Protecting Schools in Amhara: Disentangling Education Data to Target Emergency Response

Key takeaways

• Closures remain large; the latest count is the regional government's own. Amhara officials reported 2,445 of 11,069 schools still closed in October 2025 [9]. OHCHR reported at least 4,178 closed by January 2024 [2]. The two counts come from different sources and should not be read as a trend. The fourth school year since the conflict began opened in September 2026, during renewed fighting.

• Military use of schools has two measures, and they should not be merged. The UN verified 8 cases across Ethiopia in 2023–24: the ENDF 5, Tigrayan forces 1, unidentified 2 [5][6]. Its reports do not break these down by region. It verified none in 2025 [7]. Regional authorities report far higher figures, which the UN relays as allegations [2][9].

• Harm to education comes from more than one side. HRW reports that Fano abducted and threatened teachers to keep schools shut [10]. An ENDF drone strike near a school in Gedeb killed over 100 people in April 2025, according to ACLED; whether pupils were among them is not established [14]. Since 22 September 2026, schools were reported among the targets of air strikes in Alamata and Tigray [11][12].

The scale

Nationally, "as of November 2025, roughly 7.2 million children were out of school", according to the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies. It reports that over 9,000 schools "had been damaged by conflict or natural disasters", and that conflict "accounts for around 70% of all out-of-school children" [1].

For Amhara, the series is uneven, and each figure belongs to its source:

• OHCHR (January 2024): "At least 4,178 schools remained closed by January 2024 due to the conflict and as a result, about 2.6 million students and children across Amhara are out of school" [2].

• OCHA, citing the Education Cluster (as of early April 2024): the 4,178 closures were 41 per cent of the region's schools, and more than 4.1 million children were out of school "due to the ongoing clashes, drought, and other compounding factors" [3]. That figure is a different measure from OHCHR's 2.6 million.

• UNICEF (January 2025): 4.4 million children out of school in Amhara, citing causes that include conflict, violence, natural disasters and displacement [4].

• The Amhara Regional Education Bureau, as reported by OHCHR: enrolment fell from 6.2 million in 2022 to 2.9 million in 2023 [2].

• OHCHR: all ten universities in the region remained closed as of December 2023 [2].

These figures use different methods and should not be read as a trend. A federal Ministry of Education official, Yohannes Wogasso, said the UN figure did not reflect the ministry's own data, suggesting that "the discrepancy may arise from the fact that they are not collecting real-time data" [4].

The most recent closure figure comes from Amhara officials. In October 2025, "2,445 out of 11,069 schools remained closed, with over 1,000 utilized for non-educational purposes". By 10 September 2026, "over 4.7 million students—or 62 percent of the 7.6 million targeted" had registered for the 2026/27 year [9]. These are regional-government figures; no 2026 UN closure figure for Amhara was found as of 15 October. They predate the fighting that began on 22 September 2026.

Military use of schools: two measures

The UN's Children and Armed Conflict reports apply a verification standard, and report for Ethiopia as a whole, not by region:

• 2023: "Six schools were militarily used by the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (5) and Tigrayan forces (1)" [5].

• 2024: "Two schools were militarily used by unidentified perpetrators" [6].

• 2025: no verified case. The Secretary-General wrote: "I am encouraged by efforts leading to schools previously used for military purposes being vacated and a reduction in the number of children out of school" [7].

Across Ethiopia, the UN also verified 32 attacks on schools in 2023–24 [1][5][6], and 19 in 2025, all by unidentified perpetrators [7].

The second measure is administrative reporting, relayed by the UN with a caution:

• OHCHR's 2024 update lists the use of schools for military purposes among the ENDF's violations of international humanitarian law [2].

• It reports that "at least 39 schools were allegedly occupied and used by ENDF", citing the regional education bureau [2].

• It states that "Fano also reportedly occupied and used many schools in some locations in Amhara region for military purposes" [2].

• It relays a bureau report of over 300 schools in military use and 52 destroyed [2].

• OHCHR also relays an allegation, from a withheld source, that 552 schools in assessed districts of Tigray were occupied by Eritrean and Amhara forces [2].

• Nationally, the UN's 2024 report noted 1,182 reported instances of military use of schools pending verification [6]. GCPEA, recording a sharp national rise in reported military use in 2024–25, notes that it "was not possible to establish whether this rise is a result of increased reporting, or increased use of schools" [8]. Neither figure is broken down by region.

The verified count is a floor set by access and by the standard of proof. The administrative counts are a party's report. Both matter. Presenting the higher figures as UN findings, or the UN's small number as the whole picture, would mislead. The record does not support the claim that every armed actor has been shown to use schools militarily. The UN's verified cases, nationwide, name the ENDF and Tigrayan forces. Reports concerning Fano, Eritrean and Amhara forces are relayed allegations [2].

Teachers and pupils as targets

Human Rights Watch reports that in 2025 "Fano forces in towns in Gojjam Zones abducted and threatened teachers to prevent schools from opening". It also reports that on 20 March gunmen abducted and later killed four teachers in Merawi, "accusing them of violating a general strike called by Fano militia" [10]. GCPEA, citing Addis Standard, gives five teachers killed [8]. Earlier, Fano denied targeting teachers, while saying it opposed the reopening of some schools "for the safety of students and community" [4].

Strikes by government forces have also hit schools and their surroundings. ACLED reported that an ENDF drone strike in Gedeb town, East Gojjam, on 17 April 2025 "killed over 100 people" [14]. Witnesses told the BBC, as reported by Ethiopia Observer, that the victims had gathered for work at a primary school. The woreda administrator denied that civilians were killed and said the strike targeted Fano fighters [14]. Whether pupils were among the dead has not been established.

Since the war resumed, attacks on education have been reported on the Tigray–Amhara front:

• ACLED sources reported 15 to 17 drone strikes on Alamata (Raya, administered as Southern Tigray; claimed by Amhara) on 22 September, "with schools, a hospital and other locations among the reported targets" [11].

• OHCHR reported that ENDF airstrikes "reportedly hit five schools in Tigray" the same day [12]. Alamata lies in the zone Tigray administers, so the two reports may overlap.

• Amnesty International said it was "particularly alarmed by reports that civilian infrastructure, including several schools, has been damaged or targeted during aerial attacks", and that fighting in and around Maychew and Alamata had reportedly caused civilian casualties [13].

No closure data specific to North Wollo or Wag Hemra since 22 September was found as of 15 October.

Commitments and funding

Ethiopia has not endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration. It has been endorsed by 123 states, including Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Djibouti, Nigeria and Rwanda [15].

On funding, UNICEF reported an 84 per cent gap in the US$35.2 million education component of its 2026 Ethiopia appeal, as of 31 August 2026 [16]. In a reply to Lord Alton published on 10 October, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it had "consistently raised with all actors involved in the conflict the importance of ensuring safe and continued access to education and health services" [17].

Recommendations

• Government of Ethiopia. First, endorse the Safe Schools Declaration. Issue orders that forbid using schools for military purposes, and make them public. Give UN monitors the access needed to verify reports from Amhara.

• Amhara regional government. Publish the school-level data and method behind the October 2025 figures, including who is using the "over 1,000" schools put to non-educational use.

• The AFNM and all Fano formations. Stop abducting, threatening and punishing teachers. Do not enforce strikes against schools. Instruct commanders not to occupy schools, and say so publicly.

• The TPLF and Tigrayan forces, and the Tigray Peace Force. Keep forces out of schools on both sides of the Tigray–Amhara boundary, including in Raya and Wag Hemra.

• UN country task force on children and armed conflict. Verify the pending regional reports, and publish Amhara-specific data for 2026, including incidents since 22 September.

• Donors. Close the education funding gap. Support learning for children in areas where schools remain shut.