As Burkina Faso commences a new academic year on Monday, UNICEF reports that over one million children and 31,000 teachers have been unable to resume their education due to the prevailing violence and insecurity in the West African nation.
UNICEF reports that approximately 6,100 schools, which is at least one in four schools, remained closed on the first day of the school year.
The junta that took control through a military coup last year has faced challenges in enhancing security within the country. In fact, data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a crisis-monitoring group based in the United States, reveals that nationwide violence has continued to escalate since the coup.
“Having so many children still unable to return to school due to violence and insecurity, and so many schools closed, is very upsetting,” John Agbor, UNICEF Representative in Burkina Faso, said in the statement.
Burkina Faso has been grappling with the challenge of curbing Islamist insurgents associated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State, who have inflicted casualties in the thousands and forced the displacement of over two million individuals in the country, with more than half of them being children.
UNICEF reports that a total of over 3.8 million children in Burkina Faso, including those in conflict-affected areas, are yet to resume their schooling. The organisation further mentioned that it is collaborating with authorities and various partners to support access to education, including initiatives like radio-based learning programs.
The violence is a component of a regional insurgency that has also affected neighbouring Mali and Niger, where conflict has disrupted the education of children for several years in one of the world’s most impoverished regions.
