Education and Conflict

Conflict that happens over the time affects the life of the people and land they lived in. Many lives are taken away, regardless to their age and sex.  One of the impacts of the conflict toward people is the mass destruction of educational infrastructures. Millions of children are prevented from attending schools. The impacts should be able to help us understanding how this uninvited guest damages the future life of our children. To help youth counteract despair of about large scale destruction in the communities caused by the conflict, peace educators draw upon peace theory to teach them the skills to construct a peaceful world and the motivation to live their lives based upon nonviolent principles.     

In 2004, it is estimated that half of the 104 million children not attending primary school live in countries in, or recovering from conflict (UNESCO, 2004)[1]. UNESCO therefore regards the conflicts and their consequences as the major obstacle in achieving the EFA ‘Education for All’ objectives by 2015 (UNESCO, 2000).[2] Realizing the importance of the educational institution towards the conflict, Tomlinson, K and Benefield suggest that education is increasingly seen to have a role to play in mitigating and/or exacerbating conflict.[3] Education can provide a protective function for children in conflict or post-conflict situations (Nicolai and Triplehorn, 2003)[4] as it plays crucial role in children care (Fletcher-Campbell et al., 2003).[5] The UNESCO Commission for Education for the 21^st Century also believed in the fundamentally positive power of education by regarding education as one of the most important means of advancing the development of the human race in as enhanced manner and with greater harmony. With its help poverty, exclusion, ignorance, repression, and wars may be reduced” (German UNESCO Commission 1997).[6]     

Education can help promoting the social cohesion in the community. It enables to overcoming social inequality and is the key to equal societal participation. The World Bank summarizes the key significance of education in reinforcing the social cohesion: “By improving people’s ability to function as members of their communities, education and training increase social cohesion, reduce crime and improve income distribution”.[7]       

Even though, there are a widespread agreements about the positive roles of education in mitigating conflict, but research recent evidence has proved that this is not always the case. In many conflict around the world, the education is part of the problem, not the solution.[8] The destructive potential of education is not only when education is abused for the purposes of war propaganda but also when there is baiting and agitation of other ethnic groups and ethnic minorities in schools and classrooms.

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[1]Tawil, S. and Harley, A. (Eda) (2004). Education, Conflict and Social Cohesion. Geneva: UNESCO International Bureau of Education.

[2]UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (2000). TheDakar Framework for Action. Education for All: Meeting our Collective Commitments [online].

Available at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/001211/121147e.pdf [26 Januari, 2005].

[3]Tomlinson, K and Benefield, P (2005). Education and Conflict. Research and Research Possibilities. 

Available at: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/pdfs/downloadable/ECOreport.pdf

[4]Nicolai, S. and Triplehorn, C (2003). The Role of Education in Protecting Children in Conflict (Humanitarian Practice Network Paper 42). London: Overseas Development Institue.

[5]Fletcher-Champbell, F., Archer, T. and Tomlinson, K. (2003). The Role of the Schoole in Supporting the Education of Children in Public Care (DfES Research Report 498). London: DfES.

[6]UNESCO. (1998). From War to Peace in History Books. In UNESCO Education news, No. 11, December 1997 – February 1998. UNCESCO, Paris  

[7]World Bank (2002b): Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy. Challenges for Developing Countries (Draft). Washington, D.C.

[8]Bush and Salterelli, (2000). The Two Faces of Education in Ethnic Conflict: Towards a Peacebuilding Education for Children. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.