A Study of Key Actors, Interventions and Gaps in Education for Peace in Uganda

Abstract

The study documented actors involved in Education for Peace in Uganda, the nature of interventions, lessons learnt in the process of implementing peace education and the main gaps that exist and made recommendations for policy. The assignment was implemented using several methods including review of literature and documents, interviews with officers of organizations undertaking peace education, focus group discussion and observation of peace building activities. Earlier definitions of peace viewed it as the absence of war. These definitions were inadequate as they ignored residual feelings of mistrust and suspicion that the winners and losers of a war harbor toward each other representing a kind of cold war. A proper definition of "peace" therefore must include positive characteristics that foster cooperation among human groups of with different cultural backgrounds so that social justice can be done and human potential can freely develop within democratic political structures. Several perspectives of peace at the local included peace as absence of conflicts, living in good relationships with members of society, happiness, availability of requirements for living and the existence of space to talk and move without hindrance. Peace was therefore understood at the local level as a goal that can be arrived at by members of society pursuing various but inter-related paths. The motivation for the initiation of peace education can be traced to the experience of conflicts on a global scale in the 1990s. These conflicts revealed the decisions by some nations and groups to resort to armed violence to settle conflicts and disputes resulting in death of millions of persons, injury and destruction of property and drew attention to the need to attain peace. The proposal to develop a culture of peace to replace a culture of war and violence has become an important agendum to those who involved and concerned to build a new peaceful century. The General Conference of UNESCO in its 28th Session in 1995 adopted a trans-disciplinary project termed, Towards a Culture of Peace which highlighted the need for Education for Peace and International Understanding and Tolerance among other areas. The General Assembly of the United Nations in 1997 proclaimed the year 2000 to be the International Year of the Culture of Peace, and in 1998 it declared the period 2001-2010 the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for children for the world. The quest for peace requires that teaching be for peace and not just about peace. Teaching for peace may be defined as the process of inculcating values, knowledge and developing attitudes, skills and behaviors to live in harmony with oneself, with others and with the natural environment. The definition emphasizes that the peace education must start with the individual by aiming at making a person be at peace with oneself and changing the attitude of the individual to use dialogue to resolve dispute in the family, the community and in society. Education for peace should aim at building a culture of peace. Building a culture of peace involves conducting education for dismantling a culture of violence, education for promoting human rights and responsibilities, education for living with justice and compassion, education for building cultural respect, reconciliation and solidarity, education for living in harmony with the earth and education for cultivating inner peace. Actors involved in education for peace are categorized into those providing peace educations in formal and non-formal education sectors. Formal educational sector include institutions such as schools, training institutes and universities; and non- formal sector refers to education for out of school children and adults; communities and the general public. Peace education is provided in primary and secondary schools with the guidance and support of the Ministry of Education and Sports in collaboration with Uganda National Commission for UNESCO and the Catholic Secretariat by specifically developing of guides for teaching peace-related subjects in both primary and secondary schools. In addition, the National Commission for UNESCO in collaboration with Korean National Commission for UNESCO and Ministry of Education and Sports supported the training of teachers in human rights and peace education in order to build their capacity to integrate peace education in their teaching. Other key actors that have supported peace education in both primary and secondary schools include Jammi Ku Patanisha ((JYAK), (Reconciliation for Peace), Efforts for the Promotion of Peace and Prevention of Violence and HIV/AIDS (EPPOVAH), United Movement to End Child Soldiering (UMEC), Justice and Peace Commission, Kabarole Research and Resources Centre (KRRC), Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and Centre for Conflict Resolution (CECORE). Universities and institutes provide training in conflict management and peace building. Universities include Makerere, Gulu, Mbarara and Uganda Martyrs and private training institutes include East African Institute for Governance and Conflict Management. Non-formal education is alternative education for out-of school children, school leavers and adults that aims at giving them literacy and numeracy and practical skills that enable them to be make a living. These comprise Alternative Education for Karamoja (ABEK), Complementary Opportunities for Primary Education (COPE), Basic Education for Urban Poor (BEUPA), Child-Centered Alternative Non-formal Community Based Education (CHANCE) Empowering Lifelong Skills Education in Masindi (ELSE) implemented by the Ministry of Education and Sports in collaboration with NGOS; and adult education programmes implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in collaboration with other ministries and agencies like the Human Rights Commission and NGOs. While the topics of peace and security are included in the ABEK curriculum given the insecurity situation in Karamoja region and embedded in related subjects of civic education, HIV/AIDS and environment education in Adult Education Programme, peace or related subjects are however, not clearly reflected in other alternative education initiatives. Peace education in non-formal sector targeting families, communities and the general public address several issues including ongoing conflicts within communities, mediation of conflicts between belligerents, responding to issues of post-conflict reintegration, post-conflict resettlement and peace building among neighboring communities implemented largely by traditional cultural institutions, faith-based organizations and NGOs. The major gaps in the education for peace interventions included: Inclusion of peace education only as topics in other subjects at primary and secondary levels; ⚫ discrepancy between what is taught in theory and the practice of peace in schools, homes, community and nation; ⚫ lack of peace education in alternative education programmes for out of school children with the exception of ABEK; ⚫ inclusion of peace education in related subjects in adult education programmes; ⚫ lack of inclusion of peace education in the curriculum for training teachers; ⚫ limited number of personnel trained in peace education and peace activities; ⚫ weak guidance and coordination of actors involved in peace education and peace building; ⚫ dwindling resources constraining the implementation peace education activities; limited research on conflicts and peace building that result in outdated teaching materials and missing opportunity to capture traditional approaches to addressing conflict for use in teaching; lack of centers or forum where persons implementing peace activities can obtain knowledge by sharing experience through workshops and research on conflict and peace. Lessons learnt in implementing peace education included the following: ⚫ conflicts can never be eliminated from society but mechanisms of managing them should be developed; ⚫ conflict is good because it highlights latent grievance or human rights violations that require addressing; peace building should start at an early stage beginning with children so that peace can be built permanently in their lives and to help them appreciate the need for a peaceful relationships and environment; peace education should be integrated in subjects in primary and secondary levels; peace education should be introduced as stand alone subjects in teacher training curriculum to enable teachers to have adequate knowledge to teach students; ⚫ peace is not done for but with a community which enables the involvement of all stakeholders in planning peace interventions to improve their chances of being sustained; ⚫ peace education and counseling are more successful when combined with vocational training to provide opportunities for income generation; ⚫ the creation and training of local community based structures for peace education and peace activities in general are a cost-effective way of integrating and sustaining peace building mechanism in the community; ⚫ continuous research and training on conflict management is necessary as the nature of conflict keep changing and to document indigenous practices of conflict management. Gaps in the current policy and legislation include inadequate provision of peace education in formal education sector; inadequate inclusion of peace education in alternative education for out of school children and no clear reflection of peace education in draft adult education policy. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education and Sports should formulate a policy on peace education to guide the implementation of peace education activities in formal institutions and non-formal alternative educational programmes for children currently being supported by many actors without proper coordination and guidance. Similarly, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development should formulate a policy on peace education in the Adult Education Sector to guide, harmonize and coordinate interventions in this sector.