The months-long conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has damaged a quarter of all schools. All fighting sides have been implicated for participating in looting and occupying of education buildings. Since fighting broke out in November 2020, thousands of people are estimated to have been killed, and two million displaced.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented attacks on schools after interviewing residents, teachers, parents and former students in a report released Friday. School children have been missing schooling for the past six months. Both sides have occupied, pillaged and damaged schools, damaging eclectic and water infrastructure in the school buildings in addition to burning chairs or destroying records. In one situation, the school won’t be functional for even the next year due to the damage sustained.
Read more: Schools in Ethiopia’s Tigray region pillaged, occupied: HRW