In May 2011, the Government of Nepal declared schools in that country as zones of peace in an effort to protect children from further devastation in times of conflict. During that Asian country’s 10-years of civil war, schools were targeted by both warring factions and government security forces. Students were recruited into fighting forces, while educational infrastructures, mainly school buildings, were used as military barracks by fighting forces. Instructional materials were all destroyed as well.
To make up for these lost years, the Nepalese government moved to create a space for children to take charge of their own cause by declaring schools as zones of peace. This initiative is being received by the children themselves as an opportunity to have their integrity protected by all.
Unlike in Liberia where the implementation of the recently passed children’s law is becoming a sticky issue as reflected in the relaxed approach to it by concerned stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Health and Social which seems to be dragging its feet to even tell the Liberian people what this law aims to achieve. The law was passed in September 2011 and launched by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in February 2012. Up until now, it is not clear whether the law has finally been signed by the President since her Press Secretary, Jerolinmik Piah, says he has no knowledge on that subject. If taken seriously and forcefully implemented, the 2011 Children’s Law of Liberia stands as an excellent tool to ensure the rightful upbringing of the Liberian child.
In the contemporary Liberian context, many young people are often seen lingering in the streets either as beggars, car loaders, petty traders and so forth. This emerging trend in the lifestyle of Liberian youths -- an offshoot of the country’s 14 years of civil war – has continuously been blamed on unemployment resulting from low capacity or lack of skills to make these young people marketable for gainful employment. The root cause of this problem [as we all know] can be traced to the war years when the right to education of these youths was being gambled by warlords who felt the only means by which they could navigate their way to power was by exploiting the youthful energy, innocence, thousands of children spent their formative years in the killing fields. The recruitment of Liberian children into ‘small boy units’ and harems of sex slaves and ‘war wives’ in various warring factions did not only rob them (children) of their childhood, right to education; it also hurt the future of the country, which is now in the hands of a lost generation -- the youths.
The Nepalese Experience
Well, here comes the good news. Fortunately, the Nepalese case is full of resourceful experiences that Liberia can draw upon to make the formative years of the Liberian children very meaningful. Nepal’s concept of Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) and Schools as Zones of Peace (SZOP) deal more with peace value from within, while maintaining a conductive learning environment by attaining peace from the outside, respectively. Both concepts advocate children’s basic right to survival, development and protection; while advocating for children to have uninterrupted access to education, health and sanitation and to let them grow up as happy, tolerant and peace-loving non-violent children.
To share these invaluable experiences with other war-torn countries, the government of Nepal, through its Education Ministry, the Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu, Save the Children and UNICEF organized and held a three-day international seminar on schools as zones of peace in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. At least 50 delegates from seven war-ravaged countries -- Nepal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, South Sudan, New York, Oslo and India –, drawn from diverse background in the education sectors of their respective countries, graced the seminar.
Kishore Thapa is the Nepalese Minister of Education. In remarks, during the opening ceremony of the seminar, Mr. Thapa said his government, through the Ministry of Education, has already demonstrated its commitment to peace by declaring schools as zones of peace. This has inculcated peace and leadership in the minds of the younger ones who are the future leaders of his country, he added.
The concept of Schools of Zones of Peace, birthed in 2003, espouses child rights by placing firm emphasizes on safeguarding children’s right to quality health care, quality education, and mental well-being; focusing its efforts in highly-affected districts of the country. This is why Minister Thapa said declaring schools as zone of peace protects the integrity of children by affording them unfettered access to quality education, enforcing gender sensitivity among elementary and primary schools’ teachers and eliminating potential discrimination against disabled children.
To get a firsthand gist of how the concept of SZOP actually works in practical terms, delegates at the seminar were taken to the Sindhupalchok District situated among high Himalayas mountains and extremely high hills north-east of Kathmandu. It took the team at least 9 hours of bumpy ride – 4 ½ hours to and from – to get to the Koldoungdevi Secondary School within that district.
While at the school, delegates interacted, in separate sessions, with parents, teachers, and the students themselves. However, at the close of day, it was understood that the SZOP concept puts an immediate halt to physical and psychological punishments (no corporal punishment is allowed) in schools, requiring teachers to teach in child-friendly, gender-friendly and disabled-friendly manners, in an effort to make the environment a peaceful place to be. It was also understood that the concept seeks to combat against external sources of violence in school (political, ideological and social sources of conflict, use of violence in education, harassment), internal sources (ills in school governance, lack of transparency in the running of schools) and classroom violence (discriminative behaviors, physical violence and verbal abuse).
“Schools as Zones of Peace means there will be no political disturbances on our campuses, no discrimination among us as students and no segregation among us based on class system. I fell happy and comfortable whenever I’m on campus because I feel at peace here. Teachers are no more allowed to beat on us. We will spend our [formative] years in schools and not in battle fields,” 13 years old Ashim Pyakurel, a grade 9 student at the Koldoungdevi Secondary School said.
Fourteen year old Kamal Thakuri of the Koldoungdevi Secondary School believes that the concept enables them to see themselves as peace ambassadors in their various communities. The 9th grader said once back in the communities [from school], they make it their duty to preach peace to their peers (those who are not in school), to their parents and other members of their communities. “If our homes and communities are not at peace, how can we achieve the goal of having a school declared as a zone of peace? It is not enough to have a school declared as a zone of peace when the community within which that school is situated is not as peaceful. We therefore feel we have a responsibility to share the news of a need for a peaceful community. We tell our parents that on campus, there is no discrimination, no corporal punishment, so they, too, need to be peaceful and avoid hitting on us,” he explained.
For Rita Sunar, 15, the concept affords her a chance to feel equal with other children, especially those considered to be of the upper class of their society. “When I am on campus, I feel equal to everyone else, though I come from a so-called untouchable outcast class of our society.” The 10 grader expressed that while on campus, she has a chance to mingle with all other children, especially those considered to be hailing from the rich class of their community.
A prime achievement of this initiative children and schools as zones of peace is that there have been no disturbances from political parties and villagers in the school, organizers have said.
Child Clubs
The code of conduct adopted by the Nepalese government and set as accepted best practices for all schools also gives children to tap into their leadership abilities and begin testing and strengthening these abilities as they navigate their way through grade school. This is achieved through a provision in the code of conduct, which calls for the establishment of child clubs in school. The club constitutes 11 members who are nominated by the students themselves. During the nomination process, the entire student body is divided into six groups. Each group is required to nominate a representative to the child club. An extra five members are nominated based on academic excellence, a female representative, lowest strata representative, etc. Members of the club -- mostly between 13 to 15 years -- advocate their own cause (the cause of children). The club, however, works in line with a focal teacher who facilitates the nomination process.
The Liberian Case
Unlike Nepal where at least 500,000 children are still out of school, more than 570,000 Liberian children are still out of school. Twelve percent of Liberian girl children and six % of boys might just never go to school, studies have shown. At the same time, over 55% primary students in Liberia are above 11 years old. Only 3.2% of 45% primary school enrolment in Liberian schools completes the primary level, according to recent surveys on the sector. Also, the current educational curriculum of the system is outdated and currently undergoing revision – God knows when that process will be completed.
Moving forward, however, in order to save the country of future brain drain, concerted efforts must be made to maintain a culture of peace in the country, beginning with the society’s mind molding or grooming unit (the educational sector, the Ministry of Education). This could be done through incorporation into the academic curricula of schools the concept of peace education and non-violent approach to resolving conflictive matters. But that will only become realistic if the Ministry of Education, which has long been rife issues of conflict of interest, finally gets its acts together.
Health and Education carry lion shares of Liberia’s national budget. However, the Ministry of Education has yet to translate text books in Braille for blind students. Such pressing issues of educational development are simply not getting the necessary attention. Visually impaired students also find it extremely difficult to make a successful pass in the national exams because their tests are not administered in Braille. Blind kids are often seen with tape recorders in class; recording lectures. As a result, they perform poorly in their lessons and end up receiving charity grades by teachers who feel sorry for their (blind kids) condition.
The money is rather being diverted to other projects, officials have insinuated. However, Minister Etmonia Tarpeh has said that the Ministry has been lagging behind on this issue mainly because of the possibility of not having those materials ready in the Liberian context. “If those materials are not ready in the Liberian context, then we can always take those available materials and ask some of our partners to convert them into Braille for the blind students,” she told this writer in a recent interview.
The Braille issue is just one prime example, which if the Government of Liberia is serious about pursuing qualitative development of its education system, will first of all level the field of access to education to fully include the long abandoned disabled community. Not to mention that this could unearth some of the nation’s most brilliant minds and greatest talents yet.
Speaking of talents, it’s time to bring back extra-curricular activities, electives and nurture the creative arts among students in school. Most of Liberia’s schools are found wanting in this regard, neglecting the need to nurture the creative side of these young Liberian brains. These subjects and activities strike a dominant chord with youth everywhere, most evident by the proliferation of video clubs through which youth get their daily dosage of sports and entertainment. However, the video clubs are only commercial entities, not schools. Students are nothing more than paying customers. Pay per view: what you see is what you get.
It’s time for schools to reclaim the attention of their students by providing the guided instruction to help students constructively and adequately define and communicate their experiences, their hopes, dreams and curiosities; help them find their way through the maze of artistic development through guided instruction and practice? Mind you, there has been no better way to communicate life-learning concepts such as team-building, problem-solving, leadership – as well as conflict resolution and peace, the very topic of this conference – to students than via creative and engaging presentations. So if we truly want to transform our schools from war-bunkers to knowledge camps, then bring back the extracurricular activities – the dramas, choirs, football and other athletic sports.
Seek partnerships with corporate entities such as newspapers and other media houses to support high school press clubs the bedrock of the local journalism industry. Find other corporate entities in other industries to partner with the Ministry of Education to help develop the capacity of schools in certain relevant fields of capacity development. You want to transform schools from paid grade-dispensaries to credible institutions where students are inspired to dream big, study, work hard and get the grades they deserve? Make more libraries accessible for communities of schools. Invest in providing access to approved electronic learning resources students can tap into on the Internet to enrich their learning experience.
There are many other ideas for establishing the environment for peace to thrive in our schools. The hardest part in accomplishing this is a commitment to building and sustaining the public-private partnerships that will drive this effort.
Unlike in Liberia where the implementation of the recently passed children’s law is becoming a sticky issue as reflected in the relaxed approach to it by concerned stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Health and Social which seems to be dragging its feet to even tell the Liberian people what this law aims to achieve. The law was passed in September 2011 and launched by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in February 2012. Up until now, it is not clear whether the law has finally been signed by the President since her Press Secretary, Jerolinmik Piah, says he has no knowledge on that subject. If taken seriously and forcefully implemented, the 2011 Children’s Law of Liberia stands as an excellent tool to ensure the rightful upbringing of the Liberian child.
In the contemporary Liberian context, many young people are often seen lingering in the streets either as beggars, car loaders, petty traders and so forth. This emerging trend in the lifestyle of Liberian youths -- an offshoot of the country’s 14 years of civil war – has continuously been blamed on unemployment resulting from low capacity or lack of skills to make these young people marketable for gainful employment. The root cause of this problem [as we all know] can be traced to the war years when the right to education of these youths was being gambled by warlords who felt the only means by which they could navigate their way to power was by exploiting the youthful energy, innocence, thousands of children spent their formative years in the killing fields. The recruitment of Liberian children into ‘small boy units’ and harems of sex slaves and ‘war wives’ in various warring factions did not only rob them (children) of their childhood, right to education; it also hurt the future of the country, which is now in the hands of a lost generation -- the youths.
The Nepalese Experience
Well, here comes the good news. Fortunately, the Nepalese case is full of resourceful experiences that Liberia can draw upon to make the formative years of the Liberian children very meaningful. Nepal’s concept of Children as Zones of Peace (CZOP) and Schools as Zones of Peace (SZOP) deal more with peace value from within, while maintaining a conductive learning environment by attaining peace from the outside, respectively. Both concepts advocate children’s basic right to survival, development and protection; while advocating for children to have uninterrupted access to education, health and sanitation and to let them grow up as happy, tolerant and peace-loving non-violent children.
To share these invaluable experiences with other war-torn countries, the government of Nepal, through its Education Ministry, the Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu, Save the Children and UNICEF organized and held a three-day international seminar on schools as zones of peace in Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. At least 50 delegates from seven war-ravaged countries -- Nepal, Ivory Coast, Liberia, South Sudan, New York, Oslo and India –, drawn from diverse background in the education sectors of their respective countries, graced the seminar.
Kishore Thapa is the Nepalese Minister of Education. In remarks, during the opening ceremony of the seminar, Mr. Thapa said his government, through the Ministry of Education, has already demonstrated its commitment to peace by declaring schools as zones of peace. This has inculcated peace and leadership in the minds of the younger ones who are the future leaders of his country, he added.
The concept of Schools of Zones of Peace, birthed in 2003, espouses child rights by placing firm emphasizes on safeguarding children’s right to quality health care, quality education, and mental well-being; focusing its efforts in highly-affected districts of the country. This is why Minister Thapa said declaring schools as zone of peace protects the integrity of children by affording them unfettered access to quality education, enforcing gender sensitivity among elementary and primary schools’ teachers and eliminating potential discrimination against disabled children.
To get a firsthand gist of how the concept of SZOP actually works in practical terms, delegates at the seminar were taken to the Sindhupalchok District situated among high Himalayas mountains and extremely high hills north-east of Kathmandu. It took the team at least 9 hours of bumpy ride – 4 ½ hours to and from – to get to the Koldoungdevi Secondary School within that district.
While at the school, delegates interacted, in separate sessions, with parents, teachers, and the students themselves. However, at the close of day, it was understood that the SZOP concept puts an immediate halt to physical and psychological punishments (no corporal punishment is allowed) in schools, requiring teachers to teach in child-friendly, gender-friendly and disabled-friendly manners, in an effort to make the environment a peaceful place to be. It was also understood that the concept seeks to combat against external sources of violence in school (political, ideological and social sources of conflict, use of violence in education, harassment), internal sources (ills in school governance, lack of transparency in the running of schools) and classroom violence (discriminative behaviors, physical violence and verbal abuse).
“Schools as Zones of Peace means there will be no political disturbances on our campuses, no discrimination among us as students and no segregation among us based on class system. I fell happy and comfortable whenever I’m on campus because I feel at peace here. Teachers are no more allowed to beat on us. We will spend our [formative] years in schools and not in battle fields,” 13 years old Ashim Pyakurel, a grade 9 student at the Koldoungdevi Secondary School said.
Fourteen year old Kamal Thakuri of the Koldoungdevi Secondary School believes that the concept enables them to see themselves as peace ambassadors in their various communities. The 9th grader said once back in the communities [from school], they make it their duty to preach peace to their peers (those who are not in school), to their parents and other members of their communities. “If our homes and communities are not at peace, how can we achieve the goal of having a school declared as a zone of peace? It is not enough to have a school declared as a zone of peace when the community within which that school is situated is not as peaceful. We therefore feel we have a responsibility to share the news of a need for a peaceful community. We tell our parents that on campus, there is no discrimination, no corporal punishment, so they, too, need to be peaceful and avoid hitting on us,” he explained.
For Rita Sunar, 15, the concept affords her a chance to feel equal with other children, especially those considered to be of the upper class of their society. “When I am on campus, I feel equal to everyone else, though I come from a so-called untouchable outcast class of our society.” The 10 grader expressed that while on campus, she has a chance to mingle with all other children, especially those considered to be hailing from the rich class of their community.
A prime achievement of this initiative children and schools as zones of peace is that there have been no disturbances from political parties and villagers in the school, organizers have said.
Child Clubs
The code of conduct adopted by the Nepalese government and set as accepted best practices for all schools also gives children to tap into their leadership abilities and begin testing and strengthening these abilities as they navigate their way through grade school. This is achieved through a provision in the code of conduct, which calls for the establishment of child clubs in school. The club constitutes 11 members who are nominated by the students themselves. During the nomination process, the entire student body is divided into six groups. Each group is required to nominate a representative to the child club. An extra five members are nominated based on academic excellence, a female representative, lowest strata representative, etc. Members of the club -- mostly between 13 to 15 years -- advocate their own cause (the cause of children). The club, however, works in line with a focal teacher who facilitates the nomination process.
The Liberian Case
Unlike Nepal where at least 500,000 children are still out of school, more than 570,000 Liberian children are still out of school. Twelve percent of Liberian girl children and six % of boys might just never go to school, studies have shown. At the same time, over 55% primary students in Liberia are above 11 years old. Only 3.2% of 45% primary school enrolment in Liberian schools completes the primary level, according to recent surveys on the sector. Also, the current educational curriculum of the system is outdated and currently undergoing revision – God knows when that process will be completed.
Moving forward, however, in order to save the country of future brain drain, concerted efforts must be made to maintain a culture of peace in the country, beginning with the society’s mind molding or grooming unit (the educational sector, the Ministry of Education). This could be done through incorporation into the academic curricula of schools the concept of peace education and non-violent approach to resolving conflictive matters. But that will only become realistic if the Ministry of Education, which has long been rife issues of conflict of interest, finally gets its acts together.
Health and Education carry lion shares of Liberia’s national budget. However, the Ministry of Education has yet to translate text books in Braille for blind students. Such pressing issues of educational development are simply not getting the necessary attention. Visually impaired students also find it extremely difficult to make a successful pass in the national exams because their tests are not administered in Braille. Blind kids are often seen with tape recorders in class; recording lectures. As a result, they perform poorly in their lessons and end up receiving charity grades by teachers who feel sorry for their (blind kids) condition.
The money is rather being diverted to other projects, officials have insinuated. However, Minister Etmonia Tarpeh has said that the Ministry has been lagging behind on this issue mainly because of the possibility of not having those materials ready in the Liberian context. “If those materials are not ready in the Liberian context, then we can always take those available materials and ask some of our partners to convert them into Braille for the blind students,” she told this writer in a recent interview.
The Braille issue is just one prime example, which if the Government of Liberia is serious about pursuing qualitative development of its education system, will first of all level the field of access to education to fully include the long abandoned disabled community. Not to mention that this could unearth some of the nation’s most brilliant minds and greatest talents yet.
Speaking of talents, it’s time to bring back extra-curricular activities, electives and nurture the creative arts among students in school. Most of Liberia’s schools are found wanting in this regard, neglecting the need to nurture the creative side of these young Liberian brains. These subjects and activities strike a dominant chord with youth everywhere, most evident by the proliferation of video clubs through which youth get their daily dosage of sports and entertainment. However, the video clubs are only commercial entities, not schools. Students are nothing more than paying customers. Pay per view: what you see is what you get.
It’s time for schools to reclaim the attention of their students by providing the guided instruction to help students constructively and adequately define and communicate their experiences, their hopes, dreams and curiosities; help them find their way through the maze of artistic development through guided instruction and practice? Mind you, there has been no better way to communicate life-learning concepts such as team-building, problem-solving, leadership – as well as conflict resolution and peace, the very topic of this conference – to students than via creative and engaging presentations. So if we truly want to transform our schools from war-bunkers to knowledge camps, then bring back the extracurricular activities – the dramas, choirs, football and other athletic sports.
Seek partnerships with corporate entities such as newspapers and other media houses to support high school press clubs the bedrock of the local journalism industry. Find other corporate entities in other industries to partner with the Ministry of Education to help develop the capacity of schools in certain relevant fields of capacity development. You want to transform schools from paid grade-dispensaries to credible institutions where students are inspired to dream big, study, work hard and get the grades they deserve? Make more libraries accessible for communities of schools. Invest in providing access to approved electronic learning resources students can tap into on the Internet to enrich their learning experience.
There are many other ideas for establishing the environment for peace to thrive in our schools. The hardest part in accomplishing this is a commitment to building and sustaining the public-private partnerships that will drive this effort.
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