Violent attacks on schools, pupils, and staff globally increased by 40 percent in 2024 and 2025. Researchers recorded more than 8,556 education attack incidents across 83 countries during this period.

At least 10,600 students and staff were killed, injured, abducted, or arrested in these attacks. Ukraine experienced approximately 900 attacks on schools, while Palestine experienced at least 2,400 attacks on students and staff. Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine, and Ukraine recorded the highest incidences of education attacks.

Recorded cases of military forces or armed groups occupying schools or universities rose by 91 percent from the previous two-year period, totaling 1,912 instances. More than 1,700 students and staff were killed or injured in education attacks across Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen, and Cameroon. In Myanmar, at least 80 students and staff were killed and approximately 240 were injured. In Nigeria, more than 700 students and staff were kidnapped.

On 17 November 2025, gunmen attacked a girls’ boarding school in Oyo state, Nigeria, resulting in the death of a vice-principal and the abduction of 25 female pupils. On 11 September 2025, the Israeli military carried out a controlled detonation to destroy a school for children with special needs in Lebanon. Women and girls were targeted because of their gender in education attacks in at least 11 countries.

Uppsala University’s conflict data programme registered 65 armed conflicts during 2025, the highest number since 1992. Thirteen were classified as wars, each causing at least 1,000 battle-related deaths in a calendar year. More than 244,000 people were killed in organized violence in 2025, the second-highest number of fatalities since 1994.

Tejendra Pherali, a university professor, 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, a coalition director, said, “They are a warning that the global norms that once protected children are collapsing. 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.” Kieran King, a charity representative, said, “The reality is that since 2010, we have seen a 60 percent increase of children living in conflict. Over the same period, we have seen grave violations against children, including attacks on education, increase by 373 percent.” King added, “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.” King also said, “The aid cuts that we have seen from the U.S., but also the U.K. and others, have led to significant amounts of the funding for support for humanitarian action being removed from the sector.”