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The longer children stay out of school during conflict, the less likely they are to return. This long-term impact not only affects their personal futures, but also hinders the recovery and development of war-torn societies.
Even if a country is able to adopt distance learning as a strategy for education, power failures are still a valid concern. Conflicts have often seen the destruction of power stations as a tactic of modern warfare.
Community involvement is crucial in ensuring education continues during conflict. Local communities often play a vital role in protecting schools and supporting teachers to ensure that children can continue learning.
Children in conflict zones are 30% less likely to complete primary education compared to those in stable areas. This significant decrease limits future employment opportunities and continues the cycle of poverty.
Even after forces withdraw from areas that have seen military occupation, it often takes a very long time thereafter for children to return to school, since mines could still litter the area, along with continued threat from missile attacks or already damaged infrastructure.
Economic crises tend to follow closely behind war, and many underfunded and unstable countries find themselves taking decades to recover. The instability also causes a major shortage of teachers, and so generations of children are left without access to quality education.
The disruption of education during wartime also has long-term economic consequences. A poorly educated workforce hampers a nation’s economic development, making it harder for these countries to recover from conflict and rebuild infrastructure.
Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in the number of attacks on schools globally. Not only do they endanger students, teachers, and educational infrastructure, but they also discourage attendance and worsen educational access in conflict zones.
Global education initiatives (such as Education Cannot Wait) aim to address the educational needs of children in conflict zones by providing funding, resources, and support to ensure continued learning.
The very future of children is affected when they find themselves in the middle of a war. Conflict undermines children's access to education and impacts their future opportunities. Poverty, inequality, and social instability continues to thrive as a result.
Displacement can also drastically disrupt education. Refugee and internally displaced children face challenges in accessing schools since they are moved from one place to another, which disrupts their learning continuity.
International agreements like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights include clauses stating that people have the right to education, but this right is often violated in humanitarian crises and wartime.
Only 50% of refugee children access primary education. These children face enormous challenges, including displacement, trauma, lack of resources, and overcrowded classrooms, which severely limit their ability to continue their education and rebuild their lives.
Young men and boys also face extreme threats to their education during wartime, since young men in their late (or sometimes even early) teens are often drafted or forcibly conscripted to fight. Some families in war-torn nations have resorted to sending their sons away to rural areas to avoid this outcome.
Children with special needs are particularly disadvantaged during wartime. The disruption of specialized services and the destruction of facilities make it even harder for these children to access the education they need to thrive.
In many conflict zones, schools are used for military purposes, a flagrant misuse of educational facilities that disrupts learning and can lead to permanent school closures.
Children in war-torn areas often experience trauma that affects their ability to learn. The psychological impact of war (including fear, anxiety, and depression) can severely impair cognitive development.
War often impoverishes families and makes it difficult for them to afford education-related costs. Families may prioritize immediate survival needs over education, and so children are pulled from school and, more often than not, they never return.
Education in refugee camps is often under-resourced and overcrowded. While camps provide some educational opportunities, the quality of education is typically low, and children face significant challenges in continuing their education beyond the primary level.
While many humanitarian organizations attempt to curb the negative effects of conflict on education, teacher training programs are still an incredibly finite resource that is often missing from post-war recovery.
Humanitarian organizations play a crucial role in providing education in conflict zones. They help establish temporary schools, distribute educational materials, and train teachers, but resources are often insufficient to meet the overwhelming demand.
For those war-struck nations that have better access to technology, distance learning has also become a valid resource used to provide learning opportunities.
For those situations where children are brought as refugees to other countries, they face multiple barriers to education, including language barriers, lack of recognition of previous education, and legal obstacles in accessing schools in host countries.
Education facilities are meant to be bastions for the protection of children, not only for their cognitive development but also for the security of a nation. The good news is that many nations and organizations around the globe still endeavor to actively ensure that every child is granted the education that they rightfully deserve.
Sources: (Concern Worldwide) (Open Praxis) (UNICEF)
See also: The war in Ukraine, two years on
Despite the challenges, education can also play a crucial role in peacebuilding and post-conflict recovery. Entire communities can be rebuilt to accommodate social cohesion and reduce violence so that such unstable patterns are not repeated.
Conflict further exacerbates gender disparities in education, with girls being disproportionately affected. In many war-affected regions, girls are more likely to drop out of school due to safety concerns, early marriage, or being forced to take on caregiving roles.
Globally, as many as 64 million primary-aged children are not in school at a given a time, which accounts for about 9% of the whole world’s primary-aged population.
Aside from online learning platforms, there are also educational apps and (in the case of a shortage of teachers) online video platforms that offer alternative ways for children to continue their education. However, access to technology remains a significant barrier in many conflict zones.
Providing psychosocial support in schools is also critical for helping children cope with trauma and stress caused by conflict, allowing them to focus on learning and rebuilding their lives.
War has an incalculable effect on the minds and economies of entire nations, but exactly what damage does education incur? Click through this gallery to find out.
How does war affect education?
Children are among the most vulnerable during war
LIFESTYLE Conflict
Over the decades, modern warfare has been known to disrupt many aspects of daily life, but none more so than education. In war-torn regions, the classroom often becomes a distant dream rather than a reality, and the sounds of learning are replaced by the seemingly unending sounds of conflict. Children, who should be developing their minds and dreams, are instead forced into displacement, fear, and uncertainty. Schools are destroyed, teachers are scattered, and the promise of education fades.
War has an incalculable effect on the minds and economies of entire nations, but exactly what damage does education incur? Click through this gallery to find out.