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EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2014MotivesAlthough the study focuses on deliberate attacksagainst students, education personnel and facilities,the inclusion of incidents among the data presentedin the study is not dependent on establishing motive,since this is difficult to prove in many cases throughsimple data collection unless there are published orpublicly broadcasted orders or threats. Instead, datacollection has focused on the type of target and effector likely effect. However, motives have been includedin the analysis when they are sufficiently clear or couldbe reasonably inferred from the data.PerpetratorsThe types of perpetrator covered by the study includearmed forces (including international armed forces),police forces, intelligence services, paramilitaries andmilitias acting on behalf of the state, and armed nonstategroups, including rebel forces or any other armedmilitary, ethnic, political, religious or sectarian group.Perpetrators may also include violent mobs that arenot organized as an armed group but are animated bysimilar motives. Although the study does not generallyinclude attacks of a criminal nature, it does look at thephenomenon of attacks by armed organized criminalgroups, including drug cartels, and the impact ofrelated security operations in those situations whereviolence is widespread and there is a pattern ofattacking education targets. These are included wherethe criminal organizations operate on a scale comparableto some armed groups, using military gradeweapons, seeking to control or dominate areas ofterritory, perhaps provoking a military response, orextending their violence beyond pure criminality toinclude political targets.SchoolsFor the purposes of this study, ‘school’ is often used asshorthand for a recognizable education facility orplace of learning. In other places, the short form‘schools and universities’ is used to refer to the wholegamut of early learning centres, schools, colleges anduniversities.Students‘Student’ refers to anyone being taught or studying atany level, from kindergarten to university, or in adultlearning, in both formal and non-formal programmes.Criteria for including country profilesA significant number of attacks on education occur incountries where there is conflict. But incidents,notably those targeting higher education, also occurin countries not affected by conflict, particularly thosewhere fundamental freedoms are restricted.Therefore, the focus of the study is not restricted tosituations of armed conflict.Although all countries where known attacks have beencommitted during the reporting period are included inthe study, only those countries in which a minimumthreshold of attacks has been documented areanalysed in depth in the Country profiles section of thestudy. The threshold is an approximate measure,referring to countries where at least five incidents havetaken place or five people have been harmed, andwhere either at least one of those incidents is a directattack on a school or university or at least one student,teacher or academic has been killed from 2009 to2013.Criteria for categorizing intensity of attacksWhere the study uses aggregate figures for the period2009-2012, including in the maps, it does so becausethese are the years for which data have been collectedsystematically, whereas for 2013 only data for keyincidents up to September have been collected.Use of education dataThe statistical information on enrolment and literacyrates in profiled countries should be treated withcaution, especially in the case of those countries thathave experienced considerable disruption due toarmed conflict, insecurity or instability. Thoughformally correct, such statistical data may containoutdated information and may not capture with fullaccuracy the actual educational situation of a countryor of a particular area where attacks are occurringwithin a country.35