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PART I — GLOBAL OveRvIeW
A teacher checks students’ chalk boards on the first day of the
reopening of schools on 4 February 2013, in Gao, in the north of
Mali. The majority of the school’s tables and benches were looted
during fighting in northern Mali in 2012 and early 2013.
© 2013 SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images
A particularly stark example of this problem was found
in Sierra Leone, prior to this study’s reporting period,
where pupils and teachers were abducted from
schools and where schools and symbols of education
were widely targeted for destruction: by the time the
decade-long conflict ended in 2002, 87 per cent of
schools were unusable due in part to damage caused
by attacks. Three years later, 60 per cent of primary
schools and 40 per cent of secondary schools still
required major rehabilitation or reconstruction. It is
not known for how many years during the conflict
those particular schools were out of use but the
figures suggest that entire cohorts of children in many
areas missed out on between three and 13 years of
schooling. 117
In those schools that do continue to operate after
attacks or threats of attack, the quality of the
education provided and the quality of the learning
experienced may be greatly reduced. A commonly
reported problem is teachers fleeing the area or giving
up their jobs. Similarly, students may be withdrawn
from school or not sent back to school because of
parental fears for their safety. Attacks on schools and
recruitment from schools may also be a reason for
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