Pupils’ bags piled up in front of a school damaged in an attack that killed 22 people, including 20 children, by Myanmar's military in Sagaing region in May 2025. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Pupils’ bags piled up in front of a school damaged in an attack that killed 22 people, including 20 children, by Myanmar's military in Sagaing region in May 2025. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Global development Violent attacks on schools, pupils and staff around the world up by 40%, says study Cases reported in 83 countries, with at least 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted or arrested, GCPEA says
About this content Sarah Johnson Mon 15 Jun 2026 06.00 CEST Last modified on Mon 15 Jun 2026 15.12 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google Attacks on education globally have surged by 40% with more than 8,556 recorded incidents and 10,600 students and staff killed, injured, abducted, arrested or otherwise harmed in 2024 and 2025, according to new research.
Attacks were reported in 83 countries, with the highest incidences recorded in Colombia , the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine and Ukraine.
Ukraine experienced about 900 attacks on schools, while Palestine saw at least 2,400 attacks on students and staff, the report from the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) said.
Cases of military forces or armed groups occupying schools or universities nearly doubled (91%) from the previous two years, with 1,912 recorded cases, according to the study, published on Monday.
Lisa Chung Bender, director of the GCPEA, said the report’s findings sounded the alarm about the threat to education.
“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. And a warning that if we do not hold the line now, we may never get it back.”
The highest numbers of people who fell victim to attacks on education were in Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen and Cameroon; where more than 1,700 students and staff in total were killed or injured.
In Nigeria, more than 700 students and staff were reportedly kidnapped, while in Myanmar , at least 80 students and staff were killed, and about 240 were injured.
View image in fullscreen Protesters call for the release of pupils and teachers kidnapped in May from three schools in Oyo state, Nigeria, where girls are often the target of attacks. Photograph: E Adegboye/EPA Prof Tejendra Pherali, professor of education, conflict and peace at University College London, said: “It’s heartbreaking to see numbers are rising; it is the same pattern every year … In my view, this is more systematic rather than episodic, and attacks are increasingly strategic.”
He added: “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.”
In at least 11 countries, women and girls were targeted because of their gender, the report found. In one example in Nigeria, on 17 November 2025, gunmen attacked a girls’ boarding school, killing the vice-principal and abducting 25 female pupils.
Students with disabilities, who already face significant obstacles to accessing education, were also affected. On 11 September 2025 in Lebanon, sources said the Israeli military carried out a controlled detonation to destroy a school for children with special needs.
The use of high explosives, including drone-borne munitions, featured frequently in the attacks on schools, resulting in extensive casualties, damage to infrastructure and forcing many institutions to close.
View image in fullscreen A woman comforts her daughter in a school’s shelter during an air raid in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia frequently attacks schools in the country with missiles and drones. Photograph: R Pilipey/Getty Kieran King, from the charity War Child UK, said attacks on education were a grave violation of international law , such as the Geneva conventions.
“The reality is that since 2010, 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,” he said. “The inevitable result of that is a documented surge in disregard for international humanitarian law.
Read more “The aid cuts that we’ve seen from the US, but also the UK and others, [have led to significant amounts] of the funding for support for humanitarian action removed from the sector.”
The GCPEA’s Chung Bender insisted that the attacks were preventable, however. “We need states to end military use of schools, strengthen legal protection and accountability…