When war takes away the classroom, can children ever catch up?

Attacks on education have surged worldwide. Education Above All Foundation's Dr Maleiha Malik says keeping children learning is possible, but conflict-caused damage cannot be undone easily. For millions of children living through conflict, war can mean months or even years away from the classroom. From Ukraine to Sudan and Gaza, schools have been damaged or closed and education systems disrupted. As the world marks the International Day to Protect Education from Attack on 9 September, the latest Education Under Attack report says at least 8,566 attacks on education and incidents involving the military use of schools and universities were recorded in 2024 and 2025. That represents an increase of more than 40% compared with the previous reporting period, with at least 10,600 students, teachers, professors and other education personnel harmed. For Education Above All Foundation Executive Director Dr Maleiha Malik, the numbers point to consequences that can follow children long after the fighting stops. “The impact of that is devastating,” Dr Malik told Euronews. Dr Malik said the damage goes beyond school buildings, affecting entire education systems and potentially feeding “long-term poverty and cycles of violence”. ‘We can't compensate for the damage’ One of the biggest questions is what happens to children who have already missed months or years of education. Dr Malik says accelerated learning programmes and technology can help close some of those gaps, but there are limits to what can be recovered. “We can have some accelerated learning, they can catch up, but I don't want to give the impression that there is any way we can compensate for the damage that conflict causes. We can't.” According to her, the COVID-19 pandemic showed both the cost of disrupted education and how learning can continue when children cannot physically be in a classroom. “During COVID we were able to look at new technologies, ways of delivering learning outside the traditional paradigm of a school building,” Dr Malik said. But catching up academically is only part of the challenge. “Even before we think about knowledge gaps, learning gaps, we have to think about that child as a whole,” she said, stressing the need to address trauma and the emotional impact of conflict. ‘An alarming red line’ Malik also pointed to the sharp rise in attacks on education. “A 40% increase isn't just a small increase, it's a surge,” she said. Citing a recent UN report on children and armed conflict, Malik pointed to the role of government forces in attacks on schools as one of the most concerning developments. “I think the really alarming red line we've crossed this year is that government forces have crossed the line and are willing to use extreme state violence to attack schools, to attack education.” “We haven't seen it to this level,” Dr Malik added, highlighting what she described as a greater willingness by states to risk attacking civilian targets and infrastructure. Conflict closer to home Dr Malik said the impact of regional conflict is also being felt by children in Qatar and other Gulf countries. She said children have had to become familiar with rocket fire and interceptions, sudden school closures, airports shutting down, and flights being grounded. “Clearly, that is a kind of constant interference, constant stress, anxiety for children,” she said, adding that it can have psychosocial and emotional effects on children, parents and teachers. For parents trying to explain what is happening, Dr Malik recommended being honest without unnecessarily alarming children and using age-appropriate language. International law is meant to protect schools and civilians during war. But as attacks on education rise, Dr Malik said the international system is falling short. “You can't help but reach that conclusion,” she said. “I think there's a huge failure in terms of the international community.” She argued that the answer is not to abandon international institutions, but to strengthen them. “I'm more determined than ever and would call for a strengthening of our commitment to multilateralism as a way of bringing about peace rather than war," Dr Malik concluded.