International Day of Education

 

 

 

On 3 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution[i] (73/25) proclaiming 24 January as International Day of Education[ii], in celebration of the role of education for peace and development, as a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.

The adoption of the resolution 73/25, co-authored by Nigeria and 58 other Member States, demonstrated the unwavering political will to support transformative actions for inclusive, equitable and quality education for all, so that everyone can have lifelong learning opportunities and acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to fully participate in society and contribute to sustainable development.

When the International Community adopted, in September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it recognized that education is necessary for the success of all seventeen goals of the Sustainable Development Plan and dedicated the fourth goal[iii] of the plan to “ensuring quality, fair and inclusive education for all and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all”.

Good education enhances opportunities for peace in countries suffering from internal armed conflicts and divisions, by teaching the values of the importance of openness to the other, intercultural understanding, reconciliation and brotherhood. It also gives children a ladder out of poverty and a path to a promising future.

According to the Global Education Monitoring Report 2019[iv], there are approximately 265 million children and adolescents in the world who do not have the opportunity to education or even complete it, even though more than 20% of them are of primary school age, but they are frustrated by poverty, discrimination, armed conflict, emergencies, and impacts of climate change. UNICEF, in its report in 2015, stated that about 13.4 million children out of 34 million school-age children, about 40%, are not attending schools in the Middle East and North Africa as a result of armed conflicts[v].

In Libya, the education sector faces growing challenges; deteriorated educational facilities, majority of teachers are unqualified, widespread administrative corruption, as a result of mismanagement of the sector by the previous regime. Situation has worsened by years of armed conflicts since 2011.

In 2012 the Libyan Ministry of Education, supported by UNICEF with the technical assistance of the NGO ACTED, conducted an assessment of all Libyan schools (4,800 in total) enabling the collection of comprehensive baseline data on the status of the education sector in Libya following the 2011 uprising[vi]. The survey found that 50% of schools “have requested additional textbooks, visual aids and teaching materials to improve the learning environment”.

According to the latest statement by UNICEF on Libya[vii], the attack by forces of the retired Maj Gen Khalifa Haftar since April 4, 2019, on Tripoli, a city with a population of more than two million, resulted in attacks against schools and threat of violence, which “led to closures and left almost 200,000 children out of the classroom”. A video recording posted on social media networks[viii] documented the terror, schoolchildren experienced (in Tajoura district, east of Tripoli), when a Haftar warplane bombed an area adjacent to their school.

Human Rights Solidarity Organization expresses its concern about the persistence of violence and deprivation of children, in particular and all students, of education in schools and other educational facilities, which is a violation of their fundamental rights, and will have negative repercussions far-reaching, on an entire generation of children, and their health development.

[i] United Nations General Assembly: “Resolution number 73/25, International Day of Education”, 3^rd December 2018.

[ii] UNESCO: “UN General Assembly proclaims 24 January International Day of Education”, 5^th December 2018.

[iii] United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals: “Goal 4 – Quality Education”.

[iv] UNESCO: “Migration, displacement & education: Building bridges, not walls”, Global Education Monitoring Report 2019.

[v] Deutsche Welle: “UNICEF: Conflicts in the Middle East deny education to 13 million children” (Arabic), 3^rd September 2015.

[vi] UNSMIL: “UNICEF: The National School Assessment Program shows the need for more investment in the education sector” (Arabic), 28^th February 2013. “Libya School Assessment, Quick Facts”. The survey showed that “40% of schools were damaged during the 2011 Revolution”, and that “15% of schools in which more than 90 students between males and females are forced to use a single mixed toilet, while 16% of schools do not have soap for children to wash hands, and one of every four schools does not have clean water”. As for children with special needs, the survey found that “Only one public school out of 100 have functional toilets for children with disabilities, and Less than one school out of 20 has provisions for students with special needs”

[vii] UNICEF: “Libya: Tens of thousands of children at risk amidst violence and chaos of unrelenting conflict”, 17^th January 2020. The statement was issued by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. UNICEF stated that “Since April last year when hostilities broke out in Tripoli and western Libya, conditions for thousands of children and the civilians have deteriorated further. Indiscriminate attacks in populated areas have caused hundreds of deaths, and UNICEF has received reports of children being maimed or killed. Children are also being recruited to the fighting. Meanwhile, more than 150,000 people, 90,000 of whom are children, have been forced to flee their homes and are now internally displaced.”, and added “Infrastructure on which children depend for their wellbeing and survival has also come under attack. Nearly 30 health facilities have been damaged in the fighting, forcing 13 to close. Attacks against schools and the threat of violence have led to closures and left almost 200,000 children out of the classroom. Water systems have been attacked and the waste management system has virtually collapsed, greatly increasing the risk of waterborne diseases including cholera.”. Concerning refugees and migrant children, UNICEF said “The 60,000 refugee and migrant children currently in urban areas are also terribly vulnerable, especially the 15,000 who are unaccompanied and those being held in detention centers. These children already had limited access to protection and essential services, so the intensifying conflict has only amplified the risks that they face”.

[viii] The New Arab: “A video showing school children panicking in Tajoura during the bombing of the area by Haftar’s air force” (Arabic), 30 December 2019. The location of the bombing was very close to the school building, dust or smoke appears coming from the left side of the camera, indicating that the bomb or missile almost hit the school itself and could have caused a disaster.