EI condemns attack on Peshawar school | WPN World People News

In a morning attack targeted at students, at least 100 people, 80 of them children, have reportedly been killed during a Taliban assault on a military-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Taliban gunmen from the group TTP - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan operatives, the same terror group that shot Pakistani student and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on her way to school in 2012 -have attacked an army-run school in north-west Pakistan. More than 100 people have been killed, most of them children attending grades 1-10, according to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A rescue operation is ongoing amid reports that children are being held hostage.

"It has never been acceptable for schools to be places of conflict and for children to be subject to violence simply because they want to learn. Education is opportunity and hope for building nations." has declared the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, adding that "no one has the right to deny a boy or girl their education and we will stand alongside the parents and the children against the Taliban‘s refusal to recognise every child has the right to education."

Schools under attack

According to the GCPEA, the Global Coalition for Protecting Education from Attack, of which Education International (EI) is a partner, war and conflict are preventing 28.5 million children from going to school: the biggest single reason 57.8 million children are out of school worldwide.

In recent years, the number of reported attacks on education has increased, with 9,500 attacks occurring between 2009 and 2013, according to the latest Education under Attack Report, published by the GCPEA earlier this year.

Education International urges the Pakistani authorities to ensure the safety of school children throughout the country. The journey to and from school, as well as schools, must be safe and secure to guarantee the best possible conditions for teaching and learning.

In 2009, EI adopted the Declaration ‘Schools Shall be Safe Sanctuaries’, which calls on the international community to increase efforts to prevent violations of the right to education, and to ensure the safety and security of learners, teachers and academics everywhere.

Source: Education International