Children in Mali go back to school after three years of conflict

Six-year-olds at a primary school in Gao in Mali国产视频檚 north Picture: UNICEF/Phelps

Schools in a town in Mali have reopened their doors to hundreds of students three years after they were closed because of conflict.

Three schools in Kidal are holding classes again 国产视频� but other school re-openings in the north of the country were postponed.

Kidal student Aghaly Ag Ousmane said: 国产视频淚t has been about three years that there国产视频檚 been no work and no school. After three years, I国产视频檓 really happy that everyone, the children, the younger kids, are going back to school.国产视频�

Since 2012, the region has been controlled by Islamist militants, then Tuareg separatists and then nationalist and French forces. But separatists control Kidal and 国产视频� after a treaty to end a decades-old clan feud 国产视频� they said it was now safe for children to return to school.聽

Some planned school reopenings were cancelled due to anti-government protests and the main teachers国产视频� union demanding military protection for its members.

Fran Equiza, Mali representative for the United Nations children国产视频檚 agency UNICEF, said: 国产视频淲e still have more than 10 schools in the north which are occupied (by armed groups). We can国产视频檛 say for certain than in three to four months all will be open.国产视频�

Alidji Ibrahim, 12, at a preparatory gateway class in Timbuktu聽Picture: UNICEF/Dicko

There are 600,000 children out of school in Mali. The education system has been severely disrupted since the end of 2011 because of conflict in the north of the country.

Last year, the Mali Ministry of Education said聽at least 800,000 children had been affected by the crisis. Many schools in the north were shut down. Teachers fled from the fighting and children were displaced, facing overcrowded classrooms or being in temporary learning spaces.

But a report later in 2014 said the education ministry 国产视频� in collaboration with UNICEF and Mali Education Cluster partners 国产视频� directly supported the return to school of 437,850 children, including more than 174,000 students in the northern regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu.

It said that for the 2013-2014 academic year聽the Back to School聽campaign supported the reopening of 75% of schools in the conflict-affected areas.

The ongoing violence in Mali has meant 3.1 million people face serious hunger, of whom 410,000 need urgent aid, according to UNOCHA (United Nations Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs).