UN reports sharp rise in attacks on education as conflicts disrupt millions of pupils

A worsening global toll

Attacks on schools, students and education personnel have risen sharply as conflicts spread and intensify. Euronews, reporting for the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, cited 8,566 attacks on education or incidents involving military use of schools and universities during 2024 and 2025. The total was more than 40% higher than in the preceding two-year reporting period.

At least 10,600 students, teachers, university personnel and other education workers were harmed in those incidents. The United Nations separately said it verified 1,680 attacks on schools in 2025, a 33% annual increase. These figures describe different monitoring categories, so they should not be combined, but both point to a deterioration in the safety of learning environments.

Lost schooling has effects beyond missed lessons

War can close schools for months or years, scatter pupils across displacement routes and dismantle the systems that train and pay teachers. Accelerated learning and remote technology may help pupils recover some academic ground, but they cannot reverse trauma, bereavement or prolonged instability. Education recovery therefore requires psychosocial support, safe facilities and sustained staffing as well as condensed curricula.

The disruption stretches across major conflicts. Euronews highlighted damaged or closed schools in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza. The UN reported that more than eight million children and young people in Sudan remain outside school three years into the conflict. Its wider children-and-armed-conflict reporting found the highest numbers of grave violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia.

The UN’s proposed response

The United Nations is promoting a preventative action plan approved by UNESCO in April. It is designed to help education systems prepare for attacks, maintain learning during emergencies and rebuild afterward. Measures include assessing damage, establishing safe and inclusive learning spaces, supporting teachers, repairing schools and improving resilience before the next crisis.

Secretary-General António Guterres called on conflict parties to prevent attacks on educational institutions, comply with international law and ensure accountability. He also urged governments to implement the Safe Schools Declaration and finance education and reintegration programmes. The declaration is a political commitment to protect learners and limit the military use of educational facilities during armed conflict.

What to watch

The key test is whether governments turn annual observances into operational protection. Monitoring systems need resources to document attacks, while humanitarian programmes require predictable funding to keep displaced children learning. States must also address the growing role of drones and artificial intelligence in targeting, which the UN says raises risks of faster attacks, reduced human oversight and harm in densely populated civilian areas.