The West African sub-region has been plagued by numerous armed conflicts. These have affected education in many ways. In as much as education is crucial as a driver of development, there is every indication that these political challenges have impeded development. Education is an instrument for enhancing both individual and national development ; however current disputes in many societies pose a threat to the responsibilities that educational systems play in this process (Agbor, M. N.,Etta, M.A.& Etonde H. M.(2022) – Effects of armed conflicts on teaching and learning: Perspectives of secondary school teachers in Cameroun. Journal of Education ). People frequently attend school because they believe that investing in their education will increase their capacity to generate income in the long run. However the benefits of education such as advancements in the economy, society and culture are impacted by growing warfare (Jones, A.,&Naylor R( 2014) The Qualitative impact of armed conflicts on education: Counting the human and financial cost.) Education plays a crucial role in protecting people, particularly children from abuse or neglect. All societies must uphold this fight to foster and achieve stable and harmonious International relations and create morally upright citizens for the future. Unfortunately in nations of armed violence, this right frequently disappears (Manuchehr, T.N.(2011): Education rights of children during war and armed conflicts)
Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world’s worst indicators in education including enrollment and participation which are significantly low. Empirical evidence largely attests to the fact that during civil conflicts, the biggest casualties and victims are civilians rather than the actual combatants fighting. Children, teachers and schools are often legitimate targets in armed conflicts. For instance, the civil war in Sierra Leone destroyed the education system’s physical infrastructure. Consequently many children lacked a physical place to attend school. Nearly three years after the war, about sixty percent of primary schools still required physical restoration affecting millions of children seeking education in the country.
In the case of the Liberian civil war, women and girls who were accused of belonging to a particular ethnic group or fighting faction or who were forced to cook for a soldier or fighter were at increased risk for physical or sexual violence. The targeting of women and girls by armed forces exacerbated the internal conflict, discouraging girls from attending school because it was unsafe for them to leave home. Thus many young girls have gone unnoticed, losing the opportunity to gain a proper primary education. Although the Liberian civil war ended in 2003, the country is still having a hard time recovering.
Boko Haram is currently one of the deadliest militant groups in the world. Boko Haram has waged a violent revolt against the Nigerian government, for interfering with Islamic education and has claimed responsibility for killing thousands of students, teachers and civilians across Northern Nigeria.(Impact of two wars on the educational System in Nigeria: Helena Onyemelukwe- Waziri. May 2017)
According to Human Rights Watch research, an estimated ten thousand civilians have died in Nigeria since the group begun its attacks in 2009( Human Rights Watch, 2017). Additionally, the number of displaced people has increased from just over one million at the end of 2014 to about two million in 2015 ( Human Rights Watch 2017)..
This paper seeks to examine some of these key challenges on education resulting from armed conflicts.
CHALLENGES
Infrastructure Damage – There is no doubt that armed violence has serious negative impacts on the educational system. For example, it is directly linked to the destruction of resources and infrastructure required to keep operating educational systems. This brings about situations in which students and teachers have no safe learning environments.
Breakdown of communities- In many cases, when violence or conflicts break out, communities naturally break down, as those communities cannot hold. This is due to people fleeing in search of safe havens. In such times, access to education reduces drastically and impacts heavily on how and where children are educated.
Refusal and impediments to a return to education- In conflict times, there is usually an interruption to the education of many children and for this reason many of them will often not want to return to school or they will do so belatedly. For these children, this interruption to their routine and the years spent away from the classroom are a source of embarrassment when the time comes to return to education, and they are thus unwilling to make that step. This is because their peer group would have advanced and they would be returning to class with groups of a younger age corresponding to their academic level. Many of them feel too old to go to school although this does not diminish their willingness to receive education (Shayka, A. 2011 Experiences of children in armed conflict in Nepal. Children and Youth services Review).
Also, when children are displaced in conflict situations, their enrolment in new centres of learning alongside different cultures come into play. When this happens, the child needs time to get accustomed to that new environment. For such children, it is highly possible to speculate that the period of acclimatisation may be more complex and lengthier. In her report, Naciones Unidas described one reality which children have to face during population movements: States offering political asylum may refuse to provide education to refugees for fear of this encouraging them to remain indefinitely in that country. In such a case, this is not a refusal of the children themselves but rather an impediment to them exercising their right to education (Naciones Unidas- Assamblea General (1996) quoted in the article Impact of armed conflicts on Education and Educational agents: A multivocal Review (2016).
The issue of Child Labour: The economic conditions of some families that compel children to search for work, prevents children from returning to education. If the positive effects of the return to education on the children and their mental health are analysed, it can be seen that any rejection and/or impediment to returning to education may worsen the post- Traumatic symptoms from which these children suffer, since the intervention programmes followed have to be based on a context in which school and the other educational agents have to play a part. Against this backdrop, it is essential to run a campaign to raise public awareness, principally among children and families, of how important and necessary returning to education is for the future.
Loss of the academic community: Since 2007 “there have been thousands of reported cases of students, teachers, professors, academics and other members of the educational community being taken prisoner, held in captivity, beaten, tortured, burnt alive, shot by rebels, armies and repressive regimes; Imprisoned or raped by armed groups or forces in school or on their way to school”. ( O’Malley, Brendan – Education Under Attack,(2010) A Global Study on Targeted Political and Military Violence against Education staff, Students, Teachers, Union and Government officials, Aid workers and institutions; Unesco: Paris, France 2010 (Google scholar).
Due to their privileged position as conveyors of knowledge, their access to the most vulnerable members of the population, and their embrace of political ideas that are respected by the community, those within the teaching profession are a very tempting prey for armed groups and the military; evidenced in the report Education under Attack (Unesco 2010). In view of this situation, the teaching profession’s fear of going to work is more than evident and justified, leading to reduced staff and increased teacher/pupil ratio in places where conflict rages. The lack of educational staff increases the difficulty of responding to the educational needs of children and even reduces the possibility of access to education. The absence of qualified teaching staff has the tendency to give rise to difficulties in correctly implementing the curriculum. This is because many of the teachers who may be involved in teaching have not been trained for the job and obtain the position as a result of being the members of the community with the highest level of education (Winthrop, R., Kirk, J.(2008): Learning for a bright future: Schooling, armed conflicts and children’s well being. Comparative education review). Usually in such circumstances, the student-teacher ratio is outrageous. Students often do not have teachers; the latter having fled to safer places, timetables are reduced or interrupted. “ Schools are often closed for long extended periods, sometimes from fear, sometimes by decree”(Ressler, E.M, Tortorici, J. M., Marcelino,A (1993): Children in War: A guide to the provision of services. A study for Unicef)
CONCLUSION
A critical look at the effects brought on education by conflicts indicate that they are far reaching and diverse.
Children generally tend to suffer largely and have their education impeded or curtailed in certain cases. Inspite of the attempts of various organisations such as Unesco and Unicef, the publications and activities which attempt to focus the community’s attention on education, it does not appear that a policy action has been adopted which condemns and even more so, avoids acts of atrocity which condition the present and determine the future of these children ( Bragin, M. And Opiro, W.G. (2010) Making the rights to education a reality for war affected children: The Northern Ugandan experience. International Journal of applied Psychoanalytic Studies.)
It is sad to say that these children suffer a multiplicity of abuse and wrong doing of colossal proportions, which are neither penalised nor punished by International law. Given this situation, the lives of children are left at the mercy of mercenaries whose avowed purpose is to deprive all any means of transmitting knowledge so that an essentially submissive and easily manipulated society can be created. It is crucial that a commitment be made to ensure that education offers a sense of normality to daily life, a necessity for the emotional stability of children in so far as it has no political colour and children’s rights are respected.
