More than 2,400 Mali schools shut as new academic year opens amid worsening insecurity

Mali's 2026-2027 school year opened on 1 October with more than 2,400 schools unable to receive students, according to figures reported by RFI and repeated by Africanews. The precise figure is 2,444 schools closed out of 11,860 nationwide — over 20% — directly affecting 733,200 children and roughly 14,700 teachers. Africanews

The underlying data originates from Mali's Cluster Éducation, a coordination body combining the Ministry of Education with UNICEF, Save the Children and other sector NGOs, which published the figures in June 2026 ahead of the rentrée. Afrik.com and Studio Tamani attribute the same dataset to this cluster report, while RFI frames it as Education Ministry statistics and Africanews cites the Ministry directly — outlets describing the same underlying figures through slightly different institutional framing rather than offering independently gathered numbers. Afrik.com

The trend has escalated continuously since 2020: roughly 1,300 schools closed that year, around 1,800 in 2024, 2,036 by June 2025 per UNICEF, rising past 2,300 later in 2025, and now 2,444 in 2026 — a figure RFI described as a sad record broken every year. The geographic burden is sharply uneven: 84% of schools are closed in Kidal and 52% are non-functional in the Ménaka academy, regions under heavy JNIM, Islamic State Sahel Province and FLA pressure following the fall of Kidal and Tessalit to FLA and JNIM fighters on 25 April. In central Mali, Bandiagara, Douentza and Tenenkou are worst affected, while Ségou alone accounts for 506 closed schools. PressAfrik/RFI

Reporting describes closures as stemming from jihadist-imposed shutdowns, looting or destruction during attacks, teachers too afraid to take up posts, and schools sheltering displaced families — though no source quantifies precisely how much of the total stems from each cause. Authorities have not published a reopening plan or alternative-schooling programme alongside the rentrée; officials are described only as conditioning reopening on security improvements, and the figures being cited at the October rentrée still trace back to the June cluster survey rather than a fresh count.

The multi-year trajectory — nearly doubling since 2020 — signals continued erosion of state education provision in Mali's North and Center, widening the gap between the junta's declared 'Year of Education and Culture' and conditions on the ground. Absent a published reopening roadmap, humanitarian and education cluster actors are likely to remain the primary channel sustaining schooling access in the hardest-hit cercles.