Surge in Violence Across 83 Countries

According to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), attacks on education globally surged by 40% from 2024 to 2025, with more than 8,556 recorded incidents. These attacks led to the deaths, injuries, abductions, arrests, or other harms of 10,600 students and staff.

Violent incidents were reported in 83 countries, with the highest rates occurring in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine, and Ukraine. In Ukraine, approximately 900 attacks on schools were documented, while in Palestine, at least 2,400 attacks on students and staff were recorded.

The report also noted a 91% increase in cases of military forces or armed groups occupying schools or universities, with 1,912 such incidents recorded in 2024 and 2025 compared to the previous two years.

Alarming Trends and Systematic Violence

Lisa Chung Bender, director of the GCPEA, said the report highlights a disturbing trend. ‘They are a warning that the global norms that once protected children are collapsing,’ she said. ‘A warning that the world is drifting toward a place where even the youngest are no longer off‑limits.’

In Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen, and Cameroon, more than 1,700 students and staff were killed or injured in attacks. In Nigeria alone, over 700 students and staff were reportedly kidnapped. In Myanmar, at least 80 students and staff were killed, and around 240 were injured.

Tejendra Pherali, professor of education, conflict, and peace at University College London, said the rise in attacks is not random. ‘It is the same pattern every year,’ he said. ‘In my view, this is more systematic rather than episodic, and attacks are increasingly strategic.’

Pherali added that children no longer see schools as safe spaces. ‘It’s not just education that is lost – it’s safety, futures, and trust in educational institutions,’ he said.

In at least 11 countries, women and girls were specifically targeted because of their gender. In Nigeria, gunmen attacked a girls’ boarding school on 17 November 2025, killing the vice-principal and abducting 25 female pupils.

Targeted Attacks and International Law Violations

Students with disabilities were also affected by the attacks. On 11 September 2025 in Lebanon, sources reported that the Israeli military carried out a controlled detonation to destroy a school for children with special needs.

High explosives and drone-borne munitions were frequently used in the attacks, leading to extensive casualties and damage to infrastructure. Many institutions were forced to close as a result.

Kieran King of War Child UK said these attacks violate international law, including the Geneva conventions. ‘Since 2010, we have seen a 60% increase in children living in conflict,’ he said. ‘Over the same period, grave violations against children, including attacks on education, increased by 373%.’

King also pointed to the weakening of the multilateral system and political impunity for war crimes as factors contributing to the crisis. ‘The aid cuts from the US, UK, and others have removed significant funding for humanitarian action from the sector,’ he said.

Chung Bender of the GCPEA emphasized that the attacks are 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.

The rise in attacks coincides with a record number of conflicts since the Second World War. Uppsala University’s conflict data programme reported 65 conflicts in 2025, including 13 wars—defined as conflicts causing at least 1,000 battle-related deaths in a calendar year. This is the highest number since 1992.

Combatant and civilian fatalities also increased sharply in 2025, with over 244,000 people killed in organized violence. This makes 2025 the second most bloody year since the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.