UN Report on Education

In Context 

• A recent UN report highlighted the number of girls and boys missing out on a quality education due to armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate-induced disasters and protracted crises is alarming.

About the report:

• It is given by Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.
• The analysis is titled – “Global Estimates: Number of Crisis-affected Children and Adolescents in Need of Education Support”.

Major Findings 

• The number of school-aged children in crisis-impacted countries who require educational support has grown to 222 million at present from 75 million in 2016.  
  • Of them, 78.2 million are out of school due to often protracted conflicts and emergencies.
• Amongst the out-of-school children:
  • Around 54 percent are girls, 
  • 17 percent are children with functional difficulties and 
  • 16 percent are forcibly displaced.
• Around 119.6 million children living in crisis-prone areas attended school but did not achieve minimum proficiency in mathematics or reading.
• Another 24.2 million are in pre-primary, primary or secondary school achieving minimum proficiency in mathematics or reading but still affected by crises and need support.
• The report also noted that 84 percent of the fully out-of-school children or 65.7 million were living in areas with protracted crises. 
  • Of these 65.7 million, about two-thirds live in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Pakistan and Yemen.

Impacts of war and conflicts on Children:

• Internal conflict undermines public service delivery, including that of education, through numerous mechanisms like-
  • Loss of trained professionals (Teachers and professors)
  • Destruction of key infrastructure (Schools and universities)
  • Shifts in spending from public services (Schools and healthcare) to security or other war-induced investments.
  • Displacements (conflict leads to displacement for children and their families).
• During armed conflict, government or opposition forces use schools and universities as bases, barracks, observation posts, storage for weapons, detention and interrogation centres, or for military training and to recruit children into their forces. 
• When troops and weapons are present in schools, it can provoke an attack by opposing forces, placing both students and educators at risk of injury — or even death.
• The global crisis has been exacerbated by prolonged school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suggestions

• Each conflict is somehow unique. Yet, unfortunately, almost all conflicts have similar negative impacts on education.
• Schools should be safe spaces for children, even amid armed conflict. 
  • Safe schools not only provide children with an education, but also offer much-needed stability and routine during times of conflict, help ease the impact of war on children’s mental health, and provide a place to play and be a child despite the discord all around.
• Keeping schools open is also advantageous to society at large, because diminished education levels affect a country’s economic, political and social development.

Source:DTE