The United Nations says attacks on schools worldwide are on the rise, with more than 500 attacks in the first six months of the year, many of them in war zones.
Virginia Gamba, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told a U.N. Security Council meeting that 2017 might be a record year for the number of schools bombed and destroyed.
In 2016, Gamba said the United Nations was able to verify 753 attacks on schools and hospitals. But she said the actual number is likely much higher because many places are too dangerous for U.N. staff to enter.
She said a new pattern of attacks has emerged in recent years that have targeted school children, teachers and education facilities. She said this could have happened because schools are seen as a symbol of the state or armed groups are unhappy with the school's curriculum.