Attacks On Educational Institutes Surged Over 40% In 2024-2025: Report

Attacks on schools, universities and education personnel rose sharply across the world in 2024 and 2025, with more than 8,500 incidents recorded globally. The report, by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), links the rise in attacks to increasing conflicts, decreasing restraint and the erosion of global norms in several regions.  

The report, Education Under Attack 2026, recorded at least 8,566 attacks on education during the two-year period, marking an increase of more than 40% compared with 2022 and 2023. At least 10,600 school and university students, teachers, professors and other education personnel were killed, injured, abducted, arrested or otherwise harmed in attacks across 83 countries.

According to the report, attacks on schools remained the most common form of violence against education, accounting for more than 3,000 incidents. These attacks were reported in nearly all countries covered by the study.

The highest number of attacks on education was recorded in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Palestine and Ukraine. Ukraine witnessed around 900 attacks on schools during the reporting period, while at least 2,400 attacks targeting students, teachers and education staff were recorded in Palestine.

The report highlighted the growing use of explosive weapons, including drone-delivered munitions, in attacks on educational institutions during 2024 and 2025. These attacks caused casualties, damaged school infrastructure and forced the closure of educational facilities in several conflict-affected regions.

GCPEA recorded the use of explosive weapons in at least 1,200 attacks across 21 countries. The report also identified more than 320 drone-related attacks on education, which killed or injured nearly 300 students and education personnel, while at least 250 schools were damaged or destroyed by drone strikes.

The report recorded more than 1,900 cases of schools and universities being used by military forces in 2024 and 2025, nearly double the number documented during the previous reporting period. Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia each reported more than 100 such incidents.

Myanmar, Nigeria, Yemen and Cameroon reported the highest number of casualties linked to attacks on education. Together, these countries accounted for more than 1,700 students and staff killed or injured. In Nigeria, over 700 students and education personnel were reportedly kidnapped, while Myanmar recorded at least 80 deaths and around 240 injuries among students and staff.

The study highlighted the impact of these attacks on vulnerable groups. In at least 11 countries, women and girls were specifically targeted because of their gender - Afghanistan, Cameroon, CAR, Colombia, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Sudan, Sudan, and Yemen. Students with disabilities were also affected.

According to GCPEA Director Lisa Chung Bender, the report's results raised concerns about the threat to education. “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,” she was quoted as saying by The Guardian.