Schools As Battlegrounds
We warn you to leave your job as a teacher as soon as possible otherwise we will cut the heads off your children and shall set fire to your daughter
- Letter to Afghani teacher from Taliban insurgents
These threats, in a letter from Taliban insurgents to an Afghani teacher, are emblematic of the deteriorating situation for teachers and students in many parts of the world. Between March and October 2010, for example, 20 schools in Afghanistan were attacked using explosives or arson, and insurgents killed 126 Afghani students.
These and other atrocities were documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a new “school battleground”report, which was released as part of the organization’s annual human rights survey summarizing conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide.
Of countries where attacks upon school buildings, teachers and students occur, Afghanistan probably has the highest profile – students sprayed with gunfire, “girls doused with acid.” Nevertheless, the report makes clear