Violence caused by Boko Haram keeping more than 1 million children out of school

More than one million children in Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger are unable to attend school due to Boko Haram's insurgency across the region.

"It's a staggering number," Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's West and Central Africa Regional Director, said in a statement. "The conflict has been a huge blow for education in the region, and violence has kept many children out of the classroom for more than a year, putting them at risk of dropping out of school altogether."

On Monday, UNICEF announced that about 600 teachers have been killed in Nigeria due to the conflict, which has displaced millions of people, and just one of the 135 schools that closed down in northern Cameroon re-opened this year, Time reports. Already, 11 million children don't have access to an education in the region, and in an attempt to get some kids learning, UNICEF has distributed educational materials to 132,000 children and set up temporary school spaces for 67,000. The agency said it has only received 44 percent of the funding it needs to provide humanitarian relief for children in the area.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up