EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK – RECLAIMING SCHOOLS AS ZONES OF PEACE

Amongst the many casualties of conflict, education seldom makes the headlines, but students, teachers, administrators, and education officials are also on the front lines of battle, writes Helene-Marie Gosselin, Director of UNESCO, Office to the United Nations. In this article, Gosselin writes that the right to education is a pillar of development. Prosperity and peace can only be achieved if we commit to ending the injustice of denying this right to the millions of children around the world who can\'t go to school, and who will nonetheless have to make their way in the world as adults. UNESCO estimates that about 37 percent of the 72 million children not in school live in conflict-affected areas. There cannot be peace without upholding the right to education, or without ending the vicious cycle of violence in and against our schools. Can we not open doors to the 72 million children not in school, teach peaceful co-existence, and make all our schools a sacred place?