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NAIROBI —UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, as well as UNICEF and the Norwegian Refugee Council, said this week that more than 13,200 schools in eight African nations have had to close because of insecurity, affecting the education of at least 2.5 million children. According to the agencies' data on school closures over the last four years, the number of schools closed in the Sahel region has grown more than fivefold, from 1,700 to 9,000, with Burkina Faso accounting for two-third of the closures.
Thousands of schools in Africa have been closed because of insecurity and conflict, depriving at least 2.5 million children of education in the past four years.
According to a statement from UNHCR, UNICEF, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, 13,200 schools have been closed in eight countries, jeopardizing the future of millions of children.
Barnaby Rooke, UNICEF West and Central Africa education in emergency and resilience specialist, says the lack of learning institutions poses great risk to the young boys and girls on the continent.
"It's a situation which is of grave concern, of course, because a school closed means that children lose out on learning," said Rooke. "It also means that children are exposed to a great number of risks, including early pregnancy and early marriage for girls, potentially recruitment into nonstate armed groups for adolescent boys."
School attacks have become frequent, with 147 incidents reported in the region between January and August, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which tracks political violence and protest around the world.
Insecurity has driven families and teachers to flee, disrupting learning for the affected children and communities facing overcrowding and an educator shortage.
According to the aid agencies, the situation is particularly dire in the Central Sahel region, where school closures have surged from 1,700 to 9,000, with Burkina Faso accounting for 6,000 of these closures.
Burkina Faso is among six African nations that have witnessed coups in the past three years and face threats from terrorist organizations.
Leandro Salazar, regional education adviser in central and west Africa for the Norwegian Refugee Council, says the school attacks reverse progress in keeping children in classes.
"Attacks on schools have exacerbated existing structural challenges to education for all, more specifically poverty, poor school infrastructure, low access, insufficient numbers of well-trained teachers, and in some cases, it has reversed decades of well-earned progress for education systems," said Salazar. "These disturbances may also lead to diminished quality of education and learning and students falling behind. Lower rates of transition to higher education levels, overcrowding and reductions in teacher recruitment. The longer children are out of school, the less likely they are to return."
According to UNESCO, 20% of children aged 6 to 11 are out of school and 60% of those aged 15 to 17 are not in school in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies says 3.2 million people were displaced this year, bringing the total number of Africans displaced by conflict to 40 million, with 31 million internally displaced.
Health experts say conflict and violence make children nervous, lonely, or emotionally distraught and aggressive.
With the help of locals and authorities, Rooke says his organization is creating temporary learning facilities to continue children's education and look after their well-being.
"There is a rapid-response mechanism which has been created to tend to the needs of these children, which involves staff traveling to the areas impacted by school closure, setting up a temporary learning space in the briefest possible time, and then following up with a greater level of qualitative services including not only learning but mental health and psychosocial support for children," said Rooke.
Salazar says there is a need for educational support for children wherever they are and to train more teachers to help students.
"It is urgent to increase access to education in areas of displacement, and especially in remote and blockaded areas, more specifically in Burkina Faso and Mali," said Salazar. "There is a need to accelerate the redeployment of teachers where they are most needed, to open new classrooms whenever possible, whenever and wherever possible, and make sure that schools continue to work at their full capacity."
The three agencies are urging governments, rebel groups and militant organizations to uphold the Safe Schools Declaration, which commits warring parties to protect educational institutions and ensure the continuity of learning, even during conflicts, while reducing the military use of schools.