Save the Children reports that more than 3.5 million children in Ethiopia are out of school, making this one of the world’s biggest education crises.
It is a direct result of the wars that have raged in the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar areas for the past two years and the conflict that has gripped the entire country for the past four years.
The war has resulted in the destruction of schools, and students who live in areas that were in the middle of conflict are unable to attend school.
“The current humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia is one of the worst in recent memory. Conflict, hunger, and the impact of the climate crisis have forced millions from their homes, resulting in countless children being forced to drop out of school,” said Save the Children’s Country Director for Ethiopia, Xavier Joubert.
Recent reports from the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, Save the Children, and UNICEF detail extensive damage to educational facilities in the Tigray, Amhara, and Afar regions.
Approximately 9382 schools had either been completely or partially damaged across the country of Ethiopia, while 4262 schools had been closed as a result of armed conflicts and natural catastrophes, according to reports issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in the month of July of the previous year.
The situation is even more dire in Tigray, where 85 percent of schools have sustained major or partial damage and where all public institutions continue to be closed.
According to Save the Children, about 2.3 million children in the region have been unable to attend school for close to three years as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak, which was followed by two years of conflict.
More than 22,500 teachers have gone unpaid for more than two years in the Tigray region, reports indicate.
“It’s essential that school buildings that have been damaged or destroyed by the conflict are fixed, and that unpaid teachers receive an incentive for their work,” Joubert added.
Out of USD 161.4 million in funding requests made by UN agencies, about 0.4 percent is funded.