10,000 violent attacks on schools in 4 years -Report

Between 2009 and 2013, there were
nearly 10,000 violent attacks on schools,
pupils and their teachers around the
world, a new report sponsored by the
United Nations has revealed.
However, the recent attack at the
Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi,
Yobe State only received a passing
mention in the report released in New
York, United States on Thursday.
The report is also silent on the gun
attacks in schools in the US in the
period under review just as it did not
capture the casualties recorded due to
the shootings of pupils and teachers in
Sandy Hook in the US in 2012.
Though it describes the attacks as
serious, it adds, "It is small in
comparison to the almost routine
violence in other countries."
According to the report, the most
dangerous places for education are
Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Colombia.
It indicates that the pupils and teachers
are not caught up in other violence, but
they are deliberately targeted because
they are involved in education.
"These are not cases of schools and
their staff just caught in the crossfire,"
says the director of the Global Coalition
to Protect Education from Attack, Diya
Nijhowne.
"They are bombed, burned, shot,
threatened, and abducted precisely
because of their connection to
education."
Identifying continents such as Africa,
Asia and South America as topping the
list, the report notes that 9,600 attacks
took place in 70 different countries.
"Pakistan witnessed the greatest
number of attacks," it adds. School
buildings were constantly being blown
up.
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai shot
in 2012 by Taliban opponents of girls'
education drew global attention.
Colombia, it states, is the most
dangerous place for teachers with 140
of them killed and a number of death
threats.
The report stresses that the attacks are
partly associated with ideology.
"In Nigeria, Islamic militants killed 29
pupils at a boarding school this past
week. This number is very different
from the 59 causalities reported by the
Nigerian media.
In Colombia, rival gangs and paramilitary
groups are the problem. In Iraq, there is
outright sectarian violence," the report
states.
It adds that 30 teachers were shot dead
in Nigeria last year, including some in
front of a class.
The report also dwells on the use of
facilities for education as places of
imprisonment and even torture. It also
mentions that school had been used as
training bases for militants.
Schools in Somalia and Syria, it states,
have been used as bases for snipers.
"Conversely, schools have been
targeted by heavy weapons fire,
including mortar and rocket attacks,
while students were still in school."
Conflict in Syria has seen deadly attacks
on schools too, including universities in
Aleppo and Damascus.
The perpetrators have included
government forces, armed insurgents,
terror groups and criminal gangs.
The study calls for the creation of "safe
zones" around schools and wants
combatants to recognise the need to
protect places of education.
"The killing not only spreads fear, it also
blights lives. The relentless destruction
of schools in some areas of conflict is
depriving whole cohorts of children of an
education," says the reports lead
researcher, Brendan O'Malley.
"There is a knock-on effect on social and
economic developments in places that
can least afford to be held back.
"Where the government lacks the
capacity or will to repair damaged
schools, the effects can be felt for years
after the attacks have happened."