War and terrorism in Africa: school on borrowed time (by Daouda MANE) March 15, 2026
From the first hours of the Israeli-American bombings on Tehran, a school was pulverized. In Israel too, this war led to the closure of schools. A serious situation since this war is set to be longer than the previous one which lasted only twelve days.
In the Gaza Strip, hundreds of schools and hospitals were also reduced to rubble by Israeli bombs. In the Sahel, many educational establishments have borne the brunt of jihadist attacks. Ditto in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo in particular), in Sudan… where endless wars rage.
In Nigeria, in addition to attacking schools, jihadists do not hesitate to kidnap girls, most of them minors, to put more pressure on parents and the central government or to make them sexual objects.
In Senegal, particularly in Casamance, the crisis had a negative impact on the school system, the villages often being abandoned by the populations or quite simply it was the teachers who fled the conflict zones.
These few examples serve as a reminder of how crises (war, jihadism, etc.) devastate the education system, because they cause the closure of thousands of schools and massive dropouts with the risk of forced recruitment of children. But we often forget the most pernicious consequence: the trauma of students and children.
In some areas, teachers are targeted, threatened or killed. This can accentuate the shortage of teachers in a continent where the deficit of teachers is glaring, given the strong demographic growth. For example, in Senegal, this deficit is estimated at “6,529 teachers”, according to the authorities. This shortage is distributed between “4,313 teachers needed at the preschool and elementary level, and 2,216 at the secondary level.” (Cf. Education International: https://www.ei-ie.org, February 2025).
On the continent, the deficit is estimated at “15 million teachers by 2030”. (Source: Le Quotidien of October 31, 2025). The shortage is more serious globally. Because, according to UNESCO, “education systems around the world urgently need 44 million primary and secondary teachers by 2030”. (Cf. UNESCO, World Teacher Report, February 2024).
This means that today, more than ever, the right to education (which is a fundamental right) is increasingly being sacrificed. For example, in Burkina Faso, as of December 31, 2021, “more than 3,200 schools, particularly at the primary and secondary level, were closed due to terrorist attacks and/or threats. Thus, more than 511,220 students are deprived of education.” (Source: Action Education, February 4, 2022).
In the Sahel region, the Burkinabè education system is not the only one to pay the costs of terrorism. “The Sahel region, on the border of Mali and Niger, concentrates the greatest number of closed establishments (28.90%), followed by that of the East (24.72%),” continues Action Education.
According to Think Tank Wathi, growing insecurity in West and Central Africa has led to an increase in the number of attacks on schools. Thus, at the start of 2021, “nearly 5,000 schools were closed in affected areas in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, in the Far North of Cameroon, in the Lac province of Chad and in the North-Eastern regions of Nigeria, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of education and exposing them to increased risks of exploitation and abuse.
Furthermore, when schools remain open, teachers, students and their families are afraid, live in daily fear of being attacked and kidnapped and prefer to withdraw or abandon schools. In Mali for example, between 58% and 100% of schools, depending on the region, are closed not because they were specifically attacked, but rather out of fear of attacks and reprisals. (Wathi: https://www.wathi.org, July 19, 2024).
Should we remember, as the Association for the Development of Education in Africa points out, that conflict situations should not suspend children’s right to education? The choice is simple for the continent: educate its youth or perish.
