Education Crises: School Closures, Dropouts, Access Gaps

Sudan is facing one of the world’s most severe education emergencies, driven by the war between the SAF and RSF and the collapse of basic services. UNICEF and related UN reporting describe nearly all school-aged children as unable to access quality learning, while Save the Children said in January 2026 that children had already missed nearly 500 days of learning since the conflict began in April 2023. Recent sources indicate that the scale remains extreme but the exact number of out-of-school children varies by source and date: UNICEF-linked reporting cited figures of about 17 million school-aged children affected, while UNESCO reported 19 million children out of school and the Education Cluster said the majority of schools are in active conflict or unstable zones. The most affected areas include Khartoum, Darfur, and North Darfur, where Save the Children reported only 3% of more than 1,100 schools open, and the crisis is also affecting displaced families across borders in neighboring countries. The education emergency is tightly linked to the wider humanitarian disaster: over 11 million people have been displaced, more than 25 million face acute hunger, and schools have been damaged, destroyed, occupied, or turned into shelters. Teachers have also been displaced or unpaid, worsening learning loss and increasing risks for children including recruitment, child labor, early marriage, exploitation, and malnutrition.

Sudan’s war has driven one of the world’s worst education emergencies, with UNICEF and UNESCO reporting that about 19 million children are out of school and that schools across the country have been closed, damaged, or turned into shelters since the conflict began in April 2023. Save the Children said in January 2026 that children had lost nearly 500 days of learning, and that more than 8 million children had missed about 484 days of classroom time, underscoring how prolonged the disruption has become. The crisis is nationwide but is especially severe in conflict-heavy and displacement-heavy areas, including North Darfur, West Kordofan, South Darfur, West Darfur, Khartoum, Darfur, and Kordofan, where schools remain closed or partially functional and displaced families are using school buildings for shelter. The Education Cluster reported that 54% of schools are in active conflict or unstable zones and 18% are being used as shelters, while UNICEF-linked reporting says more than 90% of school-age children have no access to formal education; UNICEF also said its education response faces a US$92 million funding gap to get children back to learning.

Tanzania’s education sector was disrupted after the disputed 29 October 2025 general elections, when protests, a nationwide internet blackout, and a 24-hour lockdown limited movement and access to schools, colleges, universities, and public transport. Human Rights Watch reported that the government imposed nationwide restrictions from 29 October to 3 November and that schools were closed during the unrest, while FIDH said authorities had closed schools, colleges, and public offices nationwide under a strict curfew and roadblocks. The disruption was most visible in Dar es Salaam and other cities where protests and security operations were concentrated, and reporting also showed that the reopening of universities scheduled for 3 November was postponed indefinitely. DW and other outlets reported that students were told to stay home, and BBC reported that schools were closed and public transport services were suspended, which would have made attendance difficult even where schools were not formally shut. As of the latest available reporting in March-April 2026, the broader crisis remained unresolved in terms of accountability and casualty totals: Human Rights Watch documented 31 bystander killings and said credible information suggested 19 more such deaths, while an appointed government commission later reported 518 deaths from the protests. The education-specific disruption appears to have been concentrated in late October and early November 2025, but the available sources do not provide a verified national count of school closures or a ministry-wide suspension order.

Education in Tigray, Ethiopia remains deeply disrupted despite the reopening of schools in May 2023. The European Commission said around 2.4 million school-aged children were denied education for three academic years and that 88% of school infrastructure was damaged; it also reported that only 40% of school-aged children had enrolled after reopening. Official and humanitarian reporting continues to describe poor school conditions, shortage of teaching and learning materials, and limited capacity to bring students back into classrooms. More recent assessments indicate that damage and access problems are still severe. The UK government’s December 2024 country note cited UN and cluster reporting that 22% of schools in assessed districts were occupied by Eritrean and Amhara forces and 4.2% were occupied by internally displaced people, with nearly 400 schools in western, southern, and north-western Tigray still inaccessible in some areas. Addis Standard also reported that only 660,000 students registered when schools reopened in 2023 out of an anticipated 2.4 million, leaving about 77% out of school, while thousands of teachers remained unaccounted for and many schools in western and southern areas were still inaccessible.

Myanmar’s education crisis remains severe in 2024–2025, driven by the 2021 military coup, ongoing conflict, and repeated attacks on schools. UNICEF said 3.7 million school-aged children lacked access to learning due to conflict and insecurity, while a July 2024 report quoted the junta’s own education figures showing more than 13,700 of 48,753 public schools were closed nationwide; in Chin State only 38 of about 1,500 schools remained open, and Sagaing Region had more than 4,200 closures. The crisis is compounded by the displacement of 2.7 million people, including children, and by a severe shortage of teachers and other education staff. Violence against education facilities has continued to intensify. Reporting in late 2024 cited 245 attacks on schools in 2022–23, 190 schools commandeered by the military, and 174 reports of serious violence against schools as of July 2024; Myanmar Witness attributed the military to 90 of 113 primary-dataset cases. Other reporting found that around 30% of teachers have been dismissed or are participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement, further limiting access to public schooling, while over 130,000 government teachers were still refusing to work for the military regime in 2024.

Nigeria remains one of the world’s largest education emergencies, with UNICEF reporting about **18.3 million** out-of-school children and major inequalities in access, attendance, and completion. The crisis is driven by poverty, insecurity, displacement, weak school funding, and overcrowded classrooms, and it is most severe in northern states and other fragile areas where attacks and fear of violence continue to disrupt schooling. Recent reporting continues to frame the issue as both a humanitarian and economic crisis: children who miss years of schooling are at higher risk of lifelong exclusion from formal work, child labor, early marriage, and recruitment by armed groups, while Nigeria loses future human capital and productivity. UNICEF Nigeria’s education programming remains focused on expanding access, improving learning, and supporting vulnerable children, but available sources do not show a rapid reduction in the scale of the crisis yet.