A new report issued by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, Education Under Attack 2014, details the extent of attacks on educators, students, and schools worldwide between 2009 and 2013. The report singles out 30 countries where the problem is especially dire, including Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, where militants often operate unchecked. The Pakistani Taliban, for example, attacked at least 838 schools (estimates range as high as 919); the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated that those attacks resulted in more than 500 schools destroyed in 2009 alone.
The report indicates strongly that attacks on education are a tactic of war worldwide. And in addition to the costs of rebuilding schools and infrastructure, the human cost is incalculable. “Schools, students, and staff are not just caught in the crossfire, but are all too often the targets of the attacks,” said Diya Nijhowne, director of the Global Coalition. Schools are often battlegrounds for sectarian or political violence—24 of the 30 countries profiled saw armed groups, state actors or otherwise, use schools as bases, barracks, weapons caches, detention centers, or torture chambers. In 28 of the 30, universities and their staff were used for military purposes or had their staff attacked.
The Global Coalition ends the report calling for the adoption of a series of guidelines, urging parties not to use educational facilities for military use during conflicts. The guidelines draw on international law and humanitarian good practice in asking states not to use educational facilities for military purposes. While these guidelines will not end attacks on education, attempting to remove schools and students from the line of fire is a first step.
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Written by Alex Leedom