Nigeria Tops List as Violent Attacks on Schools in Africa Rise by 20%

Save the Children, a 104-year-old UK-based global independent non-profit organisation helping to raise money to improve children’s lives, at the weekend said that the number of violent incidents affecting education in African countries rose by 20 per cent in 2023.

The group said there were 411 reports of violent incidents, according to its new analysis released at the 37th African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia, with Nigeria topping with 89 incidents.

“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,” it stated.

For the analysis, Save the Children said it 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.

With education being 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 urged leaders to walk the talk and make schools safe places for children.

The organisation, which has general consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) also called on countries in the AU which 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.

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.

Deputy Speaker at the National Children's Parliament in Nigeria, Ibrahim Zanna Sunoma, 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: "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 instil 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, vandalised, 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.”

Also, Save the Children's Interim Director of the Pan Africa Office and AU Representative, Mohamud Mohamed Hassan, lamented that while the AU has made significant efforts to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from attacks and promote safe education, things have started to go backwards.

"Across Africa, children are being killed on the way to school, they are being terrorised 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.