Education under attack: A global study on targeted political and military violence against education staff, students, teachers, union and government o

Responding to violent attacks on educational institutions, staff and students

By: O'Malley B
Published by: UESCO, 2007
Via: Eldis

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.

(http://www.unesco.org/education/attack/educationunderattack.pdf)