Attacks on Education

VO:

Broken windows, burned out classrooms and vandalized property stand as somber reminders of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which engulfed these once vibrant schools.

SOUNDBITE: Hrianyk Oleksandr Principal of School *62, Kharkiv

The building was hit by two artillery shells.

The Classroom was destroyed, all the windows and doors in all the classrooms, halls, and passages were blown out.

VO:

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, numerous schools and kindergartens were hit by airstrikes, artillery, and rockets.

Many were looted and ransacked.

SOUNDBITE:

I was lying on the floor in the basement, and I thought the building was going to collapse.

The enemy has brought us so much pain.

VO:

The war has killed, injured, and traumatized Ukrainian children.

It has also had devastating impact on their access to education.

Russian forces occupied schools, turning them into bases and barracks, where soldiers took shelter, launched military operations, stored weapons, and parked armored vehicles.

SOUNDBITE: Valentina Zarytska Principal, Kukhari School

Of course, we all, children, and parents, want our school to be restored.

We want to be able to work here again.

We want our life to get back to normal.

VO:

Russian soldiers scrawled graffiti on walls, expressing hatred and vitriol towards Ukraine and Ukrainians.

The looted computers and other equipment, which are war crimes.

In some cases, Russian military use of schools made them targets for Ukrainian attacks.

This school in Borodianka, Kyivska region was reduced to ruins after a battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian forces in some instances also used schools for military purposes, which may have increased the risk of Russian attacks.

Overall, thousands of schools have been damaged.

SOUNDBITE: Romaniuk Inna Director of Education, Borodianka

It was impossible to hold back the tears.

The school was destroyed, everything was ruined.

The classrooms were looted, no equipment was left.

It was a terrible situation.

VO:

Ukraine, unlike Russia, has endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration and instructed its forces to avoid using schools and kindergartens for military purposes.

Archive footage

We want peace, no more killing! (Repeat)

Voice Over

In October 2020, suspected armed separatists attacked the Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy in Kumba, South-West region of Cameroon, killing 7 children and injuring at least 13 others. It was one of more than 70 attacks on schools by armed separatists documented by Human Rights Watch and other international organizations since 2017 in the English-speaking regions of the country.

Mark

Teacher

For more than two years, I was not teaching because about 90% of the schools in the North-West and South-West were actually shut down, especially in rural areas like the one which I was working in Ekona.

Voice Over

Education has been a flash point in the Anglophone crisis. In late 2016 Cameroonian security forces began cracking down on teachers and lawyers protesting against what they considered to be marginalization of Anglophone education and legal systems. 

Since then, armed separatist groups have emerged. They have declared a boycott on schools that they violently enforce.

During the past 5 years of violence, nearly 600,000 people have been forced to leave their homes.

Mark

The separatists were targeting teachers, sometimes students. I’ve been fortunate to receive only threats, where others have received more than threats. Their fingers were actually cut off, many were kidnapped, some have been killed of course.

Voice Over

Leaders of separatist groups should immediately announce an end to the school boycott and should cease all attacks on schools, teachers, and students.

Cameroonian authorities should investigate and prosecute those responsible for attacks on students, teachers, and schools and establish a reparations program for the victims and their families.

They should also establish a task force on education to ensure that all students in Anglophone regions have access to safe and quality education.

Ben

Student

I was in Form 5 by that time preparing my ordinary levels examination. When the crisis started, the separatist fighters came to school, they warned us, we were all beaten. many of us have been injured. I was even having internal bleedings. they burned our administrative block and then they destroyed our documentation, so the school has to shut down since 2016, up to today.

Voice Over

According to the UN, 700,000 students are currently out of school in the Anglophone regions.

Felix Agbor Nkongho

Human Rights Lawyer

The first consequence to it is that our kids are not going to be educated. Ignorance will be running riot in our community. It would lead to teenage pregnancy, juvenile delinquency, and a culture where people don’t valorize education. But the worst thing is that it affects future generation of Anglophone Cameroonians, and it also has a psychological impact on their parents when kids are not going to school.

Voice Over

In September 2018, Cameroon endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an international political commitment aimed at strengthening the prevention of and responses to attacks on students, teachers, schools, and universities during times of violence and armed conflict.

Mark

There has been a mass exodus into the urban areas where school goes on. There’s some degree of security. The government and the schools are making some efforts to solve the issue of overpopulation. They are trying to build many classrooms rapidly so they can decongest some of the classes.

Ben

I arrived (in) Buea on the 22nd of February 2020. I started schooling. I’m studying sciences in school hoping to become a medical doctor, so I can better up my life and the life of my family and the people around my community, so I can save lives.