How can what schools teach help peacebuilding after civil conflict?

Civil conflict is impeding progress towards the world’s sustainable development goals. It is commonly held that more education will help peacebuilding after civil conflict, but more does not necessarily mean better. As a former secondary headteacher with an interest in history, citizenship, and human rights, I devised a framework for establishing and evaluating a high-quality post-conflict school curriculum. ‘Curriculum’ means the student’s complete experience of school. This involves not only all the planned programmes of study, but also the culture, which includes rituals, relationships, and the discipline system.

It is important to address competing versions of history that are often the seedbeds of new violence. This is termed Truth-seeking. Reconciliation and social cohesion is how people come to terms with the past and work together to thrive in future.   Active citizenship means knowing the systems of democracy and how to use them. People who feel left out and powerless are more likely to join extremist ideologies. Applying these three elements to the educational concepts of ‘knowledge, skills, and values’ produces a simple framework one can use to assess schools’ contribution to peacebuilding. Any school curriculum may display strengths and weaknesses in various categories.

School curriculum for peacebuilding: conceptual framework

	Knowledge & Understanding	Skills	Values
Truth- seeking	Recent History	Narrative Critical Thinking	Readiness to consider different interpretations and viewpoints
Reconciliation & Social Cohesion	Religious, ethnic, linguistic groups and identities Contemporary issues	Leadership Co-operation & teamwork Problem-solving	Equal dignity, Respect, Sympathy, Tolerance, Trust, Forgiveness
Active Citizenship	Human rights Local, national, & international political/legal systems	Deliberative discussion Debate Creative Communication	Procedural fairness Democracy

The civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009, with total defeat of the LTTE and many thousands of civilian casualties. Since then, the country has been engaged in peace-building. Success depends greatly on trust-building between three distinct groups: the majority Sinhala-speaking Buddhists; the Tamil-speaking Hindus; and the Muslims who speak both Sinhala and Tamil.

I spent three months in six state secondary schools serving different groups in all corners of the country. The aim was to use the framework to judge the extent to which what was being taught was contributing to peace-building. I observed lessons and everyday life at the schools, interviewed staff and students, and studied documents.

Truth-Seeking

The history taught in schools ends in 1978, five years before the war started in 1983. The civil war and contemporary events are not covered, though some teachers said they would answer questions if asked. History, as in most countries, is taught as a series of facts with little room for critical thinking or interpretation. Although victims of war want their story to be told, this is not taking place in school. Thus young people rely on the accounts given by their families and communities, which are likely to be incomplete and biased.

Reconciliation and Social Cohesion

In Sri Lankan schools, there is a strong focus on leadership and co-operation skills. Values of sympathy and forgiveness are clearly evident.

School link programmes between Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim communities are generating a lot of enthusiasm.

However, religion is taught entirely from the perspective of whichever group the school is affiliated with, with nothing about the essential beliefs and values of other religions. Children do not read books or see films about the daily life of other groups. Young people are largely ignorant of each others’ lives. 

Active Citizenship

The Sri Lankan civics curriculum is thorough up to age 14. 

Children learn about Human Rights and the Sri Lankan system of democratic government. There is an ambitious School Parliament programme.  Heads and teachers value human rights.  There is evidence of some basic democratic processes, for example in the election of prefects. Young people are learning competitive debating and communication skills, but they have no experience of discussion aimed at solving problems.

Summary

In the Sri Lankan schools studied,  truth-seeking is weak, with no teaching about the historical roots of the conflict or contemporary issues. There are efforts to build leadership skills and impart democratic values, but the critical thinking and discussion skills necessary for social cohesion and active citizenship are largely absent. 

While a civil conflict is raging, as in Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar, what schools teach will seem far on the horizon. But conflicts do end, and then what is taught in schools becomes a vital issue. Where strong religious or political identities have led to the conflict, the knowledge of international law and human rights is important. Developing reconciliation values and democratic co-operation skills is achievable. However, it seems that recent history is unlikely to be studied until after a thorough and successful transitional justice process in society at large.