More than one million students have been affected by jihadist exactions as of December 31, 2022.The security crisis continues to affect the education sector in Burkina Faso. As of December 31, 2022, a total of 6,253 schools have been closed due to insecurity. These figures appear in the latest monthly statistical report on Education in Emergency Situations (ESU) data for December 31, 2022.

Between the end of November and the end of December, 679 educational structures, according to the ESU, were closed due to jihadist activities, bringing the total number of closed schools to 6,253.

These represent approximately 23.88% of the country’s educational facilities. At the regional level, the Sahel has the highest number of closed schools (18.81%) followed by the Boucle du Mouhoun (18.45%).

The number of pupils affected rose from 977,187 to 1,076,155, i.e. almost 100,000 more pupils in one month, from the end of November to the end of December. Only 258,516 of them were re-enrolled elsewhere and 817,639 others are currently deprived of education.

The ST-ESU report noted that 31,594 teachers are affected by the security crisis. Of these, 6,327 were redeployed in December 2022 to other locations.

According to the same report, the number of schools hosting internally displaced students (IDPs) rose from 6,459 at the end of November to 6,707 at the end of December, an increase of 248 schools hosting IDPs. In the case of relocated schools, the number at the end of November was 315, rising to 373 at the end of December, an increase of 58 schools.

The education sector has been hard hit by the security crisis since the start of the jihadist insurgency in 2015.