• Conflict and education

Conflict and education

The deliberate use of force on educational institutions, students, teachers, academics, education trade unionists, education officials are on the rise globally. The worst-affected are countries that are witnessing ongoing conflict. The paper finds that the targeted violence - which is often for political, military, ideological, sectarian, ethnic or religious reasons - disrupts and undermines the provision of education, access to education and the quality of education in the following ways:

• pupils and staff stay at home because of fear of further attacks
• pupils and staff flee the area or country for fear of being targeted
• buildings, materials and resources are destroyed or damaged
• forced recruitment or voluntary enlistment of child soldiers prevents children from going to school
• physical removal by abduction, detention or disappearance prevents teachers and students from going to school or university
• murders and assassinations deny students their teacher and they may be irreplaceable in some areas
• psychological trauma, fear and stress, caused by any of the above, hinder learning and teaching, affecting attention, motivation and attendance of both students and staff

The study suggests that understanding the impact of such attacks is crucial to attempts to achieve Education for All given that up to 40 per cent of the 77 million or more children in the world who are not attending school can be found in countries affected by conflict. It argues that traditional policies for preventing attacks such as providing armed guards or escorts to school or giving weapons training to teachers are inadequate and calls for the international community to take greater responsibility in pressing parties in conflict to end attacks on education. The paper recommends that the international community can do this in three main ways, by:

• widening the implementation and application of human rights instruments
• using aid and trade deals as leverage
• supporting and raising the profile of international solidarity campaigns that highlight the issues

Other recommendations include:

• working to embed protection of teachers and academics within human rights law and focusing application of existing instruments on protection, for schools, colleges and universities and the education process
• creating student-friendly, inclusive educational institutions, run transparently and free from sectarianism and political interference and advocacy work with armed parties and local communities
• setting up a global system for monitoring violent attacks on education, including attacks on teachers and academics
• establishment of a publicly accessible, global database to keep track of the scale of attack, types of attack, perpetrators, motives, impact on education provision and the nature and impact of prevention and response strategies
• working with governments of conflict-affected states to develop mechanisms to protect threatened people associated with educational institutions
• to develop ways to support the continuation of education in alternative places or via alternative methods and media in areas under attack
• to develop ways to support the continuation of the work of academics in exile for the education system under attack
  

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