Reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic…and rockets and rebels?
Parents send their kids to school hoping they’ll be safe and get an education.
But in some countries, going to school can be taking your life in your hands.
These countries are home to the most dangerous schools in the world.
South Sudan is the newest country to get full recognition from the United Nations,
gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. But with a new country comes lots of growing pains,
and the country still struggles with malnutrition and disease,
affecting many of the children who go to school. While the country does have a full
twelve-year education program available to all children, many students didn’t attend
primary school due to the effects of the civil war. A peace deal is now in effect,
but it hasn’t guaranteed stability. Not only do different regions have very different resources,
but the country still suffers from ongoing violence. In one year alone,
twenty-six schools found themselves under attack by paramilitary forces. Additionally, soldiers
often use schools, especially those primarily attended by older boys, as recruitment centers,
and unlucky schoolboys can find themselves trading in their uniforms for army fatigues.
And things aren’t any better across the border.
Sudan has seen a lot of changes in recent years, splitting from South Sudan and transitioning
to democracy in 2019 - although a recent military coup put that in doubt. Amid that,
children still went to school - although education there is only compulsory up to age 13.
Education is available for older kids - but military service is compulsory in Sudan for males,
and many have to drop out before completing their education to join the army. Additionally,
while the brutal civil war is over, no one told some of the militants. They continue to pull off
brutal attacks on civilian sites including schools and have no problem kidnapping students for
military service. It’s had a devastating impact on the quality of education available in Sudan,
with an estimated 60% of the population being unable to read. With the government
in flux once again, Sudan’s students are praying for a stable school year in 2022.
This next country has been in flux for a long time.
Up until 1990, Iraq had one of the best education systems in the region. Then Saddam Hussein invaded
Kuwait, setting off a chain of events that would lead to two brutal wars and effects that continue
to this day. The public school system in Iraq now is a shadow of its former self,
partially due to sanctions and government instability. A lack of functioning schools
leads to overcrowding, and many schools don’t have clean water or bathrooms. Over 2700 schools
were damaged in the war, and thousands more were looted. Over the war and its aftermath,
sixteen students were killed in bombings in Baghdad. Despite this, boys and girls alike
continue to attend school in Iraq. The sight of broken windows in a classroom is common,
but money is being allocated to improve the school system. The biggest threat might be
militant groups, who attack schools and often lead to the school being occupied by the military.
Half a world away, a long-standing conflict threatens schoolchildren.
Colombia is one of the oldest democracies in South America and has a full education
system ranging from nursery school to university - but the legacy of a bloody civil war continues
to leave scars on its students. The government of Colombia is in a long-term war with various
militant groups like FARC, and this has especially endangered schools and students in rural areas.
Millions of people have been displaced by this conflict,
and it’s common for schools to be targeted. Teachers have often received death threats,
and it’s believed that up to 44,000 students drop out of school per year
due to the dangers. While in larger urban areas education is better funded, a majority of rural
students drop out before completing their studies and many of these schools still lack electricity.
Back in Africa, another global crisis has taken a toll on education.
Education in the Central African Republic is free and mandatory up to fourteen years old,
but the country suffers from a dramatic shortage of teachers - primarily due to the devastating
impact of AIDS in the country. This has led to the closure of hundreds of primary schools,
and the country suffers from a major deficit between boys and girls.
Only 23% of girls finished primary school in 2007. In addition to major funding and staffing issues,
the Central African Republic has a problem with armed groups attacking schools. While
these groups are less likely to draft primary school boys into service than in other countries,
they do see schools as a convenient base - which means at any time, a school could come under
attack and be taken over by rebel fighters, leaving the students with no place to learn.
In West Africa, a large country faces a very different problem.
Mali has a rich history of both secular and Islamic education,
and today the democratic government has placed a focus on literacy and improving education
access. But there are still many challenges, with low enrollment in rural areas of the country
and a high illiteracy rate. Many Malians suffer from hunger, and Malaria is a major danger - with
it being the top cause that children under five don’t live to see elementary school. As of 2017,
only 61% of children are enrolled in primary school, with one in seven dropping out within
the first three years. But a bigger problem is that children in school may not be safe.
Mali continues to battle against armed militant Muslim groups that believe
Western-style education is forbidden under their religion, and they’ve burned classrooms and made
violent threats against teachers and schools - unbalancing the already fragile education system.
It’s not the only country in Africa where militant groups threaten children.
Nigeria made world news in 2014 when the militant group Boko Haram invaded a girl’s school and
kidnapped 276 girls. They planned to convert them to the group’s brand of Islam and marry them off,
but most were eventually rescued. That wasn’t the end of the conflict, though,
as the radicals continue to terrorize schools across Africa’s most populated country. Over
a nine-year period, Nigeria saw 14,000 schools destroyed and over two thousand teachers killed.
Nigeria is a very split nation, with large Muslim and Christian populations
and very different education systems in the north and south. Rural students continue to
struggle with lack of access and greater danger outside the urban centers and the international
community is advocating for more funds to improve safety and education quality in the country.
But even more challenges await students in Africa’s second-largest nation.
Education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo isn’t free or mandatory,
and due to a six-year civil war that ended at the dawn of the 21st century, more than five
million children never went to school. Today, over 13 million children in the country are
enrolled in primary school - but that doesn’t mean they have it easy. The civil war has left
millions displaced after one of the worst internal conflicts in the world, and rebel armies of groups
like the National Congress for the Defence of the People are notorious for attacking schools. 2017
saw 396 verified attacks on schools, with around a thousand being reported but not confirmed. With
the use of child soldiers common in the conflict, many parents are still hesitant to send their
children to school for fear that the next time they’ll see them, they’ll be in an army uniform.
And in Asia, a powerful nation battles internal strife.
Pakistan may be one of the few nuclear-armed countries in the world, but many of its challenges
are much closer to home. While their education system is robust and they produce almost half a
million university graduates a year, they also have over 22 million children not in school.
This is mostly due to the country’s rural areas, where literacy can be as low as 23%.
Education for women is particularly troubled, and the government has worked to improve it
in recent years. But with progress comes those who want to stop it in its tracks. The country
has seen hundreds of attacks by militant groups on schools and colleges in recent years - with
a disproportionate number being on girls’ schools by those who oppose women’s education.
The only thing worse than going to school
in a conflict zone…is going to school in an active war zone.
On paper, education in Myanmar seems to have its act together - schooling is compulsory to
the end of primary school and the country has a nearly 90% literacy rate. But the country is
roiled with violence, which took another turn in 2021 with a coup d’etat by the military,
This led to violent protests around the country and the possibility of a full-fledged civil war.
The impact was especially dramatic in Rakhine state, with its large Rohingya Muslim population.
The minority group had been persecuted for years and saw hundreds of thousands flee the state and
countless schools close. While many schools did eventually reopen, it’s estimated that more than
a hundred thousand students didn’t return to school after the previous upsurge in violence.
What makes the situation even worse? Close quarters.
In the State of Palestine, made up of two non-contiguous regions next to Israel, conflict
is a constant - even within the territory. In the West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority,
conflict between locals and settlers is common, and many students have to go through enhanced
Israeli security ever since the violence known as the Second Intifada. But in Gaza,
things are much worse. Gaza is run by the militant group Hamas, which is engaged in an on-and-off
war with Israel. Hamas launches rockets, Israel responds with bombardments of their bases - which
are often near or even located in schools using the children as both human shields and propaganda
when they are inevitably killed. Both sides blame each other, but what is clear is that every time
the war heats up, schools used as Hamas bases get bombed, children and teachers find their lives in
danger, and many children find themselves without a place to learn in the aftermath.
And sometimes, it doesn’t take long for an education system to unravel.
Education is a top priority in Yemen, with a significant percentage of the overall government
budget being devoted to it. The country has a high literacy rate and education is
compulsory up to age fifteen, but despite that, it struggles with infrastructure and supplies.
81% of the school-age population is enrolled, but those numbers may drop amid a brutal civil war in
the country. Not only are schools endangered by the militant group known as the Houthis,
which frequently attack schools, but foreign support for the government
leads to airstrikes against rebel targets - often with a lot of collateral damage.
Over 1300 children were killed in a single year, with close to a thousand being recruited by armed
militant groups. Until the conflict ends, Yemen’s schoolchildren will be nervously looking overhead.
But imagine going to school at the potential flashpoint of a World War.
Like most of Europe, Ukraine’s education system is robust with a mandatory twelve-year course. The
country spends billions of its currency every year funding it, and the country is a popular choice
for international students. But every Ukrainian student is looking nervously to their east.
Ever since Russia annexed the region of Crimea, tensions between Ukraine and its superpower
neighbor have been very high. With Russia’s military massing on the border and sabers rattling
on both sides, many Ukrainian students have seen their schools beginning preparation for all-out
war. In border regions, clashes between government forces and Russian-backed groups are common,
with more than sixty schools being damaged in a single year. Along with their learning,
Ukrainian students learn how to hide for their lives in the event of an attack.
But nothing compares to going to school in the middle of the world’s bloodiest civil war.
Syria’s basic education system is considered to be among the better in the region,
with free and compulsory education up to fifteen years old. They also have a collection of public
and private universities, but any progress the country made in education was brought to a
crashing halt when the Syrian Civil War broke out. The country suffers from a low enrollment rate,
with high dropout rates as well. Since the war broke out, over two million children in
Syria have withdrawn from school, with only 37% of primary-aged children attending school regularly.
Those that do often find themselves in the middle of conflict, as both government and
rebel forces have attacked schools. 2017 alone saw 67 attacks on schools,
and the takeover of school buildings for military staging is common.
But one location may be more dangerous - and it just saw its fortunes reverse in a hurry.
Under the Taliban regime, education in Afghanistan was strictly curtailed. Education
for girls was illegal, the curriculum for boys was subject to the radical group’s approval,
and violence was commonplace. After the invasion that toppled their government,
education was reformed and girls returned to school in large numbers. But the Taliban was
never quite vanquished, and they frequently carried out terror groups against schools,
particularly in rural areas. Hundreds of schools were destroyed by them in 2017,
with thousands of children being killed or maimed in the attacks. The cities were safer - until 2021
when a US withdrawal led to the Taliban quickly taking power back again and starting to roll back
reforms. While they’ve made some comments about allowing increased rights for women,
all teachers and pupils are watching the events nervously and bracing for the worst.
It kind of puts that gang of bullies in your elementary school in perspective.
For more on dangerous schools,
check out “The Most Dangerous Schools in America” or watch this video instead.