Can Education Bring Peace In Post-Conflict States? – Maham Asif

• Maham Asif
• Oct 4, 2024
• 2 min read

Education is used to build state narratives to promote national unity in post-conflict countries. The state homogenized the narrative of the dominant group to create a shared identity while not taking into perspective the experiences of the marginalized groups. This measure was adopted to consolidate political control and bring stability post conflict. 

For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the 1990s conflict raised tensions between the various ethnic groups: Bosnaiks, Croats, and Serbs. What followed was a fragmented education system. Dominant ethnic groups in each region adopted their own teaching methods and curriculum. The state allowed this under the democratic right of every person to receive education in their mother language, not taking into account that the dominant language was not shared by all ethnic groups residing in an area. 

Another example is Rwanda, where the Hutus and Tutsi were undergoing an ethnic conflict in the 199os. The education laid an emphasis on national unity through the creation of a shared identity. After coming into power in 1994, the government removed ethnic identities from identification cards and in 2001 passed laws against discrimination based on ethnic grounds. However, removal of these markers of identity did not take into account the violence perpetrated by the Hutus on the Tutsi and no amends were made for accountability.

Cultural education is a long-term solution for conflict between diverse groups. Cultural education focuses on cultural pluralism instead of cultural assimilation. This raises the question that during times of conflict, the narrative of the dominant group is perpetuated so how can an alternative version of history be adopted in the post conflict state? 

Collective memory of states is formed through oral histories, which form a personal connection with one’s history fueling identity formation and invoking a sense of civic responsibility. This alternative to mainstream view of history also offers critical thinking and helps one understand history through lived experiences, which humanizes history that is otherwise very clinical and statistics oriented. 

Independent actors carried out oral history projects in post conflict states. In Pakistan, The Citizens Archive created “The Oral History Project” which offered an insight into the experiences of those who underwent migration in 1947. Moreover, University of Karachi and Quaid e Azam University played a central role in researching on the historic partition. Similarly, South Africa started oral history projects following the apartheid to reconcile the differences between the different racial groups. This was pioneered by universities and National Archives of South Africa that supplemented the historic narrative with testimonials of those who lived through the history. 

McLean Hilker, L. C. (2014). Navigating adolescence and young adulthood in Rwanda during and after genocide: Intersections of ethnicity, gender and age. Children’s Geographies, 12(3), 354-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2014.913784