Education and violent conflict

Education specialists met at Marlborough House, London this week to discuss the structure and content of the 2011 Education for All Global Monitoring Report (GMR), which will focus on education and violent conflict.

The seminar, organised by the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the Commonwealth Secretariat, is an annual event to receive input from UK experts into the following year’s GMR.

The subject of this year’s seminar is relevant to the whole world and particularly the Commonwealth Secretariat because a number of countries in the Commonwealth are either in conflict, or emerging from conflict.

Dr Pauline Rose, Senior Policy Analyst at UNESCO, GMR Team, explained that one third of the 72 million children out of school live in 20 conflict-affected poor countries. Of the estimated 42 million forcibly displaced people, children again make up one third. It is in this context that the effects of conflict have a negative impact on achieving the Education for All goals, she said.

“Conflict affects education in a variety of ways, through attacks on schools and teachers to the recruitment of child soldiers, forced displacement and psychosocial distress.

“This report will be looking at what violent conflict means for education and what education means for violent conflict.”

Dr Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Interim Director responsible for Education at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said that the effects of violent conflict deny millions the right to education and pose a great barrier to achieving the EFA goals.

“Countries in conflict or those emerging from conflict often have large numbers of children out of school, a damaged education infrastructure and very weak financial and human capacity.

“Not only does violence affect education, but education itself can also contribute to violence through its role in perpetuating divisive ideologies and identities. It can also reinforce economic disadvantage through a lack of opportunities.”

One third of Commonwealth countries have yet to achieve universal primary education and gender parity, and 27 million Commonwealth children do not currently receive schooling. A number of Commonwealth countries either have been in conflict or are currently experiencing violent conflict which has affected education. These include Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Uganda.

In 2009, when Commonwealth Education Ministers met in Malaysia, they reaffirmed their commitment to the EFA and Millennium Development Goals in education.

Professor Seamus Hegarty, Chair of the Education for All Working Group, UK National Commission for UNESCO, underlined the importance of the Global Monitoring Reports.

“The GMRs are of course a means of monitoring progress, or the lack of it, in respect of the EFA Goals. More importantly, however, they are a key tool in helping to understand what is going on within countries, why progress is rapid in some and slow or non-existent in others. The information they assemble is vital in developing effective policies and ensuring optimal deployment of the available resources.

“The report’s aim is to move the agenda forward,” he said.

The GMR is an independent collaborative report, published annually by UNESCO and includes comprehensive country statistics and indicators with regard to the six EFA goals.

In 2009, the Commonwealth Secretariat signed a Letter of Agreement with UNESCO in which the two organisations agreed to work together in reaching the six EFA goals.

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