Timely and accurate monitoring and reporting on attacks on education is crucial for responding to attacks, for holding perpetrators accountable, and for seeking to prevent attacks from occurring in the first place.
Multimedia
GCPEA has assembled this collection of film clips from a range of sources that illustrate examples of targeted attacks on education on teachers, students, and education institutions.
Schools as Battlegrounds: Short Introduction to Education Under Attack, Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack and Human Rights Watch
In conflicts around the world, schools, students, and teachers are under attack. When schools are destroyed or students and teachers are threatened, children often drop out of school and don’t come back. Others continue amid violence and fear. Sometimes lives are lost; education is always a casualty. 2011 (3 minutes)
Education Under Attack in Thailand
Bede Sheppard of Human Rights Watch explains how students, schools and teachers are caught between the rebels and the government in southern Thailand. Photography by David Hogsholt / Reportage by Getty Images and Human Rights Watch. 2010 (3 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMnTEDcWXA4
Sabotaged Schools India
Tens of thousands of children are caught up in the conflict between Maoist insurgents and government security forces in India. Human Rights Watch’s Emma Daly reports from India’s Bihar state. Photography and footage by Moises Saman / Magnum Photos for Human Rights Watch. 2010 (5 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMHXPYb4Y98
Persecuted Teachers
SchoolWorld TV. This film focuses on teachers under attack in Colombia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, and Thailand. 2008 (20 minutes)
http://www.schoolsworld.tv/videos/persecuted-teachers
Peace Makers
Contribution of teachers to peace building in Northern Ireland - including joint history classes with parents from either side of the "peace" wall. (20 minutes)
http://www.schoolsworld.tv/videos/the-peace-makers
Jharkand Students Reel under Maoist Fear
On the night of June 17, the Maoists blew up the Lohia-Samata High School building. The students were worried that this would have a negative impact on their future prospects and education in the area, as it was the only school in the vicinity. 2011 (3 minutes)
http://www.newkerala.com/news/videos/videonews-8446.html
Ivory Coast Conflict Hinders Education
Because of the ongoing election crisis in the Ivory Coast, around one million children have been forced out of school. Many schools in the African country have been damaged, occupied and looted by military forces. Powered by www.newslook.com Producer: Xinhua News Agency 2011 (3 minutes)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiqf3t_ivory-coast-conflict-hinders-children-s-education_news
Initiatives
In order to protect education from attack, field based practitioners, communities and government education actors in a number of affected countries have developed a range of measures and programs to reduce or prevent attacks on teachers, students and education institutions.
The use of education institutions by militaries and armed groups during situations of conflict and insecurity can disrupt or completely deny education in both the immediate and long terms.