War worsened children education in Mali

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says the French-led war in Mali has worsened the educational situation of children in the West African country.

On January 11, France launched a war on Mali under the pretext of halting the advance of fighters who had taken control of the north of the African nation. The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany, and Denmark have voiced support for the move.

“Many teachers have failed to return to the north and already overcrowded schools in the south cannot cope with the influx of displaced students from the north,” UNICEF said in a statement on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Francoise Ackermans, UNICEF Representative in Mali added that “When a teacher is afraid to teach and when a student is afraid to go to school, the whole education is at risk.”

This comes as Malian Education Minister Bocar Moussa Diarra said only one on three schools in northern Mali is working.

The minister noted that in the northern town of Kidal, all schools are closed while just five percent of schools in the city of Timbuktu have reopened.

“In Gao, only 28 percent of teachers have resumed work,” he said, adding that “hundreds of schools need to be built or rehabilitated, and equipped with school canteens.”

The French-led war on Mali has caused a serious humanitarian crisis in northern areas of the country, displacing thousands of people, who now live in deplorable conditions.

The people of northern Mali say the French war and the ruling junta are blocking the flow of humanitarian assistance to the war-affected areas.