eua_2014_full.pdf?utm_content=buffer4a392&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2014Education policy and planningIn countries at risk of conflict, addressing education-relatedgrievances can play an important part in reducing the risk ofattacks on schools, students and education personnel. Whereunequal access is a source of tension, education authoritiescan address the problem by ensuring that there are fair criteriafor allocating resources. Where curricula are perceived to bebiased against one ethnic group because classes are taught inan alien language or because alien cultural values, a differentreligion or distorted history are being taught, curriculumreform can reduce the potential motives for attack.Strengthening education for peaceful resolution of conflicts,respect for human rights and responsible citizenship in thecurriculum may also help reduce conflict and build peace.In countries where attacks on education have taken place,every year that passes without a school being rehabilitatedand reopened after an attack can mean a lost year of educationfor its students. While conflict is ongoing, it is often toodangerous to attempt to rebuild schools, but also when it ends,governments frequently lack the funds or capacity to repairand rehabilitate schools quickly, as has been the case inAfghanistan and earlier in Sierra Leone, for instance. As aresult, it can take many years to overcome the impact ofattacks. Repair and rebuilding of education facilities maytherefore require sustained, large-scale collaboration withinternational donors and NGOs to fill funding and capacitygaps.Thai Rangers stand guard at a school as they providesecurity to students and teachers after the school’s headteacher was killed by suspected separatist militants theprevious week in Thailand’s restive southern province ofNarathiwat, 17 December 2012.© 2012 MADAREE TOHLALA/AFP/Getty ImagesProtecting higher educationProtecting higher education can include some measuressimilar to those used within primary and secondary schools,such as using on-campus security guards or escorts andstrengthening gates, walls, fences and windows. But it canalso include other types of measures. Distance learningprogrammes and scholarship schemes for studying, teachingor researching abroad, for instance, have enabled education tocontinue away from the source of threats. GCPEA’s recentresearch examining the relationship between autonomy andsecurity concluded that enhancing university autonomy vis-àvisthe state can also contribute to reducing the risk of attacks,particularly where universities provide their own securityguards, by reducing the likelihood of confrontation betweenstudents and the forces of the state and the likelihood ofarbitrary arrest over issues of academic freedom.29