The twin evil of insecurity and lack of funds have become a setback to Malian children, as at least half a million of children in Mali are currently out of school.
There has been a shortfall for humanitarian funding in the country and 519,000 children are now out of school and have their future in jeopardy.
According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, the number of out-of-school children in the West African country has increased by 15% in the last one year.
“Outside the classroom, children are more vulnerable to early marriage, economic exploitation and recruitment by armed groups,” Maclean Natugasha, Country Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Mali said.
“We must keep the doors of the schools open to close those of the paths of poverty and violence.”
More than 1,700 schools have been forced to close down as a result of growing violence in the country. In the past two years, Malian schools, alongside Nigerian and Congolese schools have faced most attacks in Africa according to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack.
Emergency education has also been poorly funded in conflict zones with at least one in every ten schools in Mali closed to due to lack of infrastructure and violence. The Malian government has proven incapable of funding education in the country with its budget set at 2%, way off the 15% mark set by African leaders in 2001.