Attacks on education have surged by 40% globally, with more than 8,556 incidents recorded and over 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted, arrested or otherwise harmed during 2024 and 2025, according to new research published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA).
A crisis spanning 83 countries
The attacks were reported in 83 nations, with the highest concentrations in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine and Ukraine. In Palestine alone, at least 2,400 attacks on students and staff were documented, and nearly all schools in Gaza were damaged or destroyed by the end of 2025. Ukraine experienced approximately 900 attacks on its schools. Haiti, newly highlighted in the GCPEA report, suffered more than 400 attacks.
The highest numbers of casualties were recorded in Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen and Cameroon, where more than 1,700 students and staff in total were killed or injured. Nigeria reported more than 700 kidnappings of students and staff. In Myanmar, at least 80 students and staff were killed and around 240 were injured.
Systematic and strategic violence
Professor Tejendra Pherali, professor of education, conflict and peace at University College London, described the trend as “systematic rather than episodic”, with attacks becoming “increasingly strategic”. He said: “Behind these numbers are the children who no longer see schools as a place of safety. It’s not just education that is lost – it’s safety, futures and trust in educational institutions.”
Lisa Chung Bender, director of GCPEA, said the findings sounded “the alarm about the threat to education” and warned that “global norms that once protected children are collapsing”. She added: “A warning that the world is drifting toward a place where even the youngest are no longer off‑limits. And a warning that if we do not hold the line now, we may never get it back.”
The report documented a near doubling – a 91% increase – in cases of military forces or armed groups occupying schools or universities, with 1,912 recorded incidents. Such occupation disrupts learning, damages infrastructure and heightens risks of child recruitment and sexual violence. The use of high explosives, including drone-borne munitions, featured frequently in the attacks, resulting in extensive casualties and forcing many institutions to close.
Targeting the most vulnerable
In at least 11 countries, women and girls were specifically targeted because of their gender. On 17 November 2025, gunmen attacked a girls’ boarding school in Nigeria, killing the vice-principal and abducting 25 female pupils. Students with disabilities, who already face significant obstacles to accessing education, were also affected. In Lebanon, on 11 September 2025, sources said the Israeli military carried out a controlled detonation to destroy a school for children with special needs.
Wider conflict and impunity
The surge in attacks on education coincides with the highest number of conflicts between states since the second world war. Uppsala University’s conflict data programme registered 65 conflicts during 2025 – 13 of which were classified as wars, meaning they caused at least 1,000 battle-related deaths in a calendar year – the highest number since 1992. Fatalities from organised violence exceeded 244,000 in 2025, making it the second deadliest year since the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Kieran King, from the charity War Child UK, noted that since 2010 the number of children living in conflict has increased by 60%, while grave violations against children, including attacks on education, have risen by 373%. “The reality is that … we have seen a 60% increase of children living in conflict,” he said. “Over the same period, we’ve seen grave violations against children, including attacks on education, increase by 373%.”
King added that states acting without fear of sanction and aid cuts were worsening the situation. “We see this weakening multilateral system and political impunity for war crimes more broadly. The inevitable result of that is a documented surge in disregard for international humanitarian law.” He pointed to aid cuts from the US, the UK and others removing “significant amounts of the funding for support for humanitarian action”. UK aid reductions, in particular the move to a 0.3% of national income target, have been shown to negatively affect children’s education. An equality impact assessment commissioned by the UK government noted that cuts to education spending risk increased disease burden and deaths, disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups. The early closure of an education programme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, is expected to negatively impact 170,000 children.
Legal protections and the path forward
Attacks on education are a grave violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions, which classify schools as civilian objects that must not be attacked unless they become military objectives. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, attacking schools can constitute a war crime. The Safe Schools Declaration, endorsed by 116 states, is an inter-governmental commitment to protect education during armed conflict.
Despite the scale of the crisis, Chung Bender insisted the attacks were preventable. “We need states to end military use of schools, strengthen legal protection and accountability for attacks on education, and invest in monitoring, reporting and early warning systems,” she said. GCPEA also recommends field-based measures such as physical protection, risk assessments, community involvement, alternative delivery of education, and negotiations with stakeholders.
Felicity Pearce, lead researcher for the Education Under Attack 2026 report, cautioned that the true increase in attacks may be higher than recorded, due to escalating conflict, shrinking humanitarian access and information blackouts.
