the military would target the school. "Our school is far away from an active conflict area and no resistance soldiers are staying here," she said. "This is a place where innocent students are studying."

Children mourn the death of a boy killed in Monday's airstrike. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

A separate airstrike on a school in Loi Nan Hpa village, located two miles away, injured one teacher, who lost his leg.

In total, more than 80% of Karenni state's population has been internally displaced since the coup, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group, a community organisation that monitors human rights incidents in the state.

The organisation strongly condemned Monday's attacks, saying "the military junta is intentionally destroying civilian infrastructure and places of refuge for the thousands of Karenni people who have been forced to flee their homes ... The further escalation of attacks on schools is indicative of the military's disregard for the lives of ... children."

In total, the UN has documented more than 554 civilians killed in Myanmar since October and more than 1,600 in 2023, an increase of about 300 from the previous year. A further 19,973 people remained in detention on political grounds, according to the UN.

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Myanmar: airstrike on school killed four children, witnesses say

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The victims are reported to be all between the ages of 12 and 14, while many others are injured, with some in critical conditions

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Grade five and six students at the Rosary Sister's School in Gaza were supposed to sit for a science test on October 9, 2023, two days after Israel launched its devastating military assault on Gaza. But they never got to sit the test.

The school along with its library and theatre was destroyed by the Israeli army on November 4, according to Ruwaida Amer, who taught science at the private school.

Keep reading

Hundreds of schools, including those run by the UN, in the besieged Palestinian enclave have been bombed, and students and teachers killed, in more than 100 days of Israeli bombardment that has ravaged educational infrastructure and caused mental trauma to thousands of beleaguered students.

January 24 marks the sixth International Day of Education as proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, but tens of thousands of Gaza students cannot go to schools, which are lying in ruins.

Here's a look at how the war has taken a toll on Gaza's education infrastructure:

How many schools and students are in the Gaza Strip?

More than 40 percent of schools (288) in Gaza are run by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while the rest are either directly operated by the Palestinian Authority or privately managed.

All of them are currently shut as more than 85 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced amid continued Israeli ground and air offensive that has killed more than 25,000 people, including 10,000 children.

According to UNRWA data from 2018, Gaza had 737 schools. At least 9,367 teachers work in the 288 UNRWA schools.

How many children are out of school in Gaza?
No Gaza student has been able to attend school since November 6, 2023, when the Ministry of Education suspended the 2023-2024 school year due to the war that has seen indiscriminate targeting of residential areas, including offices and schools. Israel has defended itself, saying it was battling Hamas fighters but rights groups say Tel Aviv has made little efforts to protect civilians.

OCHA reported on October 27, 2023 that there were more than 625,000 pupils and more than 22,500 teachers in Gaza.

How many schools have been targeted in Gaza?

Up to 280 government schools and 65 UNRWA-run schools have been destroyed or damaged, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

Ninety percent of Palestinian Authority schools have been subject to direct or indirect damage. About 29 percent of school buildings are out of service after being demolished or severely damaged.

Save the Children's director for Palestine, Jason Lee, said in October: "Attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals where children are seeking refuge, are beyond unconscionable. This war is eroding humanity and is spiralling out of control."

It's the same story with private schools. "It was a painful first month because schools were directly targeted," said Amer.

At least 133 schools are being used as shelter for internally displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. These schools are sheltering far more people than their capacity as more than 1.9 million people have been displaced.

Israel has attacked multiple schools serving as shelters, killing displaced Palestinians. In November 2023, Israeli forces attacked the UNRWA-run Al Fakhoura school, killing at least 15 people. A week after that, at least 25 people were killed in Al-Buraq school. In December 2023, several were killed in attacks on Shadia Abu Ghazala School.

Why every university in Gaza destroyed

It is not just schools that have borne the brunt of the Israeli onslaught. Centres of higher education, including universities, have been completely paralysed. Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that 12 higher education institutions in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, completely disrupting university education.

Geneva-based independent Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said that Israel systemically destroyed every university in Gaza in stages. The first stage included the bombing of the Islamic and Al-Azhar universities, the monitor said in a statement issued on Saturday.

Israa University, located in the south of Gaza city, was demolished by Israeli forces, as evident from a video released by Israeli media on January 17. The university authorities said Israel occupied and used the campus as a military base and detention facility for months before destroying it.

Additionally, the Israeli army has killed 94 university professors, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said. The monitor deemed the Israeli destruction of schools an "intentional destruction of Palestinian cultural and historical properties".

"The targeted academics studied and taught across a variety of academic disciplines, and many of their ideas served as cornerstones of academic research in the Gaza Strip's universities," the monitor said in a statement.

Euro-Med said that it would be very difficult to return to academics post-war in the wake of the shear scale of the destruction of life and properties.

Palestinians have one of the highest literacy rates in the world, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2018. Palestinian graduates have ended up performing high in fields such as mathematics, engineering and business.

How many students and teachers have been killed and injured in Gaza?

Up to 4,327 students have been killed and 7,819 others have been injured as of January 16, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, which added that 231 teachers and administrators were also killed.

When would students be back in school?

It is uncertain when students in Gaza would be back in school as Israel's war continues. It will likely take months, even years, to repair all damaged school buildings.

There are plans to launch e-learning for Gaza school students. Teaching, however, would be delivered from the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.

The e-learning model would be difficult to apply to Gaza, where telecommunications blackouts are common and students and teachers do not have access to stable electricity and internet. Moreover, most people have been forced to flee their homes and shelter at refugee camps.

"It is impossible for there to be e-learning. There is no shelter, no internet and no suitable conditions," Amer, the science teacher from Gaza, said.

Meanwhile, schools and universities in the occupied West Bank are already shifting to an e-learning model with online classes as raids and settler violence have dramatically risen since October 7. This includes 55 schools located in the West Bank's "seam zone" - an area separated from the rest of the occupied West Bank by Israel's separation wall.

The occupied West Bank has been reeling from rising settler and Israeli forces attacks, with at least 371 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and settlers since October 7.

Since her school was forced to shut down, Amer has met some of her students in public or spoken to them online. Three of her students have been killed in the war and some of them have lost their homes. The students in Gaza, she said, need psychological support for the trauma they suffer due to the war.

"I want to support them psychologically, but the circumstances they are living in are difficult," she said.

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How Israel has destroyed Gaza's schools and universities

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All schools in Gaza have been shut and no university has survived Israel military's more than 100 days of onslaught.

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Constância had an unblemished academic record. She never failed a grade and reached the 12th grade at age 17-a milestone that most adolescent girls are not able to reach in Mozambique because of the many systemic and social barriers they face to attend school.

But in grade 12, Constância had a child. She started missing classes because she had to breastfeed her daughter and had no one to support her with childcare. As a result, she failed some exams and dropped out without completing the grade. When she found out she was pregnant, she moved in with her boyfriend, a 25-year-old man. Once she gave birth to their daughter, she started taking contraceptives to avoid getting pregnant. Her boyfriend was against this, so she hid this from him. When her menstrual period became irregular, he accused her of having an abortion. He became angry and threatened to stop giving her money for the household expenses and her personal expenses, including the money she used to pay for her education.

Constância decided to leave her boyfriend's home and returned to her family's home with her daughter. In 2021, then 18, she could not re-enroll in school because she no longer had money to pay for fees and other costs.

Her parents committed to getting the money to pay for her enrollment in the 2022 academic year. "I want to go back to the same school where I was already studying because I'm used to it," she said. "The school is far, and I spend a lot of money on transportation." Like other adolescent girls and women who spoke with Human Rights Watch, Constância, now 19, hoped that her circumstances would improve. "The child's father will take his responsibilities again and the baby will go stay with my mom," she said.

***

Mozambique's government faces enormous challenges in advancing adolescent girls' and women's right to education. Many girls face discrimination, gender-based violence, and poverty. The country has the fifth highest rate of child marriage in the world. Its adolescent pregnancy rate is the highest in East and Southern Africa: 180 out of 1000 girls and young women ages 15 to 19 gave birth in 2023, in contrast with the regional average of 94 births per 1000 girls. At least 1 in 10 girls has had a child before the age of 15, according to the United Nations. A 2019 study of data collected over time of primary school dropouts in Mozambique found that 70 percent of pregnant girls, many of whom were still enrolled in primary school past puberty due to their late enrollment, dropped out of school. The very low completion rates at secondary level show the tremendous challenge in advancing girls' progress and gender equality through education: in 2022, only 41 percent of girls completed lower secondary. In 2020, only 4 percent of girls completed upper secondary.

In 2003, the Mozambican government adopted a ministerial order that mandated school officials to move pregnant girls and adolescent mothers from daytime schools to night-shift schools-building on an existing infrastructure used for adult basic education. This order effectively cemented and authorized discrimination against these students in the national education system, denying female students the right to study in day schools along with their peers.

In December 2018, the government revoked the 2003 order and instructed schools to enable pregnant and parenting students to study in day schools. Civil society groups in Mozambique, with the support of prominent political and social leaders, led a campaign that successfully pressed the education ministry to revoke the order, remove discriminatory barriers against girls who are pregnant or are parents, and protect girls from widespread sexual violence in schools.

With the removal of the order on night-shift schools and public commitments to tackle widespread school-related sexual violence and to increase enrollment and completion of secondary school, the government has shown political will to scale up and advance girls' education. However, it has struggled to turn these efforts into a human rights reality for girls and women, many of whom continue to experience enormous systemic and social barriers to stay in school.

Human Rights Watch conducted research between 2021 and 2023 to examine the impact of the government's reversal of the 2003 order on adolescent girls and women who are pregnant or are parents. This report is based on interviews with 66 people, including 51 adolescent girls and women, as well as rights activists, nongovernmental organization staffers, teachers, school authorities, and education officials, in the cities of Beira, Maputo, and Nampula, and the provinces of Maputo and Nampula. Some girls and women interviewed had been displaced by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado province and found refuge in the neighboring Nampula province. They faced a compounded challenge: being displaced while coping with a pregnancy at a young age.

Mozambique consists of 11 provinces and Maputo, the capital city. Education is centralized and managed by the Ministry of Education and Human Development, and is compulsory until grade 7 and free for the first nine years throughout the country. Nonetheless, the enforcement of education laws and orders remains inconsistent and largely driven by geographical differences, including levels of development, access to resources, and other social factors. Maputo, located in the far south, is the most economically developed region, with the lowest rates of school pregnancy and school dropouts. The province of Nampula, located in the north of the country, is the most populous. It has a high adolescent pregnancy rate and one of the country's lowest net enrollment rates in secondary education, according to recent government data. It also hosts hundreds of thousands of internally displaced children from Cabo Delgado province, which had the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the country in 2023: 55 percent of girls and women ages 15 to 19 were pregnant when they were surveyed for the country's 2022 Health and Demographic Survey.

Human Rights Watch found that more than five years after the ministerial order banning pregnant students from attending daytime classes was revoked, girls and women who are pregnant or parenting, of whom many are also married or in informal unions, face unique barriers as they navigate schooling and the responsibilities of being a very young parent. Many of these can be attributed to the discriminatory foundations-through policy, practices, and attitudes-within the education system. In addition, they face other systemic barriers to education that are common to many more girls, including many from the poorest households, who struggle to stay in secondary school because of the lack of free education. These include the high cost of education linked to tuition and enrollment fees, payments for school uniforms and other indirect costs, and the often-long distance to schools and costly transportation. Students who are parents often experience a lack of support, encouragement, and accommodations at the school level that make it impossible for some to juggle schooling and childcare responsibilities. Their children often have no access to early childhood education programs, whether through nurseries or state- or community-managed crèches. Evidence from numerous countries shows that the accumulation of these barriers means pregnant or parenting girls are far less likely to return to school.

Human Rights Watch found mixed practices at the school level. Some teachers supported students who are pregnant or are parents to stay in school and encouraged them to study and stay in school; other teachers and school officials did not support girls' retention in day schools, acted in disregard of the order, and encouraged or even arranged their transfer to night schools. Students themselves sometimes still believed that studying in the night shift was the only option they had. Those enrolled in the night shift reported many problems associated with going to school at night-including distance to schools, cost of transport, and lack of personal safety and protection measures.

A public secondary school teacher told Human Rights Watch:

There are problems with understanding it [the policy] at the base... teachers, school administrators. It is necessary to sensitize and provide accompaniment since the stigma against a pregnant student is still there. The scope of the revocation of the decree is not understood [by school officials]. Because of this, a pregnant student ends up self-excluding herself, often dropping out of school.

Most of the interviews included in this report were conducted in 2021, while Covid-19 pandemic-related measures were still in place. This was more than a year after Mozambique's government declared a public health emergency and kept all preschools, schools, and universities closed for over a year. The lives of adolescent girls and women were affected-both positively and negatively-by interruptions to their schooling and loss of access to other key services because of Covid-19 measures. Some students struggled to continue studying using remote education methods because they did not have the time to study or lacked the equipment and money to purchase data. Others fared better because they could study at home and keep some contact with their schools, avoiding any additional pressures, costs, stigma, and exclusion associated with going to school while pregnant. Some were not able to return to school. Dinércia, 17, in Maputo city, was one of those who could not re-enroll in the 2021 academic year once schools reopened: "I can't study because my baby is still young, and I have no one to leave her with because my mom does part-time jobs." Like other parenting adolescents who are still students, Dinércia wanted to return to school but faced the type of obstacles that hinder many girls' education: she received no support from her school, her school was far away from her home, and she had no money to pay for transportation to get there. She also needed to pay between 3,000 to 4,000 meticais (US$86 to $114) to re-enroll in school. Both her boyfriend and mother worked every day and could not stay at home with the baby.

In other instances, the students had their family's financial and moral support, but struggled to attend classes because they faced constant discrimination from teachers, school officials, and peers. Anchia's family supported her to return to school in the 2021 academic year, but she had a hard time attending classes: "My parents had the conditions to send me back to school, but it was very difficult to focus on the lessons when classmates and teachers had made it clear I was not welcome there because I was pregnant."

While the government's revocation of the 2003 order on night-shift schools was an important step, Mozambique still has an evident policy gap when it comes to keeping pregnant and parenting students in school: it lacks a comprehensive legal and policy framework to protect the right to education of pregnant and parenting girls and women. It also appears not to have adequately socialized its 2018 order. While some school officials and teachers are aware that the previous routine practice of referring girls to the night shift is no longer in place, this is not consistent. School communities and teachers do not have concrete guidance and policies at their disposal that spell out their positive obligations vis-à-vis pregnant and parenting students, including specific instructions on how to provide support for students. At time of writing, officials at the Ministry of Education and Human Development were seeking technical and ministerial approval of draft ministerial instructions on measures to protect pregnant and parenting students.

As evidence from other African countries, including Human Rights Watch's reporting, shows, such a significant policy gap leads to the application of varying interpretations that are based on what school officials decide is best. Ultimately, it is girls who suffer most from the effects of such disparate decisions-many of them drop out of school because they lack the support they need from their schools and families at one of the most vulnerable times in their lives. Benilde, 24, in Maputo province, told Human Rights Watch: "Teachers should also talk to pregnant students so that they keep on going and don't drop out because they feel embarrassed... pregnancy is not a disease."

Given the dire public health and human rights context, preventing adolescent pregnancies and ensuring that students are fully supported to stay in school should both be imperatives for Mozambique.

Comprehensive sexuality education remains an effective tool to ensure children and young people receive the information they need to make decisions about their lives. Although topics related to the sexuality education curriculum are covered in a number of school subjects, girls and women reported receiving little comprehensive information about menstruation, reproductive health, and contraception either at school or at home. Some students enrolled in the night shift did not have any access to content on sexuality or reproduction. During the Covid-19 pandemic, teaching of sexuality or reproduction-related subjects was not prioritized, as the government significantly reduced the curriculum taught in online classes. The government should adopt and implement a robust framework to ensure that timely, evidence-based, and scientifically accurate and age-and-stage-appropriate content on sexuality and reproductive health is embedded in its national curriculum and programs.

Adolescent girls and women should also have effective access to a wide range of acceptable, quality sexual and reproductive health services, ranging from access to contraception and family planning services to comprehensive, safe abortion care. Thanks to recent reforms, Mozambique has one of the most progressive laws on access to abortion in Southern Africa. Yet, access to safe abortion services is still not widely available to many girls and women, and implementation in accordance with Mozambique's law is poor, according to the Coalition for the Elimination of Child Marriage in Mozambique. Girls and women who talked to Human Rights Watch said they faced barriers when trying to access abortion services-including being asked to pay for the procedure even though abortions should be free of cost in public health clinics; receiving incorrect medical information; and being discouraged by partners, family members, and officials. The government should closely monitor the implementation of its laws and policies on reproductive health to guarantee free and unrestricted access to services and information, and ensure adolescent girls and women know when, how, and where they can obtain them.

The Mozambican government has obligations under international and African regional human rights law to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights to education and the highest attainable standard of health for all adolescent girls and women, including those who are pregnant or have children. This requires that the government ensure that the services essential to these rights, including schooling and information about sexual and reproductive health, are available, accessible, acceptable, and of sufficient quality.

Human Rights Watch calls on the government of Mozambique to adopt legally enforceable regulations that ensures girls' right to education during pregnancy and parenthood. Mozambique should give due consideration to the experiences and views of its adolescents and look at examples from other African countries, including positive policies adopted by Cabo Verde, Sierra Leone, and South Africa, to define its own human rights-compliant policy framework to address pregnant and parenting adolescents' needs.

In its consideration of a nationally binding policy, the government should factor in four key components linked to its human rights obligations: 1) to guarantee flexible accommodations for pregnant and parenting students; 2) to promote inclusive positive teaching and learning environments; 3) to provide access to early childhood care and education for students' children and ensure access to social protection; and 4) to prevent and tackle adolescent pregnancies through a robust adolescent-responsive response focused on sexual and reproductive rights. In the meantime, and to fill in the current policy gap, the government should expedite the adoption of ministerial instructions to instruct education and school officials to support students who are pregnant or are adolescent parents.

To the Government of Mozambique

Adopt and implement, in consultation with adolescent girls and women, a comprehensive legal and policy framework to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to education of students who are pregnant or parenting and have not completed primary or secondary education, including:

Interim ministerial guidelines to instruct education and school officials on their obligations to protect and promote the right to education of students who are pregnant or parenting.

A legally enforceable human rights-compliant "continuation" policy that:

Guarantees flexible accommodation for students, including time for breastfeeding, time off in case of a child's illness, and additional support to catch up on missed lessons. Such measures should aim to support students who face additional and significant responsibilities as young parents and enable and encourage them to stay in school.

Promotes inclusive, positive teaching and learning environments, including by engaging and training teachers and other education officials to ensure they support the education of pregnant and parenting adolescents, and to ensure they guarantee an inclusive, safe, and discrimination-free school environment.

Expands options for childcare support, including prioritizing measures to better link state-administered early childhood care and education centers, including community- and state-managed crèches, to primary and secondary schools.

Focuses on preventing and tackling teenage pregnancies through a robust adolescent-focused response focused on girls' and women's sexual and reproductive rights, including access to comprehensive sexuality education that is timely, scientifically accurate, and age-and-stage-appropriate.

Includes outreach and collaborative work with families and communities, including with a view to tackling harmful gender stereotypes, harmful practices, and abuses that affect adolescent girls and women.

Provides counselling services for students who are pregnant, married, or parenting, as well as for their families, and long-term psychosocial support to adolescent survivors of sexual abuse, exploitation, and harassment.

Adequately responds to cases of school sexual exploitation, harassment, and abuse against students in educational institutions, ensuring schools have functioning confidential and reporting mechanisms; senior school officials conduct investigations, and where the law is violated, refer alleged perpetrators to the police, and perpetrators of school-related sexual violence are suspended from any position of authority or teaching and prosecuted or dealt with through appropriate disciplinary processes.

A data and monitoring system to ensure schools:

Improve monitoring and data collection on girls and boys who drop out of school due to pregnancy, parenthood, or marriage, ensuring respect for children and young people's rights to dignity, privacy, and confidentiality in the collection of the data.

Develop and implement mechanisms to follow up on and keep track of girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy or marriage, with the aim of supporting their return to school.

Monitor implementation of the policy by keeping data on the number of pregnant, parenting, and married students who get readmitted and on their school attendance and completion rates, and use the information to improve support for students.

Take immediate measures to eliminate all economic barriers to education for students who are pregnant or are adolescent parents, including by providing at least one year of compulsory and free, quality pre-primary education for children, and take immediate measures to ensure quality secondary education is available and accessible to all free of charge. Remove indirect costs, including costs related to uniforms, re-enrollment fees, and other levies charged at the school level, and significantly reduce or subsidize school transportation costs.

Ensure adequate teaching of the mandatory national curriculum on sexuality and reproductive health; ensure all its components comply with international standards and best practices on the right to comprehensive sexuality education; and provide regular in-service teacher training on comprehensive sexuality education for all teachers.

Ensure schools and health centers work together to set up girls' or youth clubs to provide students and out-of-school children and young people with information on sexual and reproductive rights.

Adopt and implement, in consultation with adolescents in the country, a comprehensive legal and policy framework to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to the highest attainable standard of health for women and girls, including by taking all necessary steps to ensure girls have free and unrestricted access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health services, including fully informed and free access to non-judgmental and confidential safe and legal comprehensive abortion services.

Ensure the Child Support (0-2) sub-component grant is available to adolescent girls and women who are parents, including by providing clear information on how to access the grant.

To African Union Institutions

Call on Mozambique to adopt a legally binding human rights-compliant "continuation" policy, including by drawing on the successful implementation of laws, policies, and good practices in place in other AU member states, examples of which are outlined in this report.

With development partners, support Mozambique in the development and implementation of its national early childhood care and education priorities, with a focus on ensuring that all children, including young children from the poorest households, can access early childhood care and education services.

Provide detailed standards on the rights of adolescents to sexual and reproductive health services and information, including comprehensive sexuality education. These standards should consolidate and expound on relevant recommendations provided by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

This report is based on 51 interviews with 5 girls ages 16-17 and 46 women ages 18-24, conducted from October 2021 to October 2023, in the cities of Beira-Sofala province, Maputo-Maputo province, and Monapo and Nampula-Nampula province. 31 girls and women interviewed were enrolled in school when interviewed for this report; 10 of whom were studying in night-shift schools. 9 girls and women dropped out of school when they were pregnant; 17 dropped out after they gave birth.

Human Rights Watch selected the provinces of Maputo and Nampula to understand the disparities in adolescent girls' and women's access to education and sexual and reproductive health services. Maputo, located in the far south, is the most developed region in the country, with the lowest rates of school pregnancy and school dropouts. The province of Nampula, located in the north of the country, is the most populous and has a high adolescent pregnancy rate and one of the country's lowest net enrollment rates in secondary education, according to government data released in June 2023. It also hosts hundreds of thousands of internally displaced children from conflict-affected Cabo Delgado province, which had the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the country in 2023.

Human Rights Watch also 15 interviewed women's rights experts and child-focused organizations, academics, schoolteachers and officials, and local civil society groups.

Every effort was made to abide by best practice standards for ethical research and documentation of sexual violence, including all efforts to avoid re-traumatization of survivors. We preceded and ended all interviews with a detailed explanation of informed consent to ensure that interviewees understood the nature and purpose of the interview and could choose whether to speak with researchers. In each case, we explained how we would use and disseminate the information and sought the interviewees' permission to include their experiences and recommendations in this report. We informed all interviewees that they could stop or pause the interview at any time and could decline to answer questions or discuss particular topics. Human Rights Watch generally does not interview survivors of sexual violence under the age of 15 to avoid potentially harmful repercussions. Where appropriate, and in interviews involving adolescent girls, Human Rights Watch provided contact information for organizations offering legal, counseling, reproductive health, or social services.

For security reasons, only first names of adolescent girls and women interviewed are used in the report. Interviews are referenced by city or province to protect those interviewed. All teachers and senior school officials are referred to anonymously to protect their identity.

In-person interviews were conducted in line with Covid-19 pandemic protective measures set by Human Rights Watch to prevent the spread of the virus. These measures included adequate social distancing between the researcher and interviewees, adequate ventilation during the interviews, the use of protective surgical or higher-grade face masks, and regular hand disinfection. Interviewees were offered a face mask and hand disinfectant before the interview.

Human Rights Watch did not provide interviewees with financial compensation in exchange for any interview.

We reviewed Mozambican national laws, government policies and reports, government and Mozambican civil society submissions to United Nations and African Union bodies, UN independent expert and treaty body reports, UN, AU and nongovernmental organization reports, academic articles, and newspaper articles, among others.

The exchange rate at the time of the research was approximately US$1 = 35 meticais; this rate has been used for conversions in the text, which are often rounded off to the nearest dollar.

High Adolescent Pregnancy Rates and Limited Access to Abortion Care

High Rates of Child Marriage

Low Enrollment Rates in Secondary Education

In 2022, only 41 percent of girls completed lower secondary. Completion rates at the upper secondary level show the tremendous challenge in advancing girls' progress and gender equality through education: in 2020, only 4 percent of girls completed this level. Over 40 percent of girls are out of lower secondary school, and over 56 percent of adolescent girls are out of upper secondary school. Mozambique's data distinctly shows that girls in rural contexts, as well as those from the poorest income quintiles, remain far behind their peers in urban settings and households with more disposable income. Conversely, national data analysis shows that girls with secondary education are 53 percent less likely to be married by age 18.

Severe Disruptions to Education

In addition to long-standing challenges in securing gender equality in education, Mozambique's education system has been severely impacted by public health and humanitarian emergencies affecting many Mozambicans, including the Covid-19 pandemic and the armed conflict and violence in the country's central and northern regions.

Covid-19-Related School Closures

Students who were able to continue learning online, on their own and with limited to no teaching support while following a significantly reduced timetable, told Human Rights Watch that this provided them with the flexibility they needed to simultaneously study and continue to care for their children. In November 2021, Custódia, 18, said:

But some girls dropped out and lost over two years of education.Verónica, 18, who was internally displaced from Mocímboa da Praia following attacks by armed groups, was among those girls. She continued studying even when she became a parent, but "[w]hen classroom lessons stopped because of coronavirus we spent a lot of time without information and doing nothing," she said. "That's when I stopped going to school."

Armed Conflict in Cabo Delgado Province

The ongoing conflict in the northern Cabo Delgado province,where an armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) has attacked and killed hundreds of civilians, has led to widespread internal displacement. In 2023, out of more than one million people reported as displaced, nearly half were children, while 28 percent were women. Care International's Rapid Gender Analysis, conducted in 2022, showed that girls have been exposed to high levels of gender-based violence and that early pregnancies increased in 2022. Cabo Delgado province has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in Mozambique, linked to the province's high rates of child marriage and school dropouts-55 percent of girls and women ages 15 to 19 were pregnant when they were surveyed for the country's 2022 Health and Demographic Survey.

Some girls and women interviewed by Human Rights Watch were displaced from Cabo Delgado province and found refuge in neighboring Nampula province. They faced a compounded challenge: being displaced while coping with a pregnancy at a young age.

Night-Shift Schools

In some of the cases documented by Human Rights Watch in Maputo, schools continued to transfer students by default or rejected admission for those who appealed schools' decisions. Laura, 19, said:

When the school principal found out I was pregnant [in 2022], she called my parents and informed them that the school rules required that I moved to night shift. My father pushed back, and even had to get a letter from the Maputo Education Directorate ordering the school to accept me in the day shift.

Laura's neighbor and friend, Adosinda, 19, who got pregnant in the first trimester of 2022, was less fortunate:

The school principal told me I had to move to night shift because other girls had complained they did not feel comfortable around me. My mother reported my case to the parents' association, but they refused to back us up, so I had to move to study at night.

Nonetheless, night-shift schools are considered one of the options for many students who are pregnant or parenting because of comparatively lower tuition fees and indirect costs as well as flexibility around childcare. Isilda, 20, said, "I didn't have anyone to leave my baby with because my parents work and my sisters also study. So, I asked to be transferred to the night shift so I could take care of the baby [during the day]. At night, my mom and sisters are at home and can take care of him."

Muanacha, 21, who in 2020 got married to a much older man in an Islamic marriage, said:

My husband is a teacher. ... When I got pregnant, he went to my school and transferred me to the night shift. I don't know why he did that. Everything became harder because there's a lack of transport at night, and I don't have company [to go to school]. Sometimes, I have to walk by myself, and I get very scared.

Margareth, 23, originally from Mocímboa da Praia, in Cabo Delgado province, was displaced from her village due to the conflict there and went to live in Nampula, over 550 kilometers away. Margareth first got pregnant when she was in the 5th grade of primary school in 2014, while she was still living in her village. She was unable to attend school due to ongoing displacement and marriage at the age of 17. When Human Rights Watch interviewed her, she was enrolled in the 10th grade in a public school in her neighborhood, and described learning in a night shift:

Guilo, 21, was also displaced from Cabo Delgado province and settled in Nampula province. Guilo wanted to request a transfer from the night school she attended at the time of the interview to a day school to study in the 10th grade:

Celeste, 19, who lives in Maputo province, is adamant that schools should allow pregnant students to study in day shift instead of transferring them to the night shift:

When schools find out that you're pregnant they change your shift andplace you in night classes. At night, you run the risk of being attacked, assaulted, kidnapped, or killed by thugs. Even during afternoons, it'salready normal to find thugs, when you return from school, that show you aknife to rob you.

Orla, 18, who lives and studies in Maputo city, was transferred to the night shift in August 2022 when school authorities found out she was pregnant. But in 2023, she enrolled in a school following a successful intervention by the parents' association:

Lack of Resources and Support

A veteran teacher at one of Mozambique's largest primary educational institutions, said:

A school principal in a secondary school in Maputo city said:

Dora, 16, found out she was pregnant in 2021 when she was in the 6th grade of primary school, in Maputo province. She had not planned to get pregnant and did not get an abortion because her family did not want her to have one. Instead, her mother and uncles resorted to arrange a marriage with her boyfriend's family, which a tribunal ultimately struck down because it would have been considered a child marriage, Dora told Human Rights Watch. Dora dropped out of school because she felt ashamed of going back. She decided not to go back even when schools reopened after Covid-19 lockdowns. She would like to go back to the school where she used to study:

No one sent me away from school. I stopped studying because of my belly, I felt embarrassed... I didn't know if they would laugh at me or make jokes because in my classroom even when people have disabilities or show up with dirty, unkempt hair they make jokes and laugh at you.

Asked about what change she would like to see, Dora said:

A female primary school teacher who has followed various cases of pregnancies among primary school students, predominantly in the 7th grade, said:

Stigma and Discrimination

Even though adolescent pregnancies are extremely common in Mozambique, many girls face stigmatizing and potentially punitive behaviors at school from their peers and teachers.For some, the social pressure is reason enough to drop out of school preemptively. Without support and encouragement, many girls drop out permanently.

Some girls and women told Human Rights Watch that they experienced stigma and discrimination from their teachers. Custódia, 18, whose child was nearly two years old when she spoke with Human Rights Watch, said that at her school:

In Nampula city, Muanacha, 20, said:

A male teacher in a secondary school said that:

Lack of Childcare Support

Most girls and women who are mothers and are enrolled in school face the sudden burden of childcare. Their children often have no access to early childhood education programs, including through nurseries, or state- or community-managed crèches. While some girls and women interviewed by Human Rights Watch received childcare support from their own families, most had no support at all.

The Cost of Education

For Lídia, 23, who has two children ages 5 and 3 and is enrolled in the 12th grade in long distance education:

Distance to School

Neide, 18, who concluded the 7th grade by the end of her pregnancy, proceeded to register for secondary school. But she was placed in a secondary school that was far from her neighborhood:

However, the government has yet to address several important policy gaps in the realization of many adolescent girls' right to education. Foremost, as documented above, the government of Mozambique is failing to fulfill the right to education as it relates to the availability, affordability, and safe physical accessibility of quality education services, particularly for students who are pregnant or who have children.

Government authorities do not appear to have fully socialized the order to ensure all parents, students, teachers, and local school officials are aware of these policy gaps, or to have even monitored the situation. The government has not adopted much-needed measures to ensure schools are clear on the necessary steps for the inclusion of students who are pregnant or are parenting or that schools have the resources and support needed to implement the policy. This leads to irregular enforcement of compulsory education at the school level, where local school officials can decide what happens with pregnant students' and adolescent mothers' education. The following perspectives from three different teachers underscore the poor implementation of the order.

A female primary school teacher said:

Another public secondary school teacher said:

There is no more rule about moving to the night [shift]. Now it's optional and it's the student who decides. There is knowledge about the revocation of Decree 39, but the process was top-down. There are problems with understanding it at the base... teachers, school administrators. It's necessary to sensitize and provide accompaniment since the stigma against a pregnant student is still there. The scope of the revocation of the decree is not understood. Because of this, a pregnant student ends up self-excluding herself, often dropping out of school.

He added:

Mozambique's government should urgently address the policy gaps that are currently hindering girls' education, including during pregnancy and parenthood, and elaborate on its 2018 order allowing pregnant girls to stay in school. These include wider systemic issues that affect all students, such as the lack of free secondary education in all its forms, the incidental costs of both primary and secondary education including the cost of books, materials, and school uniforms, the high cost of student transportation for students attending both day and night schools, as well as gender-based discrimination and school-related sexual violence. The government should also tackle the issues that impact pregnant and parenting students specifically, including the lack of inclusion and accommodation of students in daytime schools, the stigma and discrimination they suffer from parents, their fellow students, and school administration and staff on account of their pregnancy, and stronger linkages between schooling for pregnant and parenting adolescent students and early childhood care and education for their children.

To be successful, a future policy should respond to the ways in which practices at the school and community level determine girls' futures. Adolescent girls and women should have a meaningful platform to share their experiences of exclusion and discrimination, in education and other essential services, and be listened to and meaningfully consulted by policy makers and senior government officials.

The government should also ensure that stakeholders including teachers, school administration, and parents should be engaged in the development, implementation, and review of the laws and policies that govern girls' ability to remain in school while pregnant and return to school after delivery.

Need for a Continuation Policy and Lessons from the African Union

The most robust and far-reaching among these policies are "continuation policies," which have been adopted by Sierra Leone, and South Africa in recent years. Continuation policies stipulate a framework that enables pregnant students to choose to remain in school without a mandatory absence at any point during pregnancy or after birth. They also give students the ability to stop studying temporarily for childbirth and associated physical and mental health needs, and the option to resume schooling after birth at a time that is right for them, free from intricate conditions for re-enrollment. Some policies in this category reflect school obligations to provide accommodations for students. Examples include providing school-based counselling services, establishing early childhood centers close to secondary schools, and providing time for breast-feeding. These policies better reflect the full extent of a government's human rights obligations and emphasize girls' autonomy in decision-making.

Human Rights Watch recommends that Mozambique adopt a continuation policy to ensure its policy framework is consistent with evolving good policy and normative practices across the African Union, and in line with its international and African human rights obligations. Such a policy should include the four components outlined below, to complement pedagogical and specific education policy measures aimed at advancing girls' secondary education.

Guaranteeing Flexible Accommodations for Pregnant or Parenting Students

Promoting Positive Teaching and Learning Environments

Providing Access to Early Childhood Care and Education and Social Protection

In 2019, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action began to roll out a Child Grant Sub-component for families with babies ages 0-2 years that targeted adolescent parents. The government should ensure all adolescent parents are able to receive social protection grants.

Preventing Adolescent Pregnancies through a Robust Adolescent-Focused Response

Adolescent girls and women in Mozambique face huge barriers to enjoying their sexual and reproductive rights. Preventing teenage pregnancies-through access to comprehensive sexuality education and robust adolescent-responsive reproductive health services-is imperative in a country such as Mozambique, where tens of thousands of girls face unwanted and unplanned pregnancies every year.

Lack of Comprehensive Sexuality Education

Human Rights Watch found that schools often failed to give scientifically accurate, fundamental sexuality and reproductive health education.

Girls and women interviewed by Human Rights Watch had received varying degrees of sexuality education, but in most cases the information available in schools did not appear to fully support a robust understanding of puberty, menstruation, pregnancies, contraception, or other matters about their bodies. Celeste, 19, said that they barely talked about matters related to the body and reproduction in her general theory of knowledge class. The information was passed on as just another aspect of a discipline, rather than information for life, she said. Virginia, 20, in Nampula city, said they do not feel comfortable talking to their teacher about these topics because he is a man. Benilde, 24, and Isilda, 20, said they did not receive sexuality education because this content is not taught in night-shift schools.

In some cases, students received very little or misleading information. For example, Celeste said:

I remember that one of our teachers would say that a woman prior to getting pregnant should not use contraceptive methods like the pill, injection, [or the] implant because it can harm us and we would not be able to conceive. She advised us like that... that we should use them after becoming mothers. Before this, we should just use a condom.

Barriers to Accessing Safe Abortion

Yet, access to safe abortion services is still not widely available to many girls and women, and implementation in accordance with Mozambique's law is poor, according to the Coalition for the Elimination of Child Marriage in Mozambique. Girls under 18 can access abortion services but require parental consent. Human Rights Watch has found that mandated parental involvement in access to abortion care can be deeply harmful for girls who often fear abuse, deterioration of family relationships, or being kicked out of the home or forced to continue a pregnancy against their wishes. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors government compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, has recommended that governments ensure that children have access to confidential medical counsel and assistance without parental consent, including for reproductive health services.

Although abortions should be free of cost in public health clinics, girls and women face numerous barriers to accessing free reproductive health services, including abortion. Gilda, 21, was pregnant in 2019 when she was in the 9th grade of secondary school, which she did not finish: "I found out I was two months pregnant.... I spoke with my sister-in-law so that she would give me money to get an abortion. When I went to the Unidade Sanitária [health clinic] to get an abortion, two nurses there said they would charge me 2,000 meticais [$57]." Gilda did not have enough money to pay for the procedure. At home, she drank boiled Coca-Cola, an unsafe and unscientific homemade remedy that is popular among girls and women who believe it causes a miscarriage. "I was in a lot of pain, and I was sick," she said.

The government should guarantee that women and girls have free and unfettered access to reproductive health services, including abortions. The government should also ensure that women and girls have timely access to accurate and easily understandable information to enable them to understand the reproductive health services that are available to them, and when and how they can access these services.

Human Rights Watch urges all governments to take immediate measures to ensure that secondary education is available and accessible to all free of charge. Human Rights Watch also calls on governments to ensure that they provide at least one year of universal and free quality pre-primary education. It is recognized that many low-income countries like Mozambique face serious resource constraints that limit their ability to immediately realize important human rights goals such as at least one year of free pre-primary education and free secondary education for all. Human Rights Watch nonetheless believes that the Mozambican government should treat access to both early childhood education and free secondary education as an urgent priority.

All children and adolescents have a right to information about sexual and reproductive health, as guaranteed under international law. The right to information includes a positive responsibility to provide complete and accurate information necessary for the protection and promotion of rights, including the right to health. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has noted that "States should ensure that health systems and services are able to meet the specific sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents, including family planning and safe abortion services." Adolescents should have access to "free, confidential adolescent-responsive and non-discriminatory sexual and reproductive health services, information and education, available both online and in person." Girls should have access to safe abortion and post-abortion services. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has clarified that "[t]he right to health care without discrimination requires State parties to remove impediments to the health services reserved for women, including ideology or belief-based barriers."

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended that states adopt:

This report was written by Elin Martinez, senior researcher in the Children's Rights Division, and Zenaida Machado, senior researcher in the Africa Division, at Human Rights Watch. Research for this report was conducted by Sandra Manuel Soares, an independent consultant based in Maputo, Mozambique, Elin Martinez, and Zenaida Machado.

The report was edited by Juliane Kippenberg, Children's Rights Division associate director. James Ross, legal and policy director, and Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno, acting program director, provided legal and program reviews. Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz, deputy director in the Africa Division; Bede Sheppard, deputy director in the Children's Rights Division; Betty Kabari, researcher in the Women's Rights Division; and Matt McConnell, researcher in the Economic Justice and Rights Division, provided expert reviews. Production assistance was provided by Joya Fadel, Children's Rights Division associate, and Travis Carr, publications officer. The report was translated by Diana Tarré and vetted by André Baptista.

We would like to thank Dr. Francesca Salvi, Assistant Professor in Education, University of Nottingham; experts at national and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations and platforms, including Clotilde Noa, Action Aid Mozambique and Santos Simione, on behalf of the Coligaçao para Eliminação das Uniões Prematuras; Sandra Gusmão Martins and Stephanie von Wogau, UNICEF Mozambique; and representatives from the Ministry of Education and Human Development's directorate for transversal issues.

This report is dedicated to the late Agnes M. Odhiambo, senior researcher in the Women's Rights Division, who spent her career fighting for a better future for women and girls across sub-Saharan Africa and was a tireless advocate for girls' education in Africa.

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"Girls Shouldn't Give Up On Their Studies"

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The 52-page report, "'Girls Shouldn't Give Up On Their Studies': Pregnant Girls' and Adolescent Mothers' Struggle to Stay in School in Mozambique," documents numerous barriers faced by adolescent girls and women who are pregnant or parenting, and the problems they face when trying to stay in school.

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Education under Attack 2022

A global study of attacks on schools, universities, their students and staff, in 2020 and 2021.

Education is under attack around the world. From Afghanistan to Colombia, Mali to Thailand, students and teachers are killed, raped, and abducted, while schools and universities are bombed, burned down, and used for military purposes.

In 2020 and 2021, there were more than 5,000 reported attacks on education and incidents of military use of schools and universities, harming more than 9,000 students and educators in at least 85 countries. On average, six attacks on education or incidents of military use occurred each day.

In the 28 countries profiled in this report, at least 10 attacks on education occurred over the past 2 years.

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A Report by Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack

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The State must do much more to ensure its Constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory education to all children between 06 years and 14 years is carried out effectively. The State should also amend the law to increase the upper age limit under the Indian Right to Education Act of 2009 from 14 years to 18 years of age to ensure students complete at least high school level of education up to class XII.

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Enrolment in Pvt Schools Under RTE Remains Dismal in State | Ranchi News - Times of India

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Enrolment in private schools under the Right to Education Act remains poor in Ranchi, with over 50% of reserved seats for economically weaker section students remaining vacant for the past five years. Efforts to gather data on enrolment have been met with non-responsiveness from schools, leading to the launch of a monitoring portal.

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Download logo Save the Children analysis released during the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa show dramatic rise in violence affecting schools, teachers and learners; The AU has dubbed 2024 the year of Education and Save the Children is calling on leaders to walk the talk and make schools safe for children to learn.

The number of violent incidents affecting education in Africa Union countries rose by 20% in 2023 with 411 reports of violent incidents, according to new analysis by Save the Children released as the 37th African Union summit got underway.

These incidents include drone strikes on schools, the killing of primary teachers, and the use of tear gas to disperse teacher meetings, with the majority of incidents taking place in Nigeria (89) and Sudan (55). Other incidents included the killing of a school guard and dumping of his body, the raid of a primary school to use it as a training ground, and air-raids on schools sheltering displaced families.

For the analysis, Save the Children reviewed individual incidents of political violence affecting education reported by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Database (ACLED) in 2022 and 2023 across African Union member states and saw an alarming rise in attacks year-on-year.

The new analysis is being released during the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, where leaders are meeting to discuss issues of peace and security, regional integration, and development.

With education the "AU theme for 2024", and African leaders committed to building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa, Save the Children is urging leaders to walk the talk and make schools safe places for children.
"Growing up in the deadly armed conflict in Northeast Nigeria, I've borne witness to the catastrophic toll that violent incidents exert on our education systems. These acts of violence not only ravage school buildings but also tear at the very fabric of our society, leaving a trail of shattered dreams and fractured futures in their wake. They instill fear and rob countless children of their fundamental right to learn in a safe and nurturing environment. The scars of these traumatic experiences run deep, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of we, the children. "When crisis befalls us, the next thing that follows is schools shut down, destroyed, vandalized, and looted. Thousands of children, teachers, and other school personnel are killed, abducted, and maimed, and those that are left have a crippled definition of the future.
Save the Children is also calling on countries in the AU who have not endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration to do so, and for those countries to fully implement the commitments in the Declaration, including developing a costed implementation plan.
"Across Africa, children are being killed on the way to school, they are being terrorized at school, and their schools are being bombed. Even when a child is able to get to school, he or she is often in real danger. Many children attend in spite of the risks, but no child should have to face that choice. But how can they possibly be expected to learn? "The consequences of attacks and violence in schools are immense - children are injured from direct attack, education is disrupted, parents fear for their children to go to school, and communities struggle. "While the African Union (AU) has made significant efforts to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from attacks and promote safe education, things have started to go backwards. We have seen a major deterioration in school safety across Africa last year. The year 2024 needs to be the year of change for children." Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Save the Children. This Press Release has been issued by APO. The content is not monitored by the editorial team of African Business and not of the content has been checked or validated by our editorial teams, proof readers or fact checkers. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict. So far, while globally 119 states have endorsed the declaration, currently only 37 out of the 55 members of the AU have made a similar commitment.

Ibrahim Zanna Sunoma, the Deputy Speaker at the National Children's Parliament in Nigeria, who is attending the Summit, called on all AU member states to use the summit to come up with concrete steps to implement the 2024 year of education. He said:

Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, Save the Children's Interim Director of the Pan Africa Office and AU Representative, said:

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Education in Africa: Violent attacks against Schools rose 20% in 2023

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Download logoSave the Children analysis released during the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African

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Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Education Under Attack 2018 - Kenya, 11 May 2018, https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/gcpea/2018/en/122337 [accessed 16 March 2024]

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Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Education Under Attack 2018 - Kenya, 11 May 2018, https://www.refworld.org/reference/annualreport/gcpea/2018/en/122337 [accessed 16 March 2024]

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Attacks on education by al-Shabaab killed more than 150 people in Kenya. Most of the victims were students at Garissa University, where the armed group perpetrated one of the most globally high-profile attacks on higher education during the 2013-2017 reporting period. Police and private security guards reportedly used excessive force against school and university student protesters, killing several students and injuring many more.

Kenya experienced growing insecurity after 2011, when the country sent troops to fight the Harakat Shabaab al-Mujahidin, commonly known as al-Shabaab, a Somali armed group that became affiliated with al Qaeda in 2012, in Somalia. In Kenya, al-Shabaab sought to pressure the government to withdraw its armed forces from Somalia

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https://www.right-to-education.org/resource/education-under-attack-2022

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Sanctity of American Education Under Attack, TOO!

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Sanctity of American Education Under Attack, TOO!

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A former Northeastern University Immersive Media Lab manager appeared in federal court in Boston Tuesday, indicted in connection with a staged bomb incident in September 2022. Court filings indicate that Jason Duhaime, 45, of San Antonio, Texas, wants to take the case to trial. His attorneys dropped him as a client on Tuesday, saying he hasn't paid for their services.Boston police responded to Holmes Hall, at 39 Leon St., shortly before 7:20 p.m. on Sept. 13. A Northeastern University employee, later identified as Duhaime, reported that a Pelican-style case exploded when he opened it. The incident prompted evacuations and fear across the campus and city.Authorities say that the explosion never happened and that he wrote the note.The former manager of Northeastern's immersive media lab was indicted for lying about an explosive device and making false statements to federal agents.Duhaime formally resides in Texas but slept in his office or the Northeastern Lab while in Massachusetts, according to an FBI affidavit.The university said in a written statement back in 2022 that Duhaime was no longer employed by the university.There was no immediate word on who will represent him next.He was scheduled to return to court in February.

A former Northeastern University Immersive Media Lab manager appeared in federal court in Boston Tuesday, indicted in connection with a staged bomb incident in September 2022.

Court filings indicate that Jason Duhaime, 45, of San Antonio, Texas, wants to take the case to trial.

His attorneys dropped him as a client on Tuesday, saying he hasn't paid for their services.

Boston police responded to Holmes Hall, at 39 Leon St., shortly before 7:20 p.m. on Sept. 13.

A Northeastern University employee, later identified as Duhaime, reported that a Pelican-style case exploded when he opened it. The incident prompted evacuations and fear across the campus and city.

Authorities say that the explosion never happened and that he wrote the note.

The former manager of Northeastern's immersive media lab was indicted for lying about an explosive device and making false statements to federal agents.

Duhaime formally resides in Texas but slept in his office or the Northeastern Lab while in Massachusetts, according to an FBI affidavit.

The university said in a written statement back in 2022 that Duhaime was no longer employed by the university.

There was no immediate word on who will represent him next.

He was scheduled to return to court in February.

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Former manager, suspect in Mass. campus bomb hoax, faces federal judge

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The former manager of Northeastern's media lab, was indicted for lying about an explosive devise and making false statements to federal agents.

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Learning to overcome their fear

Because schools had become such a target, children began to associate them with danger. When a school for displaced children opened last October in Barsalogho, a place where thousands of families had fled for safety, many had mixed feelings about it. Anxieties ran high during the first days of class.

The headmaster of the school, Hamado Ouedraogo, recalls children running out of the door in fear at the mere sound of motorbikes whizzing by. Armed biker squads descending on communities and terrorising locals had become so common in conflict-stricken parts of the country, that the authorities in some areas banned the use of motorbikes in an attempt to curb the violence.

Whether they had found refuge in Barsalogho months earlier or just a few weeks prior like Saïbata, most of the displaced children were clearly still struggling with memories of sudden attacks and hurried escape - even if they had been in Barsalogho for several months. Many feared it could happen again here, and that school would become once more a hot spot to avoid. Some 675 children were enrolled at the school, but dozens failed to show up at first.

"We didn't know what to do," Ouedraogo recalls. "We have the calling to teach, but how do you do that when children are so stressed out and traumatised?"

Teachers knew they first had to learn how to make the kids feel safe. That's where NRC's flagship education programme, the Better Learning Programme (BLP), came into play.

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Burkina Faso: The children who fear school

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Because schools had become such a target, children began to associate them with danger. When a school for displaced children opened last October in Barsalogho, a place where thousands of families had fled for safety, many had mixed feelings about it. Anxieties ran high during the first days of class.

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Myanmar Military Air force attacked school and killed the school's children in the conflict effected area

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Myanmar Military Air force attacked school and killed the school's children in the conflict effected area

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This report was authored by a partner organization, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, and is distributed by Human Rights Watch.
(New York) - More than 3,000 attacks on education were identified in 2022, a 17 percent increase over the previous year, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) reported in a data release today. The data were released ahead of the fourth United Nations International Day to Protect Education from Attack, on September 9, 2023. Almost one-third of all attacks took place in just three countries: Ukraine, Myanmar, and Burkina Faso, with the war in Ukraine accounting for the majority.

According to GCPEA, more than 6,700 students and educators were reportedly killed, injured, abducted, arrested, or otherwise harmed by attacks on education in 2022, an increase of 20 percent from 2021. Armed forces and non-state armed groups using schools for military purposes also rose in 2022, with over 510 cases reported, compared with around 450 the previous year. Explosive weapons, both targeted and indiscriminate, were frequently used in attacks on education, causing widespread damage. Unexploded ordnance will continue to pose a deadly risk for years to come.

"The International Day to Protect Education from Attack serves as a stark reminder that schools are not always the safe refuges they should be, but instead are often the sites of extreme violence and terror," said Diya Nijhowne, GCPEA executive director. "The distressing increase in attacks last year underscores the urgent need for both armed forces and non-state armed groups to safeguard education, including by avoiding using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas, such as near schools or universities, and refraining from using schools for military purposes."

The coalition also released a new 39-page report, Non-State Armed Groups and Attacks on Education: Exploring Trends and Practices to Curb Violations, which found that, in 2020 and 2021, more than half of all attacks on education, and a quarter of reported military use of schools and universities, were by non-state armed groups. The report highlights the various motivations these groups have for attacking schools and educators, and provides recommendations and strategies for reducing these attacks. In 2022 and 2023, non-state armed groups continued to perpetrate a significant proportion of all attacks. In just one example, Al-Shabaab, an insurgent group in Somalia, claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in October 2022 against the Ministry of Education that killed at least 121 civilians and wounded hundreds more.

The Safe Schools Declaration, a political commitment to protect students, educators, schools, and universities during armed conflict, endorsed by 118 countries, plays an essential role in preventing, and mitigating the impact of attacks on education. By endorsing the Declaration, governments also commit to using the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.

The use of schools as bases, firing positions, detention centers, training grounds, and for other military purposes, can convert the schools into military targets, putting the lives of those within them at risk, and deterring students and teachers from attending out of fear or because the schools are closed to education. Those who do attend are vulnerable to sexual violence and recruitment by soldiers. School infrastructure and learning materials are also damaged, affecting the quality of education, and sometimes making learning impossible.

Since 2015, when the Safe Schools Declaration was launched, over a dozen governments have made changes to their national policies, practices, or military manuals, to limit the use of schools for military purposes. Non-state armed groups have also taken measures to safeguard education. In October 2022, several groups operating in Burkina Faso signed unilateral declarations committing to protect educational institutions. In Yemen, the Houthis - who control the capital and other parts of the country - signed an action plan in 2022 to end attacks on schools along with other grave violations against children.

"Despite the chilling statistics on attacks on education and the staggering loss of life and potential that these numbers represent, there is still much hope," Nijhowne said. "The Safe Schools Declaration and its guidelines on military use of schools provide a roadmap for preserving the lives and futures of students and teachers, and the communities they build. On this International Day to Protect Education from Attack, all countries should endorse the Declaration and put its commitments into action."

Notes to editors:
The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) is a coalition of UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations working in the fields of education in emergencies, protection, and higher education. GCPEA is grateful for the support it receives from the Education Above All Foundation (EAA), Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an anonymous donor.

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Alarming Increase in Attacks on Education Worldwide

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More than 3,000 attacks on education were identified in 2022, a 17 percent increase over the previous year, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) reported in a data release today. Almost one-third of all attacks took place in just three countries: Ukraine, Myanmar, and Burkina Faso, with the war in Ukraine accounting for the majority.

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The impact of the conflict in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) in the rights of children, including the right to education

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The impact of the conflict in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) in the rights of children, including the right to education

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CABO DELGADO: More than 61,000 children displaced as fresh attacks lead to largest displacement in 18 months | Save the Children International

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More than 61000 children have fled a new wave of violence in Cabo Delgado provinces in Mozambique in the past two months

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Over the past four years, the number of school closures due to insecurity has almost doubled, reaching more than 13,200 closed schools in eight countries of the region. The education of 2.5 million children is directly endangered, warns the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Governments, armed forces, other parties to conflict, and the international community should take concerted action to stop attacks and threats against schools, students and teachers, and to strengthen sustainable support for quality learning for every child in the region.

In Central and West Africa, only 3.9 per cent of funding appeals for education had been met by the beginning of September. By way of comparison, 30.5% of calls for funds were met for the entire humanitarian sector in the region in September. Despite the explosion in needs, education is all too often neglected.

"Education is a lifeline for children. But for millions of children in Central and West Africa insecurity means they will be stuck outside the classroom this coming school year, unable to learn. Many will be forced to work, to join armed groups, or to get married, shattering their futures," said Hassane Hamadou, NRC's regional director in Central and West Africa. "The right to education is a fundamental right, regardless of the political and security situation of the country in which it is exercised. The signatory states of the Safe School Declaration must do their utmost to ensure its implementation and guarantee children a better future."

The situation in the Central Sahel is particularly acute. The number of schools closed increased nearly sixfold between 2019 and 2023, from 1,700 to almost 9,000. Burkina Faso alone accounts for half of the school closures recorded in Central and West Africa, with more than 6,100 schools closed as of July 2023.

In some cases, schools are the target of direct attacks by non-state armed groups. 147 incidents were reported between January and August 2023 across the region. In other cases, schools are deserted or abandoned following forced population displacements. Faced with conflict, families and teachers flee. Schooling is abruptly interrupted, not only for displaced children, but also for children from host communities whose schools are still standing and are overcrowded.

"In a region where the protection of civilians and their access to basic services is increasingly threatened by insecurity and conflict, we have a collective duty to act to ensure that schools remain safe spaces for all forcibly displaced children and youth and those from host communities", said Xavier Creach, Deputy Director of UNHCR Regional Bureau for West and Central Africa.

Esther, 13, lost her father when an armed group attacked her village, Otomabere, in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo. She fled with her mother and siblings, leaving behind her daily life as a little girl. "Many things have changed in my life. I haven't heard from my friends. I don't even know if they're still alive. And if they are, I don't think they can read or write any more, because the schools haven't reopened for two years in Otomabere," said Esther, who now goes to school in Oicha in North Kivu province. "I would like to learn a trade like tailoring because my father is no longer there to support me," she added.

"Protecting schools from threats and violence is a critical step to breaking the cycle of crisis and reducing the likelihood of future conflicts," said Felicité Tchibindat, UNICEF's Regional Director for West and Central Africa. "Schools should be safe places for children."

In the region, the closure of schools is disrupting the education of 2.5 million pupils, including one million in Burkina Faso. For these children and adolescents, the consequences are immense. "The oldest children are exposed to risks and abuse, such as unwanted pregnancies and child exploitation", said Etiendem Bridget, 54, a displaced teacher in Buéa, Cameroon.

In a context of protracted conflict and crisis, the future of whole generations of children is being jeopardised and will continue to be so unless urgent action is taken by governments and other key actors across the region.
Notes to Editor:

The new report by the Regional Education in Emergencies Working Group "Education Under Attack in West and Central Africa - 2023 Update" is available in English.

A total of 13,263 schools closed has been recorded as of July 2023, based on latest available data on schools closed (Sources: UNHCR, ACLED, Insecurity Insight, GCPEA, Education Clusters).

In the Central Sahel, 8,858 schools were closed as of July 2023. Burkina Faso alone accounts for more than two thirds of the school closures recorded, with more than 6,149 schools closed as of July 2023 (Sources: UNHCR, ACLED, Insecurity Insight, GCPEA, Education Clusters).

147 incidents against education were reported between January and August 2023 in the region (Sources: ACLED).

The Safe Schools Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict.

2.5 million children are affected by school closures in the region as of August 2023 (Source: Education cluster).

In Central and West Africa, only 3.9 per cent of funding appeals for education had been met by the beginning of September (UNOCHA).

Video

Out of eight schools, only two are operational in the blockaded town of Pama in the East region of Burkina Faso. Six teachers and a few volunteers are currently serving over 1,000 children in Pama. A video is available in raw, English and French versions (Sources: NRC).

** For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:**

NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62329

Alpha Seydi Ba, Senior Communication Officer, UNHCR Regional Bureau for West & Central Africa: baalp@unhcr.org, +221 77 345 74 54

Charlotte Berquin, Education Officer, UNHCR Regional Bureau for West & Central Africa: berquin@unhcr.org, +221 77 529 31 04

John James, Communication Specialist (Emergency & Public Advocacy), UNICEF WCA regional office: jjames@unicef.org, +221 78 638 0252

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Education Under Attack in West and Central Africa - 2023 Update - Burkina Faso

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Analysis in English on Burkina Faso and 19 other countries about Education and Protection and Human Rights; published on 13 Sep 2023 by ECW, Education Cluster and 5count other organizations

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Syria's education system can still not provide quality education since the war started in 2011

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Syria's education system can still not provide quality education since the war started in 2011

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السفير العربي

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A destroyed school in Syria

This publication has benefited from the support of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. This text may be reproduced in part or in full, provided the source is acknowledged.

"Despite our best efforts to secure new school books for our children, we have not been successful in finding any at schools or book depots. The books available in private libraries cost at least five times as much, and we have no solution other than relying on old, worn-out books that the public schools have distributed to us, while hoping to come across more suitable alternatives".

This is a problem recounted by a significant percentage of the parents of students of the first and second educational levels (students under the age of 18) in the areas under the control of the Syrian government. This situation persists two months after the beginning of the new school year, whereas the needed books should have been distributed at nominal prices or free of charge for the primary level (students under 12 years old). Meanwhile, the areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Al-Jazeera areas) deliver new books to teachers and students at reasonable prices, but offer a completely different curriculum. As for the areas that fall under the control of the opposition groups in northern and western Syria (Idlib and western Aleppo), a third curriculum is taught in books that people have to pay for themselves.

Things are no different in post-high-school education levels. The country is divided into educational regions much in the same way. In all three Syrian geographies, new trends in private education are emerging, but they are suspected of corruption and marked by the general deterioration of the quality of education.

This is a general portrayal of the Syrian educational scene at the moment and its organic connection to the forces who wield control on the ground. It indicates an ambiguous and divided future for the generations that will graduate from these schools, at a time when the country's population has reached nearly 30 million, most of whom lie below the international poverty line (IPL), not to mention that half of those are young people seeking an education that qualifies them for the job market.

Education after a decade of war

According to local and international statistics, the attendance rate of students at the primary level in Syria reached 98% before the onset of the current conflict, while literacy rates for both genders were around 90%. Today, according to international statistics, there are 2.4 million children out of school, a million of whom live in opposition-held areas. A much larger number of students are at risk of dropping out due to various factors, especially students in the areas of the ongoing clashes and the areas that were struck by the February 2022 earthquake in four governorates, namely Latakia, Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama.

The coordination and standardization of teaching and learning materials in Syria is one of the main challenges nationwide. The prevailing political division has led to the adoption of three distinct curricula in Syria, each aligning either partially or entirely with the authorities in control of the respective regions.

There are both public and private education sectors in Syria. Public education comprises two types: formal and informal. Formal education is divided into two stages, the first is compulsory and includes children aged 6 to 16, known as the primary stage (grades 1 to 9). The second is the secondary stage for students aged 16 to 18 (grades 10 to 12, including the baccalaureate in its four branches: scientific, literary, commercial, industrial, and artistic). The latter is not part of mandatory education. All students attend public schools, and education for all pre-university classes remains free up to this moment.

As for "informal" education, which is usually referred to as Curriculum (B), it is taught in parallel to the official curriculum approved by the Government's Ministry of Education in cooperation with the UNESCO. It is also free and includes education for school dropouts, those who have many gap years in their academic journey, or those who may not return to school but still need basic knowledge in languages and math. These students are given the entire curriculum of each grade in one semester, so they go through every two grades in one year's time. This unique kind of education is given in government schools or other rented school buildings, and it has garnered positive public interest because it covers the needs of students whose education may have been interrupted due to war or displacement. According to official statistics, the number of beneficiaries of this system has reached approximately 200 thousand students.

The coordination and standardization of teaching and learning materials in Syria is one of the main challenges nationwide. The prevailing political division has led to the adoption of three distinct curricula in Syria, each aligning either partially or entirely with the authorities in control of the respective regions.

In addition to all the above, there is also private education for pre-university levels. Private schools are distributed in various cities and provide disparate quality of education. However, most Syrians cannot afford these high-cost schools, with the exception of the very few educational institutions established by social or religious communities.

Children born in the first year of the war are 12 years old today. They have most likely stopped receiving regular lessons at some point throughout those years in various Syrian regions as a result of the violent clashes, their aftermath, the Covid-19 pandemic, or the 2022 earthquake. Their loss of education puts them on the long list of Syrian generations whose lives have been struck by war, the prolonged crisis, and the apparent lack of a comprehensive solution on the horizon.

Initially, there was a noticeable surplus in the number of public schools in Syria, accommodating new students at rates approaching international standards of 20 students per classroom. In 2010, there were approximately 22,200 public schools, covering all the regions in the country. However, according to statements from the Ministry of Education, this number has significantly dropped to 14,505 schools in 2023, despite the growing student population, which now stands at around 4 million students across Syria. This represents a great loss of 7 thousand schools. The former Minister of Education estimated that approximately 10 thousand schools have been damaged in the war, of which 5 thousand are completely destroyed.

The decline in the number of schools can be attributed to various factors, including attacks on schools that were a common event during the years of conflict. Additionally, the conditions of displacement led to hundreds of schools being repurposed as shelter centers over the past years. Other educational facilities were transformed into military barracks and headquarters for managing military operations, particularly in areas near military clashes, while the displacement of both students and teachers continued.

These conditions were further compounded by a severe shortage in the number of teachers. Despite an initial surplus, the number of teachers experienced a significant decline, reaching approximately 300 thousand teachers by the year 2022. This decline, particularly visible in the eastern regions of Syria and Idlib, resulted in the loss of at least 100 thousand teachers. The reasons behind this decline are largely linked to the security reality in the country, where many teachers were often summoned for military service. Meanwhile, dire economic circumstances have prompted numerous educators to abandon the field in pursuit of alternative professions that could better support them and their families, as their salaries were slashed while the inflation eroded most of their savings. Additionally, a number of teachers chose to leave the country in search of a safer and more stable life abroad.

According to international statistics, there are 2.4 million children out of school, a million of whom live in opposition-held areas. A much larger number of students are at risk of dropping out, especially students in the areas of the ongoing clashes and the areas that were struck by the February 2022 earthquake in four governorates, namely Latakia, Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama.

Initially, there was a noticeable surplus in the number of public schools in Syria. In 2010, there were approximately 22,200 public schools nationwide. However, this number has significantly dropped to 14,505 schools in 2023. It is estimated that approximately 10 thousand schools have been damaged in the war, of which 5 thousand are completely destroyed.

Consequently, Syria has been excluded from the majority of global education quality indices, including Davos' World Economic Forum's Index for the Global Index of Educational Quality in 2022. In response to Syria's omission, the Ministry of Education asserted that the World Economic Forum, which formulates its classification based on 12 standards for participating countries, has not invited Syria to participate, citing "political reasons". The ministry's statement emphasized that the standards utilized by the Forum are unrelated to academic accreditation.

The case of refugee students

A decade into the conflict, the number of children who left the country or were born outside the country amounted to approximately 1.25 million school-age children. Alarmingly, half of them have abandoned basic education or find themselves entirely excluded from academic life. The educational future of this demographic remains uncertain in every possible scenario, depending on the complex issues faced by refugees and their potential return to the homeland-a prospect that currently appears remote. Effectively addressing this dilemma demands a collaborative effort between host countries and the donors.

While some Syrian children reside in various refugee camps abroad, the majority live inside local communities. This amplifies their challenges, exacerbating economic and social pressures on both the children and their families, triggering tensions between the refugee population and the host communities. These difficulties add to a range of political constraints prevalent across host countries, impacting crucial elements of education such as curricula, certification, and the availability of teachers. This leads to severely hindering Syrian children's access to serious education of acceptable quality, which often steers them towards the job market and its many problems.

The woes of privatization

The war was not the only cause of the collapse of the public education system in Syria, as it was preceded, since the beginning of the century, by strategic government trends which opted for less engagement in the State's duties towards the education sector, and towards others sectors as well, in what could be dubbed a formalistic "liberalization of education". This trend was clear in the government's decision to decrease public spending from 12% to 7% of the State's budget between 1970 and 2010. This was done on several levels, including the introduction of the private sector into education more than half a century after the nationalization of the last private schools in the country, most of which were missionary schools. The latters played a role in national enlightenment, bringing together students from all social groups and religious sects.

Despite an initial surplus, the number of teachers experienced a significant decline, reaching approximately 300 thousand teachers by the year 2022. This decline, particularly visible in the eastern regions of Syria and Idlib, resulted in the loss of at least 100 thousand teachers. The reasons are largely linked to the security reality in the country, their summoning to military service, and dire economic circumstances.

The transformations within the university sector were a precursor to changes in the lower educational sectors. Governmental justifications for this step included the need for "a series of educational reforms" and the "introduction of specialization degrees that were not available in public university education to meet the demands of the labor market". These were cited as the primary conditions for opening private university colleges; however, almost all government universities feature a range of specializations which are often comparable to those in public universities. In practice, these private universities evolved into a new investment sector for the emerging affluent classes. Notably, the faculties of private universities consisted of former public teachers who were attracted by better salaries and, as a result, sought employment in these private institutions.

The Qalamoun Private University was founded as the first private university in Syria in 2003, followed to date by 24 private universities, most of which were founded in the beginnings of the 2000s. The universities in Damascus are owned by former Baathist prime ministers and businessmen, while universities outside of the capital are mostly founded by de facto powers, and those have uncontrollably increased in recent years.

Most of these universities were hastily built or were rented from institutions or in buildings that were seized during the war. They do not differ much in their structures, study schedules, and laboratories from public institutions, and some even offer lower educational quality. In terms of building knowledge, teaching sciences, and instilling moral formation, these universities offer less than what is usually offered by public universities because of the weak application of international education quality standards, contrary to the statements of its presidents. They usually grant a significant percentage of their scholarships to students who show academic excellence in order to attract them. Many of these outstanding students stand out in various fields, surpassing students of the bourgeois class, while the success of other students is facilitated through legitimate or convoluted methods. The high rates of success prompt more students to enroll in these universities, where standards are looser, because applying strict standards would push students away to other universities.

Private universities became the new investment sector for the emerging affluent classes. The Qalamoun Private University was founded as the first private university in Syria in 2003, followed to date by 24 private universities. The universities in Damascus are owned by former Baathist prime ministers and businessmen, while universities outside of the capital are mostly founded by de facto powers.

In cities like Latakia, the majority of high school students prefer to attend lessons at private institutes rather than their public schools. School principals are bribed to overlook students' attendance. The phenomenon of private lessons is less prevalent in the countryside, but it is not entirely absent.

In higher education, the number of colleges surged from 63 in 2005 to 124 in 2010, the year of onset of the crisis. This number remained relatively stable thereafter. Throughout the years of the crisis, the student population in higher education experienced a notable spike, with a 27% increase from 532,221 in 2011 to 675,632 in 2016. Intriguingly, this expansion occurred despite a decline in the number of private education students during the same period, dropping from 26,989 to 23,169. Subsequently, in the years leading up to the present, the percentage of private education students has not surpassed 30 thousand. Contributing factors to this increase include the enrollment of open education students and a surge in registrations at various universities driven by the desire to secure any document that can help them evade compulsory military service.

The privatization of education extended to secondary school and lower grades, all the way to kindergarten, all of which widened the gap between the general population of Syrian society and a segment of those who are financially able to prepare their children either to travel outside the country or join a labor market that can only accommodate a very small number of graduates, due to the general circumstances in Syria.

Withdrawal from studying and teaching

These general circumstances have forced a segment of the youth to forego their education. Instead, they decide, with their parents' encouragement, to prematurely enter the job market which offers them none of the necessary safety nets and protective measures. This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the inhabitants of marginalized neighborhoods and slums across Syrian cities and rural areas, with varying extent according to the environments they live in. The phenomenon intensifies especially in the regions where military conflicts still rage.

Free public education has successfully brought millions of women into education, empowering them to gain experiences and skills that have reshaped the dynamics of a patriarchal labor market, challenging traditional gender norms even in the most conservative communities. However, recent developments threaten to reverse these gains. The expanding influence of private education and its high costs have resulted in the increased withdrawal of women from these spaces. The stereotype of "women belong at home" has resurged, undermining not only women's educational progress but also their broader social and economic achievements. Notably, these setbacks are most pronounced in areas controlled by opposition forces, such as Idlib and Aleppo's countryside, where societal and familial structures help in maintaining control and guardianship over women.

A comprehensive study covering western Syria revealed that over half of women surveyed expressed a lack of interest in pursuing basic education. The primary barriers identified were financial constraints, transportation difficulties, and the absence of viable means and roads for commuting. These obstacles were cited by 54% of respondents. Most respondents also agreed that their decision is affected by social norms, family opinions, along with the fact that there are little employment opportunities out there for educated women - all being significant factors hindering the continuation of their education.

Private tutoring sweeps Syria

The decreased quality of public education and high costs of private education have prompted significant portions of society to seek alternative, practical solutions to meet the demand for quality education which provides better chances for the labor market or for emigration requirements. Consequently, private educational institutes and individualized tutoring sessions conducted in homes and cafes have been on the rise. Despite attempts by the Ministry of Education in Damascus to curb this trend-issuing circulars prohibiting private lessons in homes and dispatching patrols to monitor such activities-these efforts have proven ineffective. The phenomenon persists and has even gained traction in areas beyond the ministry's administrative reach.

A comprehensive study covering western Syria revealed that over half of women surveyed expressed a lack of interest in pursuing basic education. The primary barriers identified were financial constraints, transportation difficulties, and the absence of viable means of commuting.

With the Ukraine war and the escalation of armed disputes worldwide, the international focus on Syria has waned. This shift is clear in the reduction of proposed funding from the Countries Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region during their latest conference in Brussels in June 2023. This diminishing support poses a significant hurdle to the implementation of emergency education services crucial for 6.1 million children across Syria.

This trend has added to the strains and losses of the education sector, prompting educators to abandon their regular teaching duties, neglecting the needs of the most vulnerable students in a way that has widened the gap in educational opportunities based on class and economic disparities. In cities like Latakia, for example, the majority of high school students prefer to attend lessons at private institutes rather than their public schools. School principals are bribed to overlook students' attendance at school. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of private lessons is less prevalent in the countryside, but it is not entirely absent.

The financial burden associated with private lessons varies significantly, depending on the expertise and reputation of the instructors. Costs for a high school student under the guidance of a non-specialized tutor can range from 3 to 4 million Syrian pounds for the entire academic year. However, with specialized and well-known tutors, costs escalate to 7 to 8 million Syrian pounds, and in certain areas, may even reach 10 million Syrian pounds (equivalent to $800). This is a huge sum compared to the average monthly salary of most Syrians, which averages around $20 in both public and private sectors.

The phenomenon of private tutoring is not exclusive to students preparing for official exams; it has also become prevalent among primary school students and is exacerbated by the overcrowded conditions in primary schools, where classrooms exceed their intended capacity by multiple times. In many of these classes, four students share a single desk, not to mention the problems that the large number of students in a classroom can cause for the effective management of the classroom.

The general challenges of Syria's educational sector

With the Ukraine war and the escalation of armed disputes in new global hotspots like Yemen and Afghanistan, the international focus on Syria has waned. This shift is clear in the reduction of proposed funding from the Countries Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, during their latest conference in Brussels in June 2023, amid heightened competition for global aid. This diminishing support poses a significant hurdle to the implementation of emergency education services crucial for 6.1 million children across Syria.

The enduring impact of compounded unrests of over a decade of war in Syria on the Syrian educational system has given rise to an all-encompassing, complex network of problems and challenges which need a long period of time and enormous efforts to solve. These efforts involve not only stakeholders within the sector but also politicians, economists, social scientists, and others in next republic - if the country can continue as one instead of accepting and solidifying the current state of independent geographical entities as final.

One of the expected long-term consequences of the devastation of the Syrian educational system is the diminishment of human capital and a subsequent decline in economic productivity. The logical outcome of a reduced level and quality of education is the emergence of generations with distorted relationships with society, the state, and fellow citizens. While the long-term impacts are concerning, the short-term effects are also immediately devastating. The disruption of access to schools is foreseen to result in a sharp increase in child labor and early marriages for girls, not to mention feared surge in harassment, rape, and other issues related to security and protection. This collapse of the education system not only exacerbates existing problems but also presents significant obstacles to the country's efforts to restore its unity, intensifying challenges for future generations, who may find themselves with very few options and choose to leave their country.

The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of Assafir Al-Arabi and Rosa Luxemburg Foundation cannot accept any liability for it.

Translated from Arabic by Sabah Jalloul
Published in Assafir Al-Arabi on 15/12/2023

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The Current State of Education in Syria: A Mediocrity Contest | Kamal Shaheen

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The war was not the only cause of the collapse of the public education system in Syria. It was preceded, since the beginning of the century, by strategic government trends characterized by a deliberate reduction in the state's commitment to the education sector, in what could be described as a formalistic "liberalization of education".

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Ukraine children's right to education impacted during war

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Ukraine children's right to education impacted during war

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Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

Ukrainian children have paid a high price in this war because attacks on education are attacks on their future.

International donors and aid agencies should support the Ukrainian government to ensure the equitable reconstruction of schools in all regions of Ukraine.

(Kyiv, November 9, 2023) - Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to Ukrainian government figures, severely interrupting access to education for millions of children.

The 71-page report, "Tanks on the Playground," documents the damage and destruction of schools and kindergartens in four Ukrainian regions during the first months of the fighting. Most of the damage to educational facilities resulted from aerial attacks, artillery shelling, rocket strikes, and, in some cases, attacks using cluster munitions - causing significant damage to roofs, the collapse of walls, and major debris in classrooms. Russian forces frequently looted and pillaged schools they occupied, a war crime.

"Ukrainian children have paid a high price in this war because attacks on education are attacks on their future," said Hugh Williamson, director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. "The international community should condemn the damage and destruction of schools in Ukraine and looting by Russian forces."

Human Rights Watch visited 50 education facilities in the Kyivska, Kharkivska, Chernihivska, and Mykolaivska regions and interviewed almost 90 school officials, representatives of local authorities, and witnesses to military operations.

Education in Ukraine has been under attack since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 led to further attacks on and military use of schools, which, along with the overall effects of war, have severely disrupted Ukrainian children's education, already suffering from school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many students from schools that were damaged or destroyed had to continue their studies in other schools, studying in shifts or remotely, which has eroded the quality of education, Human Rights Watch said. Russian forces' attacks on power infrastructure and consequent electricity and internet outages have frequently impeded remote learning.

The Ukrainian government has taken several key steps to protect education from attack. In 2019, Ukraine endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment that aims to protect education from the worst effects of armed conflict. In August 2021, Ukraine adopted an action plan to carry out to the declaration's requirements. As of January 2022, one thousand Ukrainian military officials had been trained in the Safe Schools Declaration and the Declaration's "Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict."

In July 2022, Ukrainian authorities also issued a high-level military order aiming to "non-use ... premises of educational facilities for the temporary accommodation of military headquarters and units," according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

The damage and destruction of schools that Human Rights Watch documented typically occurred when Russian forces captured cities and towns and occupied schools during the early weeks of the fighting in 2022. In several cases, Russian forces fired on the schools they had used as they withdrew from areas they had occupied, further damaging them.

When occupying schools, Russian forces pillaged them, looting desktop and laptop computers, televisions, interactive whiteboards, other school equipment, and heating systems. What was not stolen was often broken. Upon withdrawal, Russian forces left behind burned-out and ransacked classrooms. They also painted graffiti on walls, typically expressing hate toward Ukrainians.

For example, Russian soldiers occupied Borodianska school in the Kyivska region and used it for military operations against Ukrainian forces. The school was badly damaged by Ukrainian return fire. Russian soldiers left anti-Ukrainian graffiti and a flag with a Nazi swastika on classroom walls.

"It was impossible to hold back tears," the school's director said. "In the cafeteria, they [Russian forces] set up a bath [in the sink]. In another room there was blood on the walls. ... They broke all the computers... and filled everything with dirt. ... They simply stole the laptops."

Using schools as living quarters for troops, storing ammunition, or parking or deploying military vehicles on school grounds makes attacks on schools more likely. Military forces are obligated under the laws of war to do everything feasible to protect schools and other civilian objects under their control from the effects of attack.

Previous Human Rights Watch reporting documented how Russian forces attacked schools and kindergartens, including schools for children with disabilities; tortured, raped, and otherwise ill-treated prisoners-of-war and detained civilians in schools; and used schools to detain civilians.

Russia has not endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. The United Nations and others should press the Russian government to immediately cease deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including schools, and urge Russia to avoid using Ukrainian educational facilities for military purposes. Russia should carry out the declaration's provisions and include its principles in training military personnel.

In a few cases Human Rights Watch documented, Ukrainian forces placed soldiers in schools, set up checkpoints near school buildings, or deployed small numbers of Territorial Defense Forces' members to provide security for civilians sheltering in schools, actions that can increase the risk of attacks.

The Education Ministry reported that over 95 percent of eligible students were enrolled in schools as of January, a significant achievement during wartime, Human Rights Watch said. Despite these efforts, interrupted learning due to the war, and global evidence from the coronavirus pandemic that switching from in-person to remote education often causes learning losses and inequality, indicate the massive effort needed to help Ukrainian children recover their education.

A woman living in Izium, in the Kharkivska region, told Human Rights Watch that she struggled with remote learning for her 14-year-old son. "There is no internet, so no video lessons," she said. "You can't just [convey tasks to teachers] by phone, you need a laptop. He can't set up the virtual classroom on his phone."

Being able to return children to classrooms adds urgency for Ukraine, with the support of international partners, to restore and reconstruct damaged educational facilities in line with safety and accessibility standards, Human Rights Watch said.

International donors and humanitarian agencies should support the Ukrainian government to ensure the equitable reconstruction of schools in all regions of Ukraine and require strict adherence to accessibility standards mandatory under Ukrainian law.

"Most countries around the world, including European Union and NATO members, have pledged to protect education from attack, and they should help Ukraine achieve that goal," Williamson said. "Ukraine's children have the same right to education as children everywhere, and despite the war this crucial right should be protected."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ukraine: War's Toll on Schools, Children's Future

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Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to Ukrainian government figures, severely interrupting access to education for millions of children.

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Girl-Child Education in Post-War Sierra Leone

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Girl-Child Education in Post-War Sierra Leone

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Girl-Child Education in Post-War Sierra Leone

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https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5590361.pdf

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"I was a child during the Iraq war. Now I’m a doctor urging the world to protect education during emergencies"

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I was a child during the Iraq war. Now I’m a doctor urging the world to protect education during emergencies

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Education denied to millions of children worldwide due to war, disaster, and displacement. Help protect their right to learn with Education Cannot Wait.

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Kaj Educational Center Suicide Blast, Afghanistan

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Kaj Educational Center Suicide Blast, Afghanistan

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Saturday, October 1, 2022

On September 30, 2022 an explosion, reportedly caused by a deliberate attack, inside Kaj Educational Center in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul has killed 25 people and injured 56 people, the victims are mostly young women studying for their university entrance exam.

Statement by Asuntha Charles, World Vision Afghanistan National Director:

“It is with deep sorrow that we learned once again, that innocent young lives have fallen victim to a cruel and senseless attack. This inhumane act has taken the lives of people and has engulfed many families in utter sorrow and devastation. When someone goes to a facility to learn, they hope to learn, grow and have a future, where they can play a role in making a brighter tomorrow for themselves, their families and their communities.

"The next generation of Afghanistan is at breaking point. Their safety and protection must be prioritised by all duty bearers. World Vision condemns the reported deliberate targeting of an educational facility. World Vision calls for a peaceful solution to protect civilian life in Afghanistan. We send our thoughts to the families of the deceased at this utterly tragic time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

Ukrainian children have paid a high price in this war because attacks on education are attacks on their future.

International donors and aid agencies should support the Ukrainian government to ensure the equitable reconstruction of schools in all regions of Ukraine.

(Kyiv, November 9, 2023) - Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to Ukrainian government figures, severely interrupting access to education for millions of children.

The 71-page report, "Tanks on the Playground," documents the damage and destruction of schools and kindergartens in four Ukrainian regions during the first months of the fighting. Most of the damage to educational facilities resulted from aerial attacks, artillery shelling, rocket strikes, and, in some cases, attacks using cluster munitions - causing significant damage to roofs, the collapse of walls, and major debris in classrooms. Russian forces frequently looted and pillaged schools they occupied, a war crime.

"Ukrainian children have paid a high price in this war because attacks on education are attacks on their future," said Hugh Williamson, director of the Europe and Central Asia division at Human Rights Watch. "The international community should condemn the damage and destruction of schools in Ukraine and looting by Russian forces."

Human Rights Watch visited 50 education facilities in the Kyivska, Kharkivska, Chernihivska, and Mykolaivska regions and interviewed almost 90 school officials, representatives of local authorities, and witnesses to military operations.

Education in Ukraine has been under attack since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 led to further attacks on and military use of schools, which, along with the overall effects of war, have severely disrupted Ukrainian children's education, already suffering from school closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many students from schools that were damaged or destroyed had to continue their studies in other schools, studying in shifts or remotely, which has eroded the quality of education, Human Rights Watch said. Russian forces' attacks on power infrastructure and consequent electricity and internet outages have frequently impeded remote learning.

The Ukrainian government has taken several key steps to protect education from attack. In 2019, Ukraine endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment that aims to protect education from the worst effects of armed conflict. In August 2021, Ukraine adopted an action plan to carry out to the declaration's requirements. As of January 2022, one thousand Ukrainian military officials had been trained in the Safe Schools Declaration and the Declaration's "Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict."

In July 2022, Ukrainian authorities also issued a high-level military order aiming to "non-use ... premises of educational facilities for the temporary accommodation of military headquarters and units," according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.

The damage and destruction of schools that Human Rights Watch documented typically occurred when Russian forces captured cities and towns and occupied schools during the early weeks of the fighting in 2022. In several cases, Russian forces fired on the schools they had used as they withdrew from areas they had occupied, further damaging them.

When occupying schools, Russian forces pillaged them, looting desktop and laptop computers, televisions, interactive whiteboards, other school equipment, and heating systems. What was not stolen was often broken. Upon withdrawal, Russian forces left behind burned-out and ransacked classrooms. They also painted graffiti on walls, typically expressing hate toward Ukrainians.

For example, Russian soldiers occupied Borodianska school in the Kyivska region and used it for military operations against Ukrainian forces. The school was badly damaged by Ukrainian return fire. Russian soldiers left anti-Ukrainian graffiti and a flag with a Nazi swastika on classroom walls.

"It was impossible to hold back tears," the school's director said. "In the cafeteria, they [Russian forces] set up a bath [in the sink]. In another room there was blood on the walls. ... They broke all the computers... and filled everything with dirt. ... They simply stole the laptops."

Using schools as living quarters for troops, storing ammunition, or parking or deploying military vehicles on school grounds makes attacks on schools more likely. Military forces are obligated under the laws of war to do everything feasible to protect schools and other civilian objects under their control from the effects of attack.

Previous Human Rights Watch reporting documented how Russian forces attacked schools and kindergartens, including schools for children with disabilities; tortured, raped, and otherwise ill-treated prisoners-of-war and detained civilians in schools; and used schools to detain civilians.

Russia has not endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. The United Nations and others should press the Russian government to immediately cease deliberate, indiscriminate, and disproportionate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, including schools, and urge Russia to avoid using Ukrainian educational facilities for military purposes. Russia should carry out the declaration's provisions and include its principles in training military personnel.

In a few cases Human Rights Watch documented, Ukrainian forces placed soldiers in schools, set up checkpoints near school buildings, or deployed small numbers of Territorial Defense Forces' members to provide security for civilians sheltering in schools, actions that can increase the risk of attacks.

The Education Ministry reported that over 95 percent of eligible students were enrolled in schools as of January, a significant achievement during wartime, Human Rights Watch said. Despite these efforts, interrupted learning due to the war, and global evidence from the coronavirus pandemic that switching from in-person to remote education often causes learning losses and inequality, indicate the massive effort needed to help Ukrainian children recover their education.

A woman living in Izium, in the Kharkivska region, told Human Rights Watch that she struggled with remote learning for her 14-year-old son. "There is no internet, so no video lessons," she said. "You can't just [convey tasks to teachers] by phone, you need a laptop. He can't set up the virtual classroom on his phone."

Being able to return children to classrooms adds urgency for Ukraine, with the support of international partners, to restore and reconstruct damaged educational facilities in line with safety and accessibility standards, Human Rights Watch said.

International donors and humanitarian agencies should support the Ukrainian government to ensure the equitable reconstruction of schools in all regions of Ukraine and require strict adherence to accessibility standards mandatory under Ukrainian law.

"Most countries around the world, including European Union and NATO members, have pledged to protect education from attack, and they should help Ukraine achieve that goal," Williamson said. "Ukraine's children have the same right to education as children everywhere, and despite the war this crucial right should be protected."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ukraine: War's Toll on Schools, Children's Future

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has devastated schools and kindergartens throughout the country, Human Rights Watch said in a report and video released today. Since February 2022, over 3,790 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed, according to Ukrainian government figures, severely interrupting access to education for millions of children.

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https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/03/iran-deliberate-poisoning-schoolgirls-further-evidence-continuous-violence

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Uganda: 25 killed by militants in school attack

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Soldiers are in pursuit of the attackers who are thought to be linked to the Islamic State group.

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War in Ukraine has another front line: The classroom

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Destroyed buildings and electricity blackouts are hampering Ukrainian schooling - but there's also an ideological war playing out.

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Russia/Ukraine: new history textbook for schools is attempt to ‘indoctrinate’ children

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We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.

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Parents across Haiti scramble to keep their children safe and in school despite the violence

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Parents in Haiti are scrambling to ensure that their children not only stay out of direct harm, but also continue their education amid the ongoing strife caused by violent groups.

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Parents across Haiti scramble to keep their children safe and in school despite the violence

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Parents in Haiti are scrambling to ensure that their children not only stay out of direct harm, but also continue their education amid the ongoing strife caused by violent groups.

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Students, Schools Under Attack Despite Landmark UN Resolution | Human Rights Watch

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Students, Schools Under Attack Despite Landmark UN Resolution | Human Rights Watch

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Students, Schools Under Attack Despite Landmark UN Resolution

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Two years ago, the United Nations Security Council adopted a groundbreaking resolution to safeguard education during wartime. Still, millions of children in conflict zones are under threat of attack and denied an education.

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Amnesty International Report  (2004) IT'S IN OYR HANDS

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Amnesty International Report  (2004) IT'S IN OYR HANDS

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The Longer-term impact of attacks on education on education systems, development and fragility and the implications for policy responses

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The Longer-term impact of attacks on education on education systems, development and fragility and the implications for policy responses

# data[].attributes.body
This is a background paper on armed conflict and education for the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report. It includes a case study report on Thailand, the place I reside in, and it provides both the immediate effects of armed conflict on education as well as the longer-term effects.

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The Right to Education is Under Attack in Gaza - occupied Palestinian territory

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News and Press Release in English on occupied Palestinian territory about Education, Food and Nutrition and more; published on 28 Mar 2024 by Anera

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The threat of Boko Haram has heightened the severity of the issue of female education in Nigeria. While previously Nigeria struggled with regional disparities, they now face the issue of destruction of schools, attacks on and abductions of female students and the flight of qualified teachers, forcing some institutions to be shut down and abandoned. Insecurity in the country meant that many schools were closed from 2013 to 2015 and, even after they were allowed to re-open, many chose not to due to an ongoing concern about insecurity. One state that particularly suffered was Borno where over 600,000 children lost access to education either because schools had been destroyed or because parents were too afraid to send their children to school. The threat on girls and women in education is even worse as Boko Haram don't believe in female education. We see this most commonly in the staggering number of abductions of female students. Notably, 276 girls were abducted from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno.

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An airstrike on a school in Myanmar's south-eastern Karenni state killed four children and injured at least 15 others, according to five witnesses.

The victims, all boys aged 12 to 14, were students at the school in Daw Si Ei village, which served about 200 students and was run by local community members and former government teachers. Two additional children remain in critical condition after being wounded in the head and abdomen.

The mother of one of the victims reported seeing an plane, followed by a fighter jet, fly over the village at 10am on Monday.

"I didn't even dare to go and look outside in the moments after the bomb dropped," said Hay Blute Moo. "My children were so scared that they hid under the bed and cried after they escaped from the airstrike, especially the youngest one. He hugged me and cried for a long time."

Witnesses said students at the school were attempting to run into a bunker when the strike hit. Communities across Myanmar routinely dig bunkers outside to protect themselves from military airstrikes.

The attack reportedly reduced the school facilities to rubble and left the surrounding area stained with blood.

Residents of Daw Si Ei village, Karenni state, Myanmar attend a funeral for four children who were killed in airstrikes. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

A 16-year-old boy, who arrived at the school shortly after the attack, said he saw the bodies of three of the victims, including his 14-year-old brother. The fourth victim, he said, died as people attempted to transport him to the nearest medical facility run by local resistance forces and community members.

Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, Myanmar's military has struggled to subdue opposition to its rule and has relied on airstrikes and scorched earth tactics to push back against opposition.

Although the military has not yet issued a statement on Monday's airstrikes, it has in the past targeted civilian areas and infrastructure including schools, medical facilities and religious buildings.

Junta-affiliated media outlets claimed reports of an airstrike on the village were false.

A funeral for the four children killed on in the airstrike. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

In January, the UN said that as part of the military's strategy, it routinely targets places protected under international humanitarian law, including medical facilities and schools. Disruption to basic communications services, it said, means that civilians often have little or no warning in advance of these attacks.

Karenni state has been the site of heavy fighting between the military and pro-democracy forces. The fighting escalated in November, when local resistance forces launched a new offensive and the military retaliated by scaling up its attacks, including on civilian areas.

Maw Lay, who lost his 12-year-old son in Monday's airstrike, said the attack occurred while students were preparing for their exams. "I'm very sad but I can't do anything during the war ... even if [the military] targets my house," he said.

A 36-year-old teacher, who was at the school at the time of the incident and who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to security concerns, questioned why the military would target the school. "Our school is far away from an active conflict area and no resistance soldiers are staying here," she said. "This is a place where innocent students are studying."

Children mourn the death of a boy killed in Monday's airstrike. Photograph: Myo Satt Hla Thaw

A separate airstrike on a school in Loi Nan Hpa village, located two miles away, injured one teacher, who lost his leg.

In total, more than 80% of Karenni state's population has been internally displaced since the coup, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group, a community organisation that monitors human rights incidents in the state.

The organisation strongly condemned Monday's attacks, saying "the military junta is intentionally destroying civilian infrastructure and places of refuge for the thousands of Karenni people who have been forced to flee their homes ... The further escalation of attacks on schools is indicative of the military's disregard for the lives of ... children."

In total, the UN has documented more than 554 civilians killed in Myanmar since October and more than 1,600 in 2023, an increase of about 300 from the previous year. A further 19,973 people remained in detention on political grounds, according to the UN.

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Myanmar: airstrike on school killed four children, witnesses say

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The victims are reported to be all between the ages of 12 and 14, while many others are injured, with some in critical conditions

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In addition to providing material support to school board protesters, many of these groups also ask parents to submit complaints about "woke" curriculums in their schools and districts and encourage activists to inundate their local school boards with public records requests.

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Who is Behind the Attacks on Educators and Public Schools? | NEA

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The manufactured outrage perpetuated by dark money networks is both a danger to educators and a distraction from helping students and parents.

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Attack on education can undermine future generations' ability to enjoy resilience, stability, prosperity, and peace.

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A global study of attacks on schools, universities, their students and staff, in 2020 and 2021.

Education is under attack around the world. From Afghanistan to Colombia, Mali to Thailand, students and teachers are killed, raped, and abducted, while schools and universities are bombed, burned down, and used for military purposes.

In 2020 and 2021, there were more than 5,000 reported attacks on education and incidents of military use of schools and universities, harming more than 9,000 students and educators in at least 85 countries. On average, six attacks on education or incidents of military use occurred each day.

In the 28 countries profiled in this report, at least 10 attacks on education occurred over the past 2 years.

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A global study of attacks on schools, universities, their students and staff, in 2020 and 2021.Education is under attack around the world. From Afghanistan to Colombia, Mali to Thailand, students and teachers are killed, raped, and abducted, while schools and universities are bombed, burned down, and used for military purposes.

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Following the shootings at the beginning of September 2022, 2 schools were closed in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Although Ecuador is currently experiencing an internal armed conflict, since 2022, we have seen a wave of violence and insecurity that has reached schools. Extortions of students to prevent harm have been demanded. I share this article where the topic is further explored.

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El Ministerio de Educación aún no sabe cuándo retomará las clases presenciales en los dos planteles de Socio Vivienda, cuyos 3.399 estudiantes están en la virtualidad tras las balaceras de inicios de septiembre de 2022. La extorsión es otra problemática.

Aún no hay fecha de regreso a clases presenciales de los 3.399 estudiantes de los dos planteles de Socio Vivienda que mantienen cerradas sus puertas, tras la inseguridad en este sector del noroeste de Guayaquil.

Tras dos días consecutivos de balaceras, el Ministerio de Educación decidió que desde el 2 de septiembre de 2022, los alumnos de las unidades educativas Pedro Vicente Maldonado y Carlos Mora Peñafiel reciban clases virtuales.

Una semana después de la medida, los moradores de este sector están a la expectativa de saber qué pasará cuando la fuerza pública ( policías y militares) se retire.

Jeremy Rubio, subsecretario de Educación de la zona 8 encargado, informó que solo en estas dos instituciones educativas se suspendieron las actividades educativas por la inseguridad en Guayaquil.

No obstante, reveló a PRIMICIAS que en lo que va de 2022, el Ministerio ha recibido ocho reportes de alertas de extorsión a estudiantes o docentes de la ciudad.

Solo una de las ocho tiene denuncia formal en la Fiscalía; las demás fueron verbales. Por tratarse de un tema en investigación, el funcionario prefirió no dar detalles.

Casi a finales de agosto, la alcaldesa Cynthia Viteri aseguró que "hasta los niños en las escuelas están pagando extorsiones". Se refirió a extorsionadores que esperan a los alumnos afuera de unidades educativas para pedirles dinero y poder consumir droga.

"Cuando hay este tipo de noticias, se genera incertidumbre, a veces se cae un bloque y se genera alertas de bombas", sostuvo el subsecretario.

Además, la mayoría de los moradores no denuncia por temor, lo que les impide tener mayor información de la situación real.

Las alertas que recibió el Ministerio de Educación provienen del distrito educativo Monte Sinaí, donde funcionan 134 planteles particulares, fiscales, fiscomisionales y municipales.

Estos centros educativos están distribuidos en los sectores Monte Sinaí, Lomas de la Florida, Fortín, Flor de Bastión, Balerio Estacio, Sergio Toral, Ciudad Nueva, Ciudad de Dios, Hogar de Cristo, Ciudad Victoria, Ciudad Olmedo y Nueva Prosperina.

Precisamente al último sector pertenece Socio Vivienda, distrito al que la Policía Nacional denominó Nueva Prosperina, y donde además se registran más de 150 de las 950 muertes violentas de Guayaquil.

Este distrito pertenece a la parroquia Tarqui, donde 322.386 estudiantes se educan en 582 instituciones educativas, entre públicas y privadas. De allí, la preocupación de los padres de familia de la zona.

Rubio manifestó que por el momento el Ministerio no ha contemplado cerrar otra unidad educativa por inseguridad.

"Estamos preocupados por la coyuntura nacional y tomamos las medidas necesarias para salvaguardar la integridad física de estudiantes, docentes y personal administrativo", señaló.

También recordó que la decisión de suspender las clases presenciales se tomó en consenso, con padres de familia, docentes e institución. Esto, en función de las alertas que emite la Policía Nacional sobre los entornos inseguros.

Charlas y protocolos frente a la inseguridad

A la par de la suspensión de clases presenciales, el Ministerio de Educación trabaja la parte psicológica de las víctimas de la inseguridad.

Brigadas, conformadas por docentes y funcionarios del Departamento de Consejería Estudiantil (DECE), visitan a estudiantes y padres de familia en sus viviendas, para impartir charlas y conocer su estado emocional.

El subsecretario mencionó que esta labor se realiza principalmente en Socio Vivienda, zona intervenida por policías y militares, dentro del contexto del estado de excepción.

"Cada vez que hay alguna alerta, los docentes distritales conversan con comités de padres de familia y evalúan las acciones. Tomemos en cuenta que lo último que se cierra y lo primero que se abre es una institución educativa", reiteró.

La Policía también participa en estas reuniones, para conocer si hay las condiciones de seguridad en los sectores y tomar las acciones del caso.

Con esta experiencia, el Ministerio de Educación trabaja con otras carteras de Estado, como las del Interior, Gobierno y Policía, en un plan nacional que se difundirá en los próximos días.

Es que actualmente, no hay protocolos sobre cómo deben actuar maestros y alumnos ante una balacera u otro hecho violento.

El Ministerio de Educación descartó, por el momento, la reubicación de alguna de estas unidades educativas por tema inseguridad. "Es un aspecto coyuntural, quizás mañana ya no tengamos estas alertas y estos focos", aseguró.

No obstante, dijo, evaluarán todas las instancias posibles y tomarán medidas que den "solución real" al problema, priorizando el derecho a la educación.

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Dos escuelas cerradas y ocho alertas por inseguridad en Guayaquil

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El Ministerio de Educación aún no define cuándo retomarán clases presenciales los 3.399 estudiantes de Socio Vivienda, por la violencia en la zona.

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Ukraine: Children go back to school in underground classrooms • FRANCE 24 English

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For the Taliban girls who study are a threat

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For the Taliban girls who study are a threat

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Bijna vier maanden na de machtsovername van de taliban, kunnen miljoenen Afghaanse meisjes nog steeds niet terug naar school. Rudi Vranckx bezocht een school waar Moeders voor Vrede, een organisatie uit Ieper, vroeger actief was. Honderden jongens leggen er vandaag hun eindexamen af. De meisjes boven de 16 jaar die er vroeger schoolliepen, mogen geen les meer volgen.

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BEKIJK - Rudi Vranckx in Afghanistan: "Voor de taliban zijn studerende meisjes een bedreiging"

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Bijna vier maanden na de machtsovername van de taliban, kunnen miljoenen Afghaanse meisjes nog steeds niet terug naar school. Rudi Vranckx bezocht een school waar Moeders voor Vrede, een organisatie uit Ieper, vroeger actief was. Honderden jongens leggen er vandaag hun eindexamen af.

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Famine Imminent in Gaza. Take Action Now.

Close Alert

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© Courtesy of WeWorld to Action Against Hunger.

Close Photo Credit

Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza & the West Bank)

Population: 5.2 million

People in Need: 2.1 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 820,049

Our Team: 89 employees

Program Start: 2002

With no education, healthcare or food security, children face a grim triple threat

Ongoing conflict in Gaza has left more than 625,000 students and 22,500 teachers without any access to schools since Oct. 7. Families across the Gaza Strip are struck with daily attacks on schools, hospitals, and homes. Over 76% of Gaza's schools are damaged or destroyed.

Education systems in Gaza and the West Bank were already limited far before conflict broke out, but the escalation of violence has ruined critical infrastructure, restricted access, and left more than 10,000 children dead. Action Against Hunger reiterates our call for a permanent and sustained ceasefire to protect children and their right to education during this crisis.

"Our teams in the West Bank have been working for years to ensure children's right to education," says Chiara Saccardi, Action Against Hunger's Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East. "A safe and dignified education is key to preventing displacement and also helps to break cycles of violence and poverty. It is an essential step for the future of these children. To this end, international humanitarian organizations are supporting children's access to schools and education in the West Bank and Gaza."

Gaza

Prior to the escalation of the conflict, education systems in Gaza were stunted due to limited availability of construction materials. As a result, few schools were repaired or built. Gaza's schools were also often closed and reused as emergency shelters in previous conflicts.

Still, previous humanitarian access allowed for some education systems to continue operating. Today, this right does not exist in Gaza. Over 433,000 students and 16,000 teachers have been affected by the conflict.

These unprecedented levels of violence have exposed children of all ages to death, orphanhood, hunger, communicable diseases and extremely traumatic events, while stripping them of any available coping options. According to the Ministry of Education, as of Jan. 23, 4,510 students and 231 teachers had died in Gaza.

West Bank

Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza faced severe limitations on education far before Oct. 7. According to the West Bank Protection Consortium, in 2023, nearly 6,000 children in 117 West Bank communities were left out of primary school and almost 5,000 children had difficulty accessing daily education due to movement restrictions, security checks, and harassment, intimidation, and violence on their way to school.

Since then, violence has escalated: Israeli forces and settlers have killed 362 Palestinians, including 92 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Disturbing acts of violence include a November 2023 incident in Khirbet Zanuta, two of the classrooms in a school that had been supported by our partner organizations were set on fire and then razed and demolished by settlers. A few weeks later, surrounding communities were forcibly displaced and relocated, leaving children unable to go to school.

Forced displacement of civilians is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and is considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Children should be protected and allowed to remain in their homes.

Action Against Hunger's Work in Gaza and the West Bank

Since the conflict began in October 2023, Action Against Hunger has been working in extreme and dangerous conditions to:

Provide one million liters of clean drinking water to more than 51,600 displaced Gazans.

Distribute food baskets to more than 17,440 people, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Give hygiene supplies to benefit 95,900 people in 19 displacement shelters, primarily in Rafah.

Provided shelter items, like plastic sheeting and wood, to nearly 17,000 people in ten shelters.

From October 18 to December 21, our teams reached 340,000 people in Gaza, nearly half of them children. Half of the families we supported were in Rafah, and the rest were in Khan Younis (18%), northern Gaza (18%), and central Gaza (14%).

Action Against Hunger has been providing Palestinians in the West Bank with lifesaving emergency assistance since the conflict began, and since 2015, staff members have supported more than 60 schools, including kindergartens and nurseries.

However, as the violence and blockade continue, not enough lifesaving assistance is reaching people in need. Local market supplies are limited and inflation has soared, leaving many people unable to afford food and daily necessities. Access to aid is uneven as people continue to move. We can no longer reach areas in northern Gaza where people are most hungry, due to fighting and lack of transport.

Action Against Hunger has been working in the West Bank since 2002, helping to improve access to education, water and sanitation services, and livelihood opportunities. Today, vulnerable Palestinian people are being forced from their communities due to an increase in violence. Others are completely blocked off from basic supplies and access to healthcare. Action Against Hunger is committed to responding to the needs of the population and ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches as many people as possible.

Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza & the West Bank)

Population: 5.2 million

People in Need: 2.1 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 820,049

Our Team: 89 employees

Program Start: 2002

With no education, healthcare or food security, children face a grim triple threat

Ongoing conflict in Gaza has left more than 625,000 students and 22,500 teachers without any access to schools since Oct. 7. Families across the Gaza Strip are struck with daily attacks on schools, hospitals, and homes. Over 76% of Gaza's schools are damaged or destroyed.

Education systems in Gaza and the West Bank were already limited far before conflict broke out, but the escalation of violence has ruined critical infrastructure, restricted access, and left more than 10,000 children dead. Action Against Hunger reiterates our call for a permanent and sustained ceasefire to protect children and their right to education during this crisis.

"Our teams in the West Bank have been working for years to ensure children's right to education," says Chiara Saccardi, Action Against Hunger's Regional Operations Manager for the Middle East. "A safe and dignified education is key to preventing displacement and also helps to break cycles of violence and poverty. It is an essential step for the future of these children. To this end, international humanitarian organizations are supporting children's access to schools and education in the West Bank and Gaza."

Gaza

Prior to the escalation of the conflict, education systems in Gaza were stunted due to limited availability of construction materials. As a result, few schools were repaired or built. Gaza's schools were also often closed and reused as emergency shelters in previous conflicts.

Still, previous humanitarian access allowed for some education systems to continue operating. Today, this right does not exist in Gaza. Over 433,000 students and 16,000 teachers have been affected by the conflict.

These unprecedented levels of violence have exposed children of all ages to death, orphanhood, hunger, communicable diseases and extremely traumatic events, while stripping them of any available coping options. According to the Ministry of Education, as of Jan. 23, 4,510 students and 231 teachers had died in Gaza.

West Bank

Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza faced severe limitations on education far before Oct. 7. According to the West Bank Protection Consortium, in 2023, nearly 6,000 children in 117 West Bank communities were left out of primary school and almost 5,000 children had difficulty accessing daily education due to movement restrictions, security checks, and harassment, intimidation, and violence on their way to school.

Since then, violence has escalated: Israeli forces and settlers have killed 362 Palestinians, including 92 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Disturbing acts of violence include a November 2023 incident in Khirbet Zanuta, two of the classrooms in a school that had been supported by our partner organizations were set on fire and then razed and demolished by settlers. A few weeks later, surrounding communities were forcibly displaced and relocated, leaving children unable to go to school.

Forced displacement of civilians is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and is considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Children should be protected and allowed to remain in their homes.

Action Against Hunger's Work in Gaza and the West Bank

Since the conflict began in October 2023, Action Against Hunger has been working in extreme and dangerous conditions to:

Provide one million liters of clean drinking water to more than 51,600 displaced Gazans.

Distribute food baskets to more than 17,440 people, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Give hygiene supplies to benefit 95,900 people in 19 displacement shelters, primarily in Rafah.

Provided shelter items, like plastic sheeting and wood, to nearly 17,000 people in ten shelters.

From October 18 to December 21, our teams reached 340,000 people in Gaza, nearly half of them children. Half of the families we supported were in Rafah, and the rest were in Khan Younis (18%), northern Gaza (18%), and central Gaza (14%).

Action Against Hunger has been providing Palestinians in the West Bank with lifesaving emergency assistance since the conflict began, and since 2015, staff members have supported more than 60 schools, including kindergartens and nurseries.

However, as the violence and blockade continue, not enough lifesaving assistance is reaching people in need. Local market supplies are limited and inflation has soared, leaving many people unable to afford food and daily necessities. Access to aid is uneven as people continue to move. We can no longer reach areas in northern Gaza where people are most hungry, due to fighting and lack of transport.

Action Against Hunger has been working in the West Bank since 2002, helping to improve access to education, water and sanitation services, and livelihood opportunities. Today, vulnerable Palestinian people are being forced from their communities due to an increase in violence. Others are completely blocked off from basic supplies and access to healthcare. Action Against Hunger is committed to responding to the needs of the population and ensuring humanitarian assistance reaches as many people as possible.

Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza & the West Bank)

Population: 5.2 million

People in Need: 2.1 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 820,049

Our Team: 89 employees

Program Start: 2002

Provide one million liters of clean drinking water to more than 51,600 displaced Gazans.

Distribute food baskets to more than 17,440 people, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Give hygiene supplies to benefit 95,900 people in 19 displacement shelters, primarily in Rafah.

Provided shelter items, like plastic sheeting and wood, to nearly 17,000 people in ten shelters.

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Children Suffer as Education Under Attack in the West Bank and Gaza | Action Against Hunger

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Famine Imminent in Gaza. Take Action Now. Close Alert Show Photo Credit © Courtesy of WeWorld to Action Against Hunger. Close Photo Credit Occupied Palestinian Territories (Gaza & the West Bank) Population: 5.2 million People in Need: 2.1 million Our Impact People Helped Last Year: 820,049 Our Team: 89 employees Program Start: 2002 Ongoing conflict in Gaza has left more than 625,000 students and 22,500 teachers without any access to schools since Oct.

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Lack of Access to Education in Nigeria and Lack of Good Educational Materials and Facilities 

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Lack of Access to Education in Nigeria and Lack of Good Educational Materials and Facilities 

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The lack of access to education and good educational materials and facilities in Nigeria can have a devastating effect on children and their future prospects.

Children who do not have access to education are more likely to experience poverty, unemployment, and other social problems later in life.

They are also less likely to be able to contribute to their community and country in a meaningful way.

Furthermore, a lack of good educational materials and facilities can lead to a lower quality of education, which can have a negative impact on a child's development and future opportunities.

In Nigeria, the lack of access to education is a particularly pressing issue, as the country has one of the lowest rates of school enrollment in the world.

In addition, the quality of education is often poor, with a lack of qualified teachers, inadequate facilities, and outdated teaching materials.

This lack of access and quality of education is further compounded by the ongoing conflict in the country, which has led to displacement and destruction of schools.

To address this issue, it is important to increase access to education for all children in Nigeria, improve the quality of education, and invest in teacher training and school infrastructure.

It is also important to provide educational materials that are relevant to the local context and culture.

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Right to education under attack in Tibet

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Right to education under attack in Tibet

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Taipei Times - by Tenzing Dhamdul
An April circular by the Chinese Ministry of Education on student admission criteria at Tibetan universities has been harrowing and discriminating to say the least.

The circular said that prospective students must state their "political attitude and ideological morality" to be considered for admission.

It also said that students should not be involved in religious movements and students who are proficient in Marxist theory should be preferred.

Since Beijing started occupying Tibet, it has meticulously introduced policies to dismantle the Tibetan education system, which is closely tied to its rich monastic tradition, and has even pulled students from Afghanistan and eastern Europe to Tibet.

Initially, Beijing mainly targeted primary education, including by preventing Tibetans to even linger near monastic institutes, and it continues to do so to this day.

Now Beijing's attention has shifted toward higher education, and it is launching a relentless attack on universities, including through policy changes that highlight its negligence toward authentic Tibetan education, with the ultimate goal of depriving Tibetans of their identity and language.

The initial attack on the Tibetan education system began during the Cultural Revolution, when the monastic system, recognized as the cornerstone of Tibet's education system, was wiped out in terms of its physical structure and personnel. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seized on this vacuum to indoctrinate and culturally assimilate Tibetans.

Dawa Norbu, a former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, wrote in his book Tibet: The Road Ahead that he and many other young Tibetans during the initial years of Chinese occupation were forcefully indoctrinated.

The CCP was to an extent successful, but its strategy proved to be a double-edged sword, as Tibetans now know that they are different from Chinese.

The end of the Cultural Revolution set the stage for the renaissance of Tibetan education. Great lamas and academics were able to continue their work at the few surviving monasteries.

Tibetans who remained in their homeland, led by the late 10th Panchen Lama and other charismatic individuals, wittingly used then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's (鄧小平) drive to educate China to their benefit and introduced "modern education with Tibetan characteristics."

However, even after their moderate success, the situation in Tibet's education system remained dire. This was elaborated in the book Wangdu's Diary, written by Wangdu, an exiled Tibetan who was part of a fact-finding delegation that in 1980 toured the region to appraise its education system.

He was shocked that most schools lacked basic facilities and was taken aback by the high number of ethnic Han teachers.

Since the beginning of the occupation, the leaders in Beijing have been referring to themselves as saviors and liberators.

The CCP started dismantling the Tibetan education system, which - except for the few modern schools set up in Lhasa by the late 13th Dalai Lama - was mainly centered on monastic institutes.

Beijing set up schools with the goal not to educate Tibetans, but rather to brainwash and indoctrinate them with Marxist thought, which morphed into Mao Zedong (毛澤東) thought and later the ideas of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

Beijing implemented a bilingual education policy in Tibet and other occupied regions (or, as Beijing calls them, "minority regions").

Those policies refer to principles enshrined in the Chinese constitution, which stipulate that the languages of minority regions be protected and preserved.

However, the policies sought to achieve the exact opposite, and promote a deeper penetration of the Chinese language and Chinese narrative in those regions.

Since those policies' inception, large numbers of Tibetans have gone through this indoctrination-focused education system.

An alarming report published by the Tibet Action Institute in December last year highlighted the grim reality.

Based on testimonies, the report, titled Separated From Their Families, Hidden From the World, showed that 78 percent of Tibetans have attended Beijing-run boarding schools where classes are primarily taught in Chinese, depriving them of their identity and language.

It is worrying to witness China's colonial activities in Tibet, especially as China has its own traumatic colonial experience.

Chinese interference with the Tibetan education system has gained pace since Xi took office.

Xi has not only continued Beijing's Tibet policy, but is enforcing it more strongly, including by introducing restrictions that prevent Tibetans from attending China's best educational institutions.

Even Tibetans who complete their higher education are looked down upon, creating an apartheid-like environment where Tibetans are largely unemployed and remain segregated, even in Tibet.

The outdated, draconian practices Beijing is implementing in Tibet are concerning.

Read the original report here.

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Taipei Times - by Tenzing Dhamdul An April circular by the Chinese Ministry of Education on student admission criteria at Tibetan universities has been harrowing and discriminating to say the least. The circular said that prospective students must state their "political attitude and ideological mo

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Education and conflict in numbers - UNESCO

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Education and conflict in numbers - UNESCO

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By Manos Antoninis, Director, GEM Report; Silvia Montoya, Director UNESCO Institute for Statistics; and Christian Stoff, Chief, Monitoring, Evaluation and Global Reporting, Education Cannot Wait
How can we capture the impact of crises on out-of-school children estimates?

In 2022, the UIS and the GEM Report proposed a major improvement in the way out-of-school rates and populations are estimated, making efficient use of different sources of information. Yet, the model has a weakness: when crisis strikes, estimates cannot be updated without new information. Sometimes such new information is collected. For instance, UNICEF carried out a household survey in Afghanistan in 2022/23 shortly after the new regime banned girls from attending school. This information enabled an updated estimate of the global out-of-school population, showing that it had increased to 250 million. Yet, this was an exception. In most cases, monitoring efforts break down in crisis contexts. Lack of security and urgent humanitarian priorities do not allow the usual data collection processes to continue. How can we make sure that children in these countries are counted in our global reporting?

At the UNESCO Conference on Education Data and Statistics last month, a session was dedicated to this issue: how to improve official education statistics and SDG 4 reporting to take into account crisis-affected populations. Two approaches were discussed.

First, a bottom-up and systematic approach would try to improve the annual UIS survey administered to governments so that it captures the impact of crises. Governments need guidance on how to document whether their education data collection is comprehensive or excludes particular regions and populations. Stronger collaboration among government institutions but also between government and humanitarian agencies would be called upon. In its decision, the Conference has requested the Technical Cooperation Group on SDG 4 indicators (to be renamed Education Data and Statistics Commission) to focus efforts on developing protocols and standards to capture the impact of emergencies and crises on affected populations. This sustainable approach will nevertheless require considerable efforts until government systems can adopt such protocols.

Second, a top-down and ad hoc approach would try to provide a short-term solution. It would focus on using documentation from humanitarian agencies to suggest by how much high-level estimates of flagship indicators such as out-of-school rates and populations would need to be adjusted to reflect the situation on the ground. Such adjustments would focus on the crises with the potentially strongest impact. How could that work in practice?

What do we know about five large humanitarian crises?

The International Rescue Committee has been publishing a list of the gravest humanitarian crises. In its most recent watchlist, the top five crises were Sudan, Palestine, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and Myanmar.

The largest displacement crisis in the world is in Sudan since civil conflict erupted in April 2023. More than 8 million people, about 15% of the population, have either been internally displaced or fled to neighbouring countries. According to the UIS/GEM Report model, there were 5.4 million, or 41% of children, adolescents and youth out of school in 2022, prior to the conflict. The GEM Report has confirmed this estimate was accurate following a recent analysis of a 2022 nationally representative household survey.

Civil conflict affected mostly the regions of Darfur, Kordofan and Khartoum. Of their respective school age populations, about 60% in Darfur and Kordofan and 18% in Khartoum were out of school in 2022. Assuming that no children went to school in the latter two thirds of 2023 in these three regions, 4.2 million would need to be added to the out-of-school population, bringing the total to 9.6 million. A widely circulating estimate that 19 million children are out-of-school appears exaggerated, considering that the school age population is about 13.3 million. It appears that some schools opened in Darfur in January, but at the same time other provinces are being dragged into the conflict.

In Palestine, all the estimated 0.55 million children aged 6-17 years in Gaza have been out-of-school since October 2023 and would need to be added to the global estimate. By late January 2024, it is estimated that 4,500 students have been killed and 9,100 injured. It is also reported that 76% of schools have been damaged. Even damaged schools are still used as shelters: more than half of school buildings are used for this purpose. Another 20% have been used for military operations.

South Sudan has suffered from a seemingly endless spiral of conflict and vulnerability to natural disasters. There are no easily accessible data for triangulation. The UIS/GEM Report out-of-school model estimated that there were 2.1 million children, adolescents and youth out of school n 2022. An estimate by the education cluster in December 2023 raised that estimate to 2.8 million. If verified, an additional 0.7 million children would need to be added to the global estimate.

In Burkina Faso, a crisis of insecurity due to continued attacks has been spreading to almost the entire country although 5 of the 13 administrative regions are disproportionately affected: Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-Nord, Est, Nord and Sahel. The UIS/GEM Report out-of-school model estimated that there were 2.9 million children, adolescents and youth out of school in 2022, of which the five most heavily affected regions accounted for 1.5 million. Data from two surveys in 2019 and 2022 were used so the estimate is up to date, although it is hard to know how representative enumeration was in the affected areas.

An estimate by the education ministry in May 2023, with the support of the education cluster, found that more than 5,000 primary and secondary schools were forced to close in these regions, with almost 900,000 students losing access to education. Most likely this estimate overlaps with the existing higher estimates of the out-of-school population; it might be therefore safer to assume that no further upward adjustment is needed for Burkina Faso.

In Myanmar, it is more difficult to assess the situation. The last available official data are from 2018. The model projects that the improvement observed around 2015, when the total number of out of children, adolescents and youth was reliably estimated at around 2.9 million, would have continued, leading to an estimate of just 1.2 million out of school in 2022, but this is less reliable. The latest education factsheet published by UNCEF suggested that 3.7 million lacked 'access to learning', which is not the same as saying this population is out of school. It is unlikely that the out-of-school population would have increased by so much. In other words, it is not possible to make an informed suggestion.
Global out-of-school population adjusted by evidence from three large humanitarian crises
In brief, evidence from three out of five major crises for which reasonably reliable and comparable information is available, suggests that the out-of-school population may be underestimated by 5.5 million.

A way forward

Each crisis is different, in terms of characteristics such as intensity, spread and duration, but also in terms of data availability. Education clusters, which are mandated to coordinate humanitarian response in areas where the state may be absent, party to the conflict or not have the resources to identify needs and provide education services, are tasked with estimating the number of People in Need (PiN) of education.

It is important to remember that this is a different definition to being out of school. Clusters, after all, are assessing education needs for purposes other than global reporting. The result is that it is hard to combine and integrate their findings in official statistical reports. But more can be done to cross-check and take into account the data they provide when they can be triangulated with other sources.

There will always be a margin of error when it comes to reporting on education in crisis-affected situations. But the more we know, the less speculation there will be. And, as discussed a few days ago in a webinar organized by the Education Research in Conflict and Protracted Crisis (ERICC) Consortium and the Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE), the more that an approach can be agreed upon by all parties, the easier it will be to ensure the publication of education statistics that reflect the situation of crisis-affected children and can inform policies and programmes.

Building on the UNESCO Conference on Education Data and Statistics, and under the framework of the Education Data and Statistics Commission, the next steps would involve the following:

A task force that would propose by the end of this year a process on how to take supplementary information into account for estimating a margin of error in out-of-school population calculations, for a limited number of the most severe humanitarian crises.

Based on these recommendations, introduce an annual process that will make these margin-of-error estimates.

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How can we capture the impact of crises on out-of-school children estimates? - World Education Blog

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In 2022, the UIS and the GEM Report proposed a major improvement in the way out-of-school rates and populations are estimated, making efficient use of different sources of information. Yet, the model has a weakness: when crisis strikes, estimates cannot be updated without new information. Sometimes such new information is collected.

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