“After this warning, if the teacher continues to exercise their profession, they will be killed.”
A jihadist group’s first threat may come in the form of graffiti discovered one morning on the walls of the village school.
These few words spread fear for miles around. Any teacher who dares to defy the ban will not be able to take their eyes off the classroom window, fearing the arrival of armed men on motorbikes. Learners attending school despite the threat will be unable to concentrate.
The risk of armed raids is real. Between 2020 and 2021, more than 1,000 schools were targeted in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Buildings have been set on fire, and teachers have been raped, kidnapped and executed. At least eight teachers have been murdered in Burkina Faso since September last year.
Over the past four years, the closure of nearly 9,000 schools has deprived 1.7 million children of an
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