The number of politically and ideologically motivated attacks on teachers, students, and school buildings is rising, according to a report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.
The report is the second such study by the Paris-based organization; the first report was issued in 2007. The latest version gives no figure for the overall number of attacks against educators around the world, but it cites rising numbers of such incidents from January 2007 to July 2009 in 32 countries.
In Afghanistan, for instance, UNESCO finds that the number of attacks on schools, students, and staff members nearly tripled, rising from 242 in 2007 to 670 in 2008. In India, the report says, nearly 300 schools were reportedly blown up by Maoist rebels between 2006 and 2009.
A companion report, Protecting Education from Attack: A State-of-the-Art Review, offers recommendations on curbing such attacks.
