Record number of attacks on education, global fund warns

While September traditionally marks the start of the school year across the northern hemisphere, a staggering 93 million children are not in class at all amid an unprecedented number of attacks on learning, education experts warned on Wednesday.According to Education Cannot Wait, the global fund, insecurity and other factors mean that a total of 258 million children across 87 countries face severe learning disruption.Marking the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, the fund cited a backdrop of “increasing conflict, decreasing restraint and eroding global norms” in several regions.Easy prey for traffickers“When a child is denied schooling for years, the consequences are immediate and profound: it means forgotten literacy, lost routines and a future dictated by recruiters or traffickers, rather than teachers,” said Maysa Jalbout, Director of Education Cannot Wait, the global fund for education.According to a report partnered by the fund, attacks on education and the use of schools for armed conflict reached a record high in 2024 and 2025. The number of students and staff killed, injured, abducted, or otherwise harmed has never been higher, either.In the 28 countries pr...