Outline

Schools, universities, students and teachers often become targets of violence and persecution in contexts of conflict and crisis. This topic explores the dynamics and drivers of attacks on education and also looks at a range of local, national and transnational movements and initiatives that have emerged to protect education institutions and communities under attack.

This topic looks at the following questions:

How and in what ways does education come 'under attack' in times of conflict and crisis?
What strategies have been developed to protect education from attack in different contexts?
What examples are there of networks for supporting persecuted students, teachers and academics?

Lectures

Dr Marika Tsolakis, Senior Researcher at the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) and Dr Amy Kapit, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, discuss global trends in attacks on education and international responses, alongside the politics and practicalities of collecting and analysing data on attacks on education in different contexts.

Forthcoming: A political economy analysis of attacks on Palestinian education

Open access publications

A Review of Existing Research on Programmatic Measures for Protecting Education from Attack
Citation: Kapit-Spitalny, A. & Burde, D. (n.d.). Prioritizing the Agenda for Research for the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack: Why Evidence is Important, What We Know, and How to Learn More. GCPEA.

Colombia's classroom wars: Political violence against education sector trade unions
Citation: Novelli, M (2009). Colombia's classroom wars: Political violence against education sector trade unions. Education International.

Education Under Attack 2020
Citation: Global Coalition for Protecting Education from Attack (2020). Education Under Attack 2020.

Toolkit for Collecting and Analyzing Data on Attacks on Education
Citation: Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) (2021). Toolkit for Collecting and Analyzing Data on Attacks on Education. Working Draft. January 2021. New York: GCPEA.

Schools shall be safe sanctuaries

Citation: Education International (2022). Schools shall be safe sanctuaries. Brussels: Education International.

Reflection and discussion

Further suggested reading

GCPEA, Education Under Attack 2014 http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2014

Human Rights Watch 2006, Lesson in Terror: Attacks on education in Afghanistan, Download PDF »

Milton, S (2017) Higher Education and Post-war Recovery, Springer

Stoddard, A., A. Harmer, et al. (2009). Providing aid in insecure environments: Trends in violence against aid workers and the operational response.

Human Rights Watch (2011) Schools as Battlegrounds Protecting Students, Teachers, and Schools from Attack http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2011/schools-battlegrounds

Websites

Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack https://protectingeducation.org/

Scholars at Risk https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/