Over 220 Schools Attacked, 61,000 Children Displaced, Education Becomes Another Casualty of War
PEMBA, Mozambique — When everything is stacked against you and your own school has become rubble, how do you hold onto your future? These are the thoughts that haunts thousands of children in Cabo Delgado province, where records show that over 220 schools have so far been attacked by Islamist insurgency since 2017.
The insurgency, which started in 2017 with attacks by various Islamist groups including Ansar al-Sunna and Islamic State Mozambique, created what civil society organisations now call “Ghost Schools”, educational facilities that have been abandoned, destroyed, or rendered non-functional due to violence.
Recent data shows that the attacks have forced over 150 schools to shutdown, with Chiúre district being the most affected, having 40 schools under lock. Although authorities managed to reopen 82 schools in districts like Palma, Mocímboa da Praia, and Macomia for the 2024 school year, the recovery remains fragile.
Children Bear the Brunt
The effects of the conflict on the children has been staggering. Within a 4-months period, December 2023 and March 2024 alone, over 100,000 individuals were displaced, out of which 61,400 are children who lost access to schooling. Since the conflict began, more than 1.3 million people have been forced from their homes.
Words of children from the affected areas paint a stark picture of the crisis. During a consultation with 184 children aged 12-17 in March 2021, a 16-year-old girl expressed the challenges facing her peers: “There are schools here but some of us do not go, because we lack school materials and uniforms, and there are no secondary schools.”
Another child spoke of losing essential documents: “I wish I could have my birth certificate and ID again. I lost them all,” highlighting how displacement has created additional barriers to accessing education.
Teachers face equally harrowing circumstances. A head teacher from Nangade district, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the impossible choices educators must make: “We teach under trees, but it’s not safe. One day we’re here, the next we’re fleeing again. How do you maintain a curriculum when you don’t know if you’ll have students tomorrow?”
Ideological Targeting of Education
These islamists have specifically targeted schools as part of their ideological campaign against secular education, which they view as anti-Islamic. In 2021 alone, 104 schools were destroyed, accounting for nearly 12% of the province’s educational infrastructure.
The violence has also seen the military use of educational facilities, with at least 12 cases reported in 2022-2023 of schools being repurposed for military operations, further complicating efforts to restore normal learning environments.
Cabo Delgado currently has around 1,600 schools, but many remain non-functional due to damaged infrastructure, leaving children in displacement camps and host communities without educational opportunities.
Psychological Trauma Compounds Crisis
Civil society organisations report widespread psychological trauma among displaced children. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has documented that many children are experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, and suicidal thoughts after witnessing violence and the destruction of their schools.
“Education is crucial for normalcy and protection from issues like early marriage,” said Chance Briggs, Save the Children’s Country Director for Mozambique, emphasising the broader protective role that schooling plays in children’s lives.
International Aid Falls Short
The response from international has been criticised as inadequate. A March 2024 social media post highlighted the severity of the situation: “The situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, is terrifying. There are at least 40,000 children at risk, many fleeing terrorism alone to very precarious refugee camps, with huge deficits in international aid.”
The displacement has created a complex humanitarian crisis where families living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or with host families face limited access to healthcare, livelihoods, and education, increasing children’s vulnerability to child labor, early marriage, and potential recruitment by armed groups.
Regional Pattern of Education Under Attack
The targeting of schools in Cabo Delgado mirrors a broader regional crisis. This same tactics have been employed by Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria, where over 1,400 schools have been destroyed since 2009, and by extremist groups in Mali and Burkina Faso. The weaponisation of education has become a hallmark of insurgent strategy across the Sahel and East Africa.
The Southern African Development Community has acknowledged the threat to regional stability, with SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi stating that “the crisis in northern Mozambique threatens not just local development, but the educational foundations of an entire generation.”
Long-term Development Impact
The collapse of education threatens the region’s future development prospects. The conflict, rooted in socio-economic struggles, unemployment, and grievances over resource governance, particularly following the discovery of natural gas and rubies, has created a cycle where the lack of education sustains the conditions that fuel insurgency.
The destruction of schools, with churches, homes, and health centres, has aggravated cycles of poverty and underdevelopment in a region that had been poised for economic growth due to its natural resource wealth.
Security Response Shows Mixed Results
International military support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has helped stabilise some areas, allowing for the cautious reopening of schools in previously insurgent-controlled territories. However, new attacks continue to force school closures even as others attempt to reopen.
What Must Be Done
Ending Cabo Delgado’s education crisis requires coordinated action across multiple levels. Mozambican authorities must prioritise the protection of educational facilities and ensure adequate security for schools attempting to reopen. This includes establishing safe corridors for students and teachers in affected areas.
The SADC and other regional bodies need to expand their mandate beyond military intervention to include educational reconstruction, providing both funding and expertise for rebuilding school infrastructure and training displaced teachers.
International partners must significantly increase humanitarian support, focusing on mobile schools for displaced populations, psychosocial support programs, and flexible education models that can operate despite ongoing insecurity. The current funding gap leaves thousands of children without hope of returning to formal education.
The insurgency has attracted a lot of international attention due to its threat to regional stability and the strategic importance of Cabo Delgado’s natural gas resources, yet the humanitarian response has struggled to keep pace with the scale of displacement and need.
What Next?
Addressing the crisis requires more than military intervention. As civil societies have emphasised, significant investment in educational infrastructure, psychosocial support, and sustained international aid will be necessary to rebuild and protect the right to education for Cabo Delgado’s children.
The “Ghost Schools” of northern Mozambique stand as stark reminders of how conflict can destroy not just buildings, but the hopes and futures of an entire generation. With over 61,400 children currently out of school due to recent displacement alone, the window for preventing a “lost generation” continues to narrow.
The situation in Cabo Delgado represents one of Africa’s most severe education emergencies, where the fundamental right to learn has become a casualty of ideological violence and international neglect. Whether these Ghost Schools can be brought back to life will determine not just the future of individual children, but the long-term stability and development of northern Mozambique itself.
This report is based on comprehensive research including data from Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières, ACAPS, Human Rights Watch, and other humanitarian organisations working in Cabo Delgado province.
