Violent attacks on schools, education rising in Sudan: agency
May 28, 2024 (KHARTOUM) – The number of violent attacks on schools and education in Sudan has increased fourfold since the start of the conflict last year, with 88 reports of violent incidents recorded, an aid agency said on Wednesday.
This, a Save the Children analysis shows, has also forced closure of most schools.
Notably among these incidents include airstrikes on schools resulting in the killing and injury of students and teachers, torturing of teachers, killing and abduction of teachers and sexual violence against students inside education facilities.
Other incidents, it said, included occupation of schools by armed groups, use of schools as weapons storage facilities, and battles fought on education premises.
The analysis comes as the education cluster, a group of aid agencies, warns that the war-affected country remains on the brink of the worst education crisis in the world, with the majority of schools closed, leaving more than 18 million children of the country’s estimated 22 million children out of school for over a year now.
Save the Children reportedly reviewed individual incidents of armed attacks or confrontations affecting education reported in the Armed Conflict Location and Event Database (ACLED) between April 2023 and April 2024 across Sudan.
23 such incidents were recorded by ACLED in the 12 months before the conflict.
“It’s not just children’s lives that are on the line, but also their futures. Millions of
children continue to face disruptions to their education with their schools destroyed by bombs, taken over as shelters for displaced families, or learning stopped as children flee”, said Dr. Arif Noor, Country Director for Save the Children in Sudan.
He added, “Sudan is a signatory to the Safe Schools Declaration, an inter-governmental political commitment to protect students, teachers, schools, and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict. We need to see action on this commitment so that education and children’s futures are protected from harm.”
The analysis also documented various experiences from school children in Sudan.
Also, violent attacks on schools and education in Africa are said to be on the rise.
Meanwhile, Save the Children is calling on leaders in Sudan and across the African Union to make schools safe places for children, having chosen education as “AU theme for 2024”, and committed to building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa.
It further called for urgent political action at national, regional and international levels to end the fighting and all parties to adhere to their obligations under international law, including guaranteeing humanitarian access and ensuring children are protected.
Sudan is facing one of the largest unfolding crises globally, with about 25 million people, or half of its population reportedly in need of humanitarian assistance.
(ST)