In Burkina Faso, a quarter of schools are already closed due to the worsening fighting between the rebels and the government, so experts warn that the country is facing a serious crisis in the education field.
The number of closed schools in the country has increased by almost a third in the past year, to 6,149, which means that almost a million students are affected.
The situation in Burkina Faso is described by some as “the most neglected crisis in the world”. The country has been in the grip of violence for many years, which increased even more after last year’s coup d’état. The new military government has launched an offensive against armed groups, and allegations of human rights abuses have surfaced on both sides, the Guardian writes.
“Such a large number of children who do not attend school due to insecurity threatens the future of the next generation of citizens,” he said John Agborrepresentative at the Unicef organization. “Children who do not go to school are more likely to be forced into labour, recruited into armed groups or victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, gender-based violence or early marriage,” he warned.
In some places they attacked schools
A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and UN agencies stated that over the past four years, 13,200 schools have been closed in Central and West Africa due to security risks, half of them in Burkina Faso. The conditions in the schools that remained open are bad, and there are only a few teachers left.
Some schools in Central and West Africa have been closed due to the proximity of the fighting, while others have themselves been the target of attacks. In Nigeria, insurgents have attacked 52 schools since January, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where violence has increased sharply in the east of the country, 31.
Source: Rtvslo
