Overview
- The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack recorded at least 8,500 attacks on schools and universities in 2024–2025 that harmed more than 10,600 students, teachers, and staff across 83 countries.
- Reports of armed forces or groups using schools nearly doubled to about 1,900 documented cases, disrupting classes and raising risks of child recruitment and sexual violence.
- Roughly 300 incidents involved explosive weapons including drone-borne munitions that struck schools during class hours, killing and injuring pupils and educators and forcing long closures.
- The worst-hit countries include Palestine, Ukraine, Colombia, the DRC, Ethiopia, and newly profiled Haiti, with Gaza seeing near-total damage to school infrastructure by the end of 2025.
- GCPEA warns the totals likely undercount the real toll because of shrinking humanitarian access and information blackouts and calls on governments, U.N. agencies, and donors to adopt the Safe Schools Declaration and five urgent protection measures.