The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, says there has been a dramatic increase in violent attacks against students, schools and teachers over the past three years. <br/><br/>A UNESCO Report said the attacks many of which are politically or ideologically motivated are widespread with assassinations, bomb attacks and the burning of school being reported in at least thirty two countries. Since the first-ever study on the issue, entitled ‘Education under Attack,’ was published in 2007, the systematic targeting of students and teachers has been on the upswing, especially in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Thailand.<br/><br/>The report also pointed out that sexual violence continues to be perpetrated against schoolgirls and women in conflict areas, with incidents resulting from abduction and attacks at schools or during the journey to them having been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, Myanmar and the Philippines.<br/>