Why collect and report data on attacks on education?

Overview of the Toolkit:

Rationale and aims

Who can benefit from the Toolkit?

Improved understanding of attacks on education

A first step to better understanding the scope and impact of attacks on education is to strengthen the quality of data and enhance data analysis and reporting from the ground up. In emerging situations of concern, as well as in contexts where structured data collection systems already exist, targeted efforts can contribute to a better national and global understanding of the scope and impact of attacks on education.

Deeper grasp of the impacts on students, educators, and facilities

Beyond data collection, the Toolkit strengthens analyses of short- and longer-term impacts of attacks on education. The Toolkit highlights where other types of education data can be analyzed alongside data on the incidents of
attacks on education in order to conduct such analyses. For example, the proportion of schools damaged or destroyed in a region or country by attacks, the number of girls impacted by attacks on schools over a specified time period, the number of school days lost due to military use of schools in a year, and so on.

Enhanced insights into trends and patterns

The Toolkit’s indicators serve to strengthen and systematize data on
perpetrators, the types of weapons used to carry out attacks, geographic location, and types of schools attacked or used for military purposes. The Toolkit also helps strengthen and systematize reporting of cross-cutting attacks, such as child recruitment and sexual violence by armed actors at, or on the way to or from, a school, by encouraging fine-grained data collection and disaggregated reporting. When available, these details can be analyzed to discern trends and patterns in attacks.

Further implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration

The Toolkit supports the implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, which includes a commitment to strengthen monitoring and reporting of attacks on education. When better data and analyses exist, governments and partners can more easily reach the Declaration’s other commitments. They are better equipped to prevent and respond to attacks, to raise funds to support programming for conflict-affected learners and educators, and to provide targeted support to different levels of education and genders of students and educators.