Advocating for Justice in Education: Broken Chalk’s Global Commitment

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen,
My name is Jonathan Murphy, and I am here today on behalf of Broken Chalk. I am honoured to be asked to speak here in front of you, alongside so many capable experts committed to the cause of human rights. It feels that this commitment is being tested more and more every day in the current climate.
A little bit about us – Broken Chalk is an Amsterdam based NGO focused on human rights violations in the education sector. We are a relatively new organisation established in the aftermath of the worst of Covid in October of 2020. We are a broad tent of human rights advocates, researchers, lawyers, campaigners, and interns. We aim to advocate for those targeted or pushed aside by states and governments. We do this through engagement with international bodies, including the UN, to provide swift redress to those having their rights infringed. We also seek to shine a light on the status of human rights in education all over the world, from Armenia to Zambia. We have an army of interns and volunteers who research and produce detailed reports for international organisations, stakeholders, and governments. The comprehensiveness of these reports aims to shine a light on underdiscussed issues which prevail all over the world. We believe that through raising awareness we can compel states and international institutions to honour the basic human right to education.
We envision a world where every person, regardless of background or location, has safe access to quality education.
There was a time after the fall of the Berlin wall where an assumption about human rights prevailed – one that declared the end of history and the beginning of a global acceptance of free markets, free states, and free people – in that order. This assumption imagined a world where human rights would be inalienable from the individual. Unfortunately, reality has not complied. “Human rights” are often discussed with a distinct curl of the lip – particularly by far right and totalitarian regimes. Basic rights, including the right to education are being threatened all over the world.
At Broken Chalk, we regard the right to education as one of the most fundamental human rights. However, this right, like others, is under threat. The right to education is enshrined in innumerable covenants and conventions, not least the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that education allows for the flourishing of the individual and society. It lifts people out of poverty, it leads society out of ignorance, and it propels the world into a fairer and more hopeful future. There are no excuses for governments seeking to suppress its’ access. However, UNESCO reports that at least 244 million children and young people are still not receiving education for a host of social, cultural, and economic factors. We seek to provide a bulwark between government repression of this right and the students seeking to fulfil their potential.
We do this by documenting how different factors are eroding students’ rights to education and providing non-exhaustive recommendations.
I’d like to start by talking about how state repression can affect the right to education through the targeting of students.
For example, we have documented how in Turkey, students are being targeted under the guise of security from terrorism. In May 2024, 40 individuals were arrested – including 14 minors. From this coercion where minors were interrogated for up to 15 hours without the right to legal access, prosecutors charged 37 women, predominantly university students, with terrorism. These were active, outgoing, normal students who were identified using coercive interrogations and flimsy evidence. Their student apartments were framed as “operative cells” for the Gulen movement. Yet searches found nothing. No propaganda, no documents, no incriminating materials whatsoever. What they found was the typical student room – laptops, books, and personal devices. These university students have been accused of recruiting and indoctrinating youngsters under the guise of organising social activities – shopping, tutoring, even bowling. To say the least, this is not the type of recruitment that other international terrorist organisations have sought to implement in the overthrow of the government.
Evidence of the nefarious motives of these students include the use of modern messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Telegram, and Instagram. Authorities made 75 references to the use of these platforms as proof of suspicious activity. If this were the case, I suspect each and every person in this room would be under intense scrutiny. That is to say – the use of these platforms as proof highlights the arbitrariness of the evidence being used to support one of the most serious crimes in law. To quote from the Arrested Lawyers Initiative:
The right to use encrypted communication is protected under international human rights law. Article 19 of the ICCPR and the UDHR affirm the rights to freedom of expression and privacy, both of which are reinforced by encryption. The UN has emphasized that States must protect encryption, and any interference with these rights must meet strict criteria of legality, necessity, and proportionality. Criminalizing encrypted communication without meeting these standards violates the fundamental rights of privacy and free expression.
We at Broken Chalk publicised this case and recommended the following non-exhaustive list of next steps to be taken:
1. Advocate for legal and humanitarian assistance by encouraging NGOs to provide support for the affected persons. For example, providing counselling services, funding legal defence and monitoring the conditions for the detainees to see if they align with the international standards.
2. Promote awareness and mobilize support for the current issue, as well as encouraging campaigns that support human rights. Additionally, these could also compel the Turkish authorities to adhere to international standards.
3. Call for investigation by demanding the UN organs or different human rights organizations initiate an independent investigation into the alleged violations of human rights.
Secondly, I would like to highlight how gender discrimination has had a profound effect on the right to education:
The current Taliban Government of Afghanistan have waged war on girls’ education. Since the withdrawal of US troops, the Taliban have taken control of government and society. While some may have predicted that Human Rights would not be a priority for the new regime, the swiftness of the regimes’ dismantling of the right to education has taken many aback. According to the UN, Afghanistan’s Taliban government has “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of their right to an education since coming to power. Girls are barred access to schooling above grade 6 (around 12 years old). Young women are not allowed to take entrance exams for universities in Afghanistan; so even those who have received an education before the ban are unable to pursue further education. Chillingly, reports coming from Afghanistan indicate that further restrictions include women showing their face or speaking outside of the home. Female teachers also face significant barriers in attaining professional credentials which has had a significant impact on the number of qualified teachers available in the country. This is exacerbated by the ban on female educators teaching classes for boys. The attack on women’s right to education is, predictably, also negatively affecting the boys. At Broken Chalk, we have indicated that these measures violate numerous treaties that Afghanistan have committed to in the past.
In the face of these reforms, Broken Chalk has recommended that the following steps may be taken to redress the balance towards the universal right to education:
1. Advocate for educational programs aimed at reducing illiteracy, especially for girls and women, by encouraging partnerships between international organizations such as the EU, UN Women, and UNESCO. One example is the initiative “Empowering women and adolescent girls in Afghanistan through literacy and skills development for sustainable livelihoods”. This project could be expanded or replicated to reach more women.
2. Promote the establishment of vocational training programs and community-based education for girls and women as an alternative to the ban on secondary and higher education imposed by the Taliban. This approach would help women achieve self-employment and financial independence. Organizations like UNESCO and UNICEF have already provided such training, benefiting over 55,000 young people and adolescents, with a significant majority being women and girls.
3. Advocate for the development of teacher training programs specifically targeted at women, enabling them to pursue careers in education. This could follow the model of the UNICEF Girls’ Access to Teacher Education (GATE) programme, which empowers women by providing them with the skills needed to become educators.
Finally, I’d like to discuss how broader discrimination can negatively affect the right to education.
Gender, of course, is not the only factor which governments take into account when deciding whose rights are repressed. The decision of where money is channelled also has a direct impact on who benefits within the education sector. For example, in Russia inclusive education has not been prioritised. Educators capable of providing specific assistance to student in need are scarce, undertrained, and lack the required educational and mythological material required to meaningfully assist disabled students. This leads to student, parent, and administrator frustration with disabled students often ending their education as soon as possible. However, this is far from solely a Russian problem – countries throughout the world are struggling to provide a comprehensive, inclusive education system.
Discrimination also occurs on theological and ideological grounds. In Iran, teachers must meet “moral, doctrinal, and political obligations”. These include commitment to the rules of Islam, belief and commitment to the Republic of Iran and the constitution, and no history of support for political parties which have been OR WILL BE proscribed, unless their REPENTENCE is proven. The implication on the right to education is clear. Teachers are not selected on their ability to provide a comprehensive, quality education – but through ideological purity. This effects students too. Areas mostly populated by Sunni or other minority religions students, instead of the majority Shia, face school and resource shortages. This is not a bug, it’s a feature. In a mixed methods analysis of the curriculum of the Islamic Republic, it was also found that ‘discriminatory attitudes’, mainly towards women and religious and ethnic minorities, are not ‘accidental or sporadic’. They are rather ‘continuous, consistent, and systematic’.
Finally, I’d like to discuss structural discrimination in regard to race in the education sector. I could point to a host of nations as an example of this type of discrimination, including some uncomfortably close to home. The USA, UK, France, and even the Netherlands have not fulfilled the promise of colour bind equal education opportunities. However, I’d like to discuss the formalised system of racial discrimination in Israel. Israeli schools are divided into four different tracks: state-secular, state-religious, independent religious, and Arab. We have documented the clear budget disparities between the Jewish and Arab schools – approximately a 30% deficit. Arab students have access to fewer classrooms, fewer libraries, fewer laboratories, and fewer qualified teachers than their Jewish counterparts. Yet Palestinian Arabs must learn more subjects as Hebrew is compulsory– leaving Arab students with a higher workload and fewer resources. We have also seen organised settler violence directed against schools in the West Bank – sometimes called Judea and Samaria. At Broken Chalk, we have documented how the Israeli Government have demolished EU funded schools in this area too – under the proviso of a lack of proper permitting and building regulations.
We stand against all forms of discrimination be it racial, ideological, theological or ableism. We call on these states to help fulfil the promise of students by building a more inclusive, more equal, and more empathetic education system. We believe that the only barrier to making these essential changes is political will.
To conclude
I have tried to give a snapshot of the challenges which young people face in various countries while simply trying to pursue their fundamental right to education. These are only some examples. Our own systems are far from perfect, and there are many others which are struggling with host of equally important issues ranging from educating in a war zone to indigenous rights. This was not a speech designed to demonise political states. Yet equally, when governments blindly ratify covenants and conventions to uphold various human rights to receive the plaudits, it is the duty of international organisations, states, NGOs, and civil society to hold them to account. The right to education is not a platitude, it is a promise to our youth that we will do all we can to ensure that their potential, their life, and their happiness will be fulfilled, regardless of who they are, where they’re from, or what they believe.

Thank you so much for your time and attention today.

Featured image by Photo by Lusma Trading on Unsplash

What to know about Venezuela’s new opposition leader  

What to know about Venezuela’s new opposition leader  

María Corina Machado is the leader of the Venezuelan opposition. She has a background in engineering and public administration, but has been involved in politics for two decades.  

Ideologically, Machado supports the liberal doctrine. She plans to reduce the involvement of the State in public policies and believes in the free market’s ability to create wealth and employment (Santaeulalia, 2023). She supports the separation between the State and the Church, and the decriminalization of abortion, the use of Marijuana, and gay marriage (Ibid.). Concerning foreign policies, she wants Venezuela to partake in numerous multilateral organizations (Ibid.). Internally, she wants to build a more self-sufficient country where the petro-state and oil industries impact significantly less the population’s daily lives (Ibid.). She is both against Chavez and Maduro, and refused to join political endeavors with them as it would represent a means to legitimize the regime (Ibid.). She founded Vente Venezuela, a political party dissolving the dichotomy of “left” and “right” (Vente Venezuela, 2014). In the early days, her proposals appealed to Venezuelan emigrants and members of the upper classes, but, in recent years, people from different economic backgrounds have attended her rallies, including traditional pro-chauvinism groups as the disillusion with the government seeped horizontally and vertically into the population (Santaeulalia, 2023).  

Machado’s first role was in 2010 when she was elected as the State of Miranda’s representative (Financial Times, 2018). Two years later, she came third in the election to lead the opposition. In 2014, she was removed from the position for, allegedly, violating two articles of the Constitution, after accepting the “substitute ambassador role” at the Organization of American States, OAS (Venezuela opposition congresswoman’s mandate revoked, 2014). According to international newspapers, pro-Maduro representatives, who had the majority of the national assembly, made such claims. In the same year, she appeared on the global political stage for her role during the protests called La Salita, where demonstrators were attacked with tear gas and 43 people were killed (El Pais, 2024). Machado joined the riots in support of Leopoldo Lopez, a politician who got arrested and charged with military crimes. She spoke against the Madurian government and invited the Venezuelan people to engage in nonviolent disobedience (Gelvis, 2016). Moreover, she highlighted how the Madurian regime employed police and state violence- torture, abuse, and killings- against civilians who joined manifestations (Ibid.).  Her early years were characterized by fighting for political transparency and she founded Súmate, a vote-motoring NGO association (Georgetown Americas Institute, 2024). It aims to defend and protect citizens’ rights as established in the country’s Constitution, and it promotes democratic participation (Ibid.). In 2004, the organization played an essential role in organizing the recall referendum against Chavez (Ibid.).  

From 2014 to 2021, she took a break from governmental roles and worked as a broadcaster and political commentator (Murolo, 2014). In 2022, she affirmed her intention to participate in the presidential primaries.  She spoke in favour of manual voting and against the technical assistance of the National Electoral Council (Redacción Runrun.es, 2023). Her political run was characterized by tension with the government when the latter disqualified Machado from political enterprises for 15 years for allegedly approval of sanctions during the Venezuelan crises and support of  Juan Guaidó’s crimes (Rodríguez, 2023). Machado received international support. The ban was approved in January 2024, three months after winning the primaries (Le Monde, 2024). Edmundo Urrutia became her replacement.  

Machado continues to be de facto the leader of the opposition, as her support for Urrutia is essential to maintaining the majority of the pools.  

The presidential election took place in July 2024 and both the factions claimed to have won. Maduro and his party got 51% of the votes; however, international bodies and the opposition criticized the CNE for its lack of transparency (Pozzebon, 2024). Machado stated that Urrutia received 70% of the votes (Machado, 2024). She, also, spoke out against Maduro’s attempts to maintain authority over the country which passed through unfair political moves (Ibid.). Machado was forced to quit the presidential run and several opposition team members were forced to live in the Argentinian Embassy in Caracas (Ibid.). Machado attacked Maduro for electoral fraud as he claimed the win but lost in all 24 states. Despite the hoax, the Venezuelan Court announced Maduro as the country’s next president at the end of August (Il mandato di arresto contro Edmundo González Urrutia, 2024), and political opponents were forced to flee the country and hide. Urrutia asked Spain for protection (Barbarena, 2024); Machado was forced to hide (Machado, 2024).  

 

REFERENCES 

 Barberena, R. C. (2024, December 12). España anunció la concesión de asilo al opositor venezolano Edmundo González. France 24; FRANCE 24. https://www.france24.com/es/am%C3%A9rica-latina/20241220-espa%C3%B1a-anunci%C3%B3-la-concesi%C3%B3n-de-asilo-al-opositor-venezolano-edmundo-gonz%C3%A1lez 

 EL PAÍS. (2024). VENEZUELA | ¿Quién es María Corina Machado? | EL PAÍS. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJZ5LCXHsSw 

Financial Times Times. (2018). Venezuela’s opposition claims majority. 

 https://www.ft.com/content/064cc06a-cb30-11df-95c0-00144feab49a 

 Le Monde. (2024, January 27). Venezuela’s Supreme Court disqualifies opposition leader from running for president. Le Monde.fr; Le Monde. 

 Gelvis, R. L. (2016, May 31). María Corina Machado: En Venezuela se vive bajo una dictadura militarista.https://web.archive.org/web/20170406110425/http://www.panorama.com.ve/politicayeconomia/Maria-Corina-Machado-En-Venezuela-se-vive-bajo-una-dictadura-militarista–20160531-0115.html 

 Machado, M. C. (2024, August 1). I Can Prove Maduro Got Trounced. WSJ; The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-can-prove-maduro-got-trounced-venezuela-election-stolen-772d66a0 

 Murolo,l. (2014, September 22). María Corina Machado estará “Contigo” todos los martes en RCR 750 AM. La Region.  

Santaeulalia, I. (2023, October 1). María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan Margaret Thatcher.El PAÍS English. https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-10-01/maria-corina-machado-the-venezuelan-margaret-thatcher.html 

 Il mandato di arresto contro Edmundo González Urrutia. (2024, September 3). Il Post. https://www.ilpost.it/2024/09/03/venezuela-mandato-arresto-edmundo-gonzalez/ 

 Pozzebon, J. Y., Tara John, Stefano. (2024, July 29). Both Venezuela strongman Nicolas Maduro and opposition claim election win, as US voices “serious concern.” CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/07/29/americas/venezuela-election-maduro-winner-intl-hnk/index.html 

 Rodríguez, R. (2023, June 30). Contraloría inhabilita a María Corina Machado por 15 años, dice José Brito. Efecto Cocuyo. https://efectococuyo.com/politica/contraloria-inhabilita-a-maria-corina-machado-por-15-anos-dice-jose-brito/ 

 Redacción Runrun.es. (2023). María Corina Machado insiste en primarias sin CNE: “La gente no es pendeja.” Runrun.es: En Defensa de Tus Derechos Humanos; Runrunes. https://runrun.es/noticias/495043/maria-corina-machado-insiste-en-primarias-sin-cne-la-gente-no-es-pendeja/ 

Venezuela opposition congresswoman’s mandate revoked. (2014, March 25). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26726282 

 Vente Venezuela. (2014). https://www.ventevenezuela.org/nuestros-ideales-2/ 

Child Poverty in Tonga

Written by Panashe Marie Louise Mlambo

The Kingdom of Tonga is divided into four island groups and consists of some 170 islands, with only 36 Islands inhabited in the Polynesian Pacific. The four island groups are Tongatapu in the south, Ha’apai in the centre, Vava’u in the north, and Niuatoputapu and Niuafo’ou in the north. The total population stands at 106,170, around 37 per cent of whom are under the age of 15.

i. The country faces numerous issues, one of them being learning poverty, which refers to the inability of children to read and understand a simple text by age 10. To understand why the country faces a large number of children who are under learning poverty, we must look at the socio-economic issues that affect the country.

 

In addition to poverty, The Kingdom of Tonga also has environmental issues, primarily climate issues, due to its coastal location. Like many other Pacific Islands, Tonga is vulnerable to natural disasters, cyclones, and unfortunately, it also has a large number of people who live under the poverty line. In March 2015, at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Tonga was labelled the second most at-risk country in the world due to constantly being threatened by different natural disasters. As a result, many education systems suffer in terms of quality and quantity, leading to poverty and insecurities in learning.

 

Free education and retention issues.

The country has free education for children aged 6 to 14, and education has been compulsory for this age group since 1987; however, after completion of secondary school, many students leave the country to pursue tertiary education in Australia and other countries, which has led to a continuous brain drain and the country’s reliance of remittances.

ii. In addition, the World Bank report, which looked at houses in Tonga, found that to tackle issues in education and the economy, the country needs to find other sources of income.

iii. Despite the strides in making education accessible, the country still faces a large percentage of out-of-school children and non-completion of primary and secondary school. Due to free education only covering up to 14 years and the country’s large number of people living under the poverty line, the dropout rate is higher in upper secondary school. According to UNICEF, in a 2023 study, 2 per cent do not complete primary, 8 per cent do not complete lower secondary school, and 49 per cent do not complete upper secondary.

iv. Gender roles and education

According to the UNICEF education fact sheet,v 62 per cent of the children who do not complete primary education are boys, 57 per cent at the lower secondary level, and 54 per cent at the upper secondary level are boys—further highlighting the glaring issues in gender norms.

 

V. Around the globe, looking at the data collected by Education Monitoring Around the Globe by Broken Chalk, many countries that have a large number of people living below the poverty line have issues with boys retention; many boys in these countries drop out to provide for their families and also get involved in criminal activities, and Tonga is an example of this phenomenon.

 

COL undertook a study on boys’ underachievement in Tonga to investigate factors affecting boys’ participation, performance and learning outcomes in school. The researchers engaged over 450 stakeholders through surveys and interviews with parents, teachers, boys, community members and the Ministry for Education and Training staff.

vi. The researchers found that social norms largely affect the perception of boys, and due to poverty, many boys understand criminal activities and drop out due to responsibilities at home, and many people are unaware of these issues.

Learning Poverty and Social Status

According to UNICEF, 48 per cent of children who have Grade 3 as the highest grade attended have the expected reading skills for that grade, while 26 per cent of children have the expected numeracy skills. The data also shows that children in the bottom wealth quintile have lower numeracy skills compared to children from the richest households in the country.

Socioeconomic status (SES) plays a crucial role in shaping a child’s educational outcomes. Children from lower-SES backgrounds often face multiple disadvantages that impede their academic progress. These disadvantages include limited access to educational resources at home, reduced parental involvement due to time constraints or lower educational attainment of parents, and fewer opportunities for early childhood development.

vii. The home literacy environment, in particular, has been identified as a significant factor influencing children’s literacy skills. Children from lower-SES households typically have fewer books at home and engage less frequently in reading activities with their parents, which can hinder the development of foundational literacy skills.

viiiI. In the kingdom of Tonga, there are two main official languages, English and Tongan, with children from English-speaking homes having more literacy. According to UNICEF, 70 per cent of 7 to 14-year-olds who speak English at home have foundational reading skills; this is higher than children who speak Tongan at home.

ix. Environment issues and effects on education

As mentioned above, the country is highly susceptible to environmental disasters, and in the World Bank report, it was noted that to improve education and retention issues in schools, there is a need for social protection initiatives. The country frequently has to rebuild schools, and education is disrupted due to natural disasters; the country also lacks proper infrastructure, despite the location is often being at risk one, to combat the effects of cyclones and floodings on education and households. It is notable that the country, from 2015 to 2021, initiated social programs which assist families in disasters and is now closer to similar countries, although still lacking.

x. It is, therefore, critical that the government make improvements to improve social programs and infrastructure to bridge the gap between poverty and education.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Kingdom of Tonga must put measures in place to combat learning poverty. The country, from 2015-to 2021, has made strides to combat poverty, but with the new seasons coming disasters on the rise in its region, and the number of children learning poverty increasing, it is dire that the country puts in place digital and other implementations in place to combat learning poverty. One of the reasons for learning about poverty is disruptions in education. By improving the country’s internal issues, the country can have sustainable results in reducing poverty overall.

 

 

Reference List 

1. UNICEF. (2017). Situation analysis of children in Tonga. https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/1251/file/Situation-Analysis-of-Children-Tonga.pdf

2. Morgan, C. (2020, April 23). 8 facts about education in Tonga. The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/8-facts-about-education-in-tonga/

3. World Bank. (2019). Tonga: Education sector report. World Bank Open Knowledge Repository. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/bee749e0-d3cc-4b7f-aaad-c1278a07ea3f

4. UNICEF. (2023). Tonga factsheet 2023. UNICEF Data. https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tonga-factsheet-2023.pdf

5. Commonwealth of Learning. (2022, March 17). Aligning reform strategies for boys’ educational outcomes in Tonga. https://www.col.org/news/aligning-reform-strategies-for-boys-educational-outcomes-in-tonga/

6. World Bank. (2024, October 17). Despite challenges, Tonga making important steps in reducing poverty. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/10/17/despite-challenges-tonga-making-important-steps-in-reducing-poverty

i UNICEF. (2017). Situation analysis of children in Tonga. UNICEF. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/1251/file/Situation-Analysis-of-Children-Tonga.pdf

ii Morgan, C. (2020, April 23). 8 facts about education in Tonga. The Borgen Project. Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/8-facts-about-education-in-tonga/

iii World Bank. (2019). Tonga: Education sector report. World Bank Open Knowledge Repository. Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/bee749e0-d3cc-4b7f-aaad-c1278a07ea3f

iv UNICEF. (2023). Tonga factsheet 2023. UNICEF Data. Retrieved from https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tonga-factsheet-2023.pdf

v https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Tonga-factsheet-2023.pdf

vi Commonwealth of Learning. (2022, March 17). Aligning reform strategies for boys’ educational outcomes in Tonga. Commonwealth of Learning. Retrieved from https://www.col.org/news/aligning-reform-strategies-for-boys-educational-outcomes-in-tonga/

vii https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9588575/

viii https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2023/01/05/the-relationship-between-socioeconomic-status-and-literacy-how-literacy-is-influenced-by-and-influences-ses/

ix https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/media/1251/file/Situation-Analysis-of-Children-Tonga.pdf

x World Bank. (2024, October 17). Despite challenges, Tonga making important steps in reducing poverty. World Bank. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/10/17/despite-challenges-tonga-making-important-steps-in-reducing-poverty

Russian Education System: Lessons in Indoctrination

Written by Uilson Jones

The power of education is often repeated time and time again, turning it into a rather dry bit of cliché. However, the phraseology of just how crucial the educational system is, must not be looked at with boredom nor disdain. Rivera Sun, author and advocate for social justice, states that: “Whoever educates children controls the future”, and that “if we want a democratic future, we must plant the seeds in our little dandelions nationwide and ensure that our education is governed of, by, and for the people” (Sun, 2013). This often-repeated notion appears prescient not only in the centuries before our time, but also the point of time we found ourselves in currently – perhaps even more so. The current article aims to produce an overview and analysis of the Russian educational system, particularly after Russia’s full-scale incursion into Ukraine in 2022. This would therefore include the changes made to the educational system and its devastating implications for Russia’s youth, and by extension its future. The following is an attempt to break down the fundamental restructuring of schooling and as such the content of lessons, mandatory activities and extracurriculars involving school-age children.

Patriotic Education

Beginning on the 5th of September 2022, the Russian government imposed a series of major alterations for the ways in which Russian children are taught. The Russian government came out with a website known as ‘Conversations about the Important’ (Разговоры о Важном, n.d.). This website is being used as a portal for schoolteachers that outlines a strict curriculum to be followed when instructing a weekly class for pupils of all ages, ranging from that of first grade to the very end of secondary school. Far from a candid recommendation provided by the Russian government, this website acts as a comprehensive tool for teachers, with prepared presentations, instructions on what to say to children in the class, behaviour and conduct, amongst others. Schoolteachers are expected to abide by this curriculum and have no real agency to act otherwise. Every Monday, the first class each grade has is this carefully constructed propaganda lesson – Conversations about the Important. Rather than being purely optional, its is mandatory and covers a wide variety of topics from Russian history and current events which paint the picture in the way that Putin’s dictatorship craves. As an example, let us take an excerpt from a file dedicated to the class on the 7th of November 2022 in the name of the Day of National Unity. Filtering for grades 5-7, one can stumble upon this piece of text:

The excerpt is translated as follows:

Conversation

Teacher: Children! Quite recently we talked with you about the important role of a father in the family and raising children, about traditional Russian values, which are crucial to safeguard and pass onto the next generations. We came to the conclusion, that family – is the most important thing in the life of every person, it is support and support [опора и поддержка are synonyms for support in the Russian language], it is love and understanding. The citizens of a government are also one big UNITED family. And we – citizens of Russia – are a big family, in which we need to support and take care of one another. We have a governmental holiday, symbolizing our community cohesion – The Day of National Unity. It is as important now as ever, given that in the last years according to will of the people of the Russian Federation, five new territories entered: Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.

For this reason, the theme of our lesson is: “We – are one country!” [Author’s emphasis]

[Translated by Author]

In case this is seen as a one-off let us observe a few stanzas of a poem to be taught to Russian schoolchildren for grades three and above. This lesson was titled: Our Country – Russia.

Translation:

Teacher: We know that the wisdom of the people is reflected in its proverbs and sayings. Let us remember the proverbs about the motherland and the love towards it.

A person without the motherland, is but a nightingale without a song.

Don’t spare your strength nor life, for the motherland.

There are many different countries, but there is one motherland.

There is nothing in the world that is better, than our motherland.

You cannot change your motherland for anything.

Everyone loves their motherland.

The happiness of the motherland is worth more than life.

We will stand like a mountain for our native land.

For the motherland, it is not scary to die.

Love the motherland – Serve the motherland. [Author’s emphasis]

[Translated by Author]

 

These two excerpts reveal the severe propagandization evident in the Russian educational system. Not only are Russian children being force-fed Kremlin’s dogma about its current war in Ukraine, but there also appears to be a sharp increase of ultranationalist messaging and militarism within schools, where arms are observed to be side by side with textbooks (Institute of Mass Information, 2023). Having taken these excerpts as a starting point, one must look at other exercises that Russian students have no choice but to take part in. After which, it is necessary to analyse the causes and effects of such a policy on Russia, as well as its future generation.

Propagandizing School Life

In addition to these official changes made to the educational curriculum, there have been other unofficial ongoing developments to Russian schools. The sharp rise of Putin’s cult of personality has been observed to radically alter the lives of students, and school staff. To name but one example of how this changed the landscape, we can look at what a school day was like on the day of Putin’s birthday. Across various regions of Russia, students (oftentimes of very young age) were forced to send their leader birthday wishes (The Moscow Times, 2024). In a school in the Rostov region, children were told to kneel in the form of Putin’s name, stating that “we’re proud that the best president in the world rules over our country” (The Moscow Times, 2024).

Amnesty International (2023) has designated Russia’s new history textbooks as propaganda aimed at indoctrinating the next generations, not only in Russia, but also the temporarily occupied territories in Ukraine. These textbooks preach a dangerous form of alternate history. The editors and authors have peddled Kremlinite propaganda, and thus align the story to fit the dominant narrative in Russia. A reality in which Russia invaded a sovereign neighbour, butchering and terrorizing its population and occupying its territories suddenly evaporates. Replacing it is a faux reality, regurgitating that Russia is simply defending itself and going so far as to claim that the decision to live under occupied territories was the ‘will of the people’. The erasure of history is proceeding with a reinvigorated pace. Understanding these developments is of crucial importance, yet even more so is fighting back against the tide of reactionary ideas.

 

Reference List

Amnesty International. (2023). Ukraine/Russia: New history textbook is a blatant attempt to unlawfylly indoctrinate schoolchildren in Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/09/ukraine-russia-new-history-textbook-is-a-blatant-attempt-to-unlawfully-indoctrinate-school-children-in-russia-and-russian-occupied-ukrainian-territories/.

Institute of Mass Information. (2023). Guns and textbooks side by side: The Russian policy of militarizing children as violation of human rights. https://imi.org.ua/en/monitorings/guns-and-textbooks-side-by-side-the-russian-policy-of-militarizing-children-as-violation-of-i51954.

Pазговоры о Bажном [Conversations about the Important]. (n.d.). https://razgovor.edsoo.ru/.

Sun, R. (2013). The Dandelion Insurrection: Love and Revolution. Rising Sun Press Works.

The Moscow Times. (2024). Russian schoolchildren forced to send Putin birthday wishes on-camera. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/10/07/russian-schoolchildren-forced-to-send-putin-birthday-wishes-on-camera-a86597.

Cover Image from Meduza

    Current Issues Ethiopia’s Education Problem: 96% of students fail final school exam

    By Zoë Alford

    Hundreds of thousands of students are left without the opportunity for higher education due to a massive educational crisis currently facing Ethiopia. Out of the 3,106 schools administering 12th grade in 2023, 43% reported that no students had passed the Ethiopian General Secondary Education Certificate Examination (EGSECE) (Hood, 2023). This final exam is a prerequisite for university entrance and saw 96% of students failing for the second year in a row (Hood, 2023). The overwhelming majority of Ethiopia’s youth are now left with limited education opportunities and few choices for their future. While exam results are not the only measure of a country’s education system, such significant failure rates can only be symptomatic of one that is fractured and struggling.

    Structural Issues:

    The education system in Ethiopia is struggling to keep up with the burgeoning numbers of primary and secondary school students. Since 1990, students in primary education increased from 3 million to 20 million in 2018/19 (Tiruneh et al., 2021). With more students finishing primary school than ever before, Ethiopian pupils are continuing on into high school with limited resources and infrastructure in place to support them. Secondary enrollment has doubled in the last 10 years, going from 23% in 2011/12 to 46% in 2021/22 (Ministry of Education, 2022) This remarkable achievement has given greater access to education for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and drastically increased the number of girls in school. However, the rapid expansion of the education system has left it struggling to ensure all students are given a sound education and the resources they require (Tiruneh et al., 2021).

    Poor school infrastructure, inadequate distribution of resources and outdated materials have also fueled this crisis. Combined with a system stretched thin to meet the demands of ever-increasing pupils, hundreds of thousands of children have consequentially finished primary education without fundamental skills in literacy and numeracy (Hood, 2023). These abilities are not only essential for further education but also necessary to live a life of opportunity in a modern, globalised world.

    The lack of robust education combined with a burgeoning student population has also left Ethiopia without appropriately trained teachers. In the country’s teacher trainee program, many candidates have not completed the final 2 years of secondary education. Trainees often also score low when tested for their science and mathematics abilities (Assefa et al. 2021; Gebremeskel et al. 2017). This leaves a major gap in the education system for educated and well-trained teachers, creating a cycle where limited education creates poorly educated teachers, creating further inadequate education for younger students in fundamental subjects. There is also a high student-to-teacher ratio, stretching what teachers that Ethiopia does have already, thinner (Assefa et al. 2021). Ethiopia has recognized that their educational system must consider the gap between their societal goals for education and the general student learning experience (Hood, 2023).

    Covid-19:

    It is also important to note that the Covid-19 pandemic widened the education gap. Lockdowns in 2020 prevented more than 26 million students from learning over a period of 8 months (Araya et al., 2022). With limited online learning materials and resources, students were required to catch up on 8 months’ worth of lessons lost in just 45 days. Primary school students in 2021 had lower foundational numeracy skills and made slower progress in numeracy as the year progressed, compared to students from 2018 (Araya et al., 2022). The pandemic lockdowns also heavily affected students from rural and lower-income families, with pupils from these backgrounds having the lowest numeracy levels in their cohort (Araya et al., 2022). The pandemic therefore exacerbated the systemic problems already prevalent in Ethiopia’s education system.

    Internal Conflict:

    The Tigray War in northern Ethiopia also likely added to the declining exam results. Lasting from November 2020 until November 2022, the conflict caused a humanitarian crisis, human rights abuses and destruction of infrastructure, including educational institutions. The conflict affected around 1.4 million children in the region, with many parents too concerned about their children’s safety to send them to school (Belay et al., 2023). This conflict severely limited access to education, for reasons such as trauma, loss of infrastructure and population movement (Belay et al., 2023). The armed conflict in Tigray has not only impacted on educational achievement in the region but also limited education opportunities. This has been cited as another reason for the extremely low pass rate in Ethiopia in recent years (Belay et al., 2023).

    Looking forward:

    An overall greater financial investment in education would offer a fast-tracked solution to many of Ethiopia’s’ education systemic problems. Funding for additional, more uniform and up to date learning resources as well as improving school infrastructure would greatly increase educational quality for all students. Higher salaries, a stronger teacher training program and leadership training would encourage and upskill both current and potential teachers in Ethiopia (Tena & Motuma, 2024). Leadership training and a better trainee program can also be achieved via greater investment in university education, which has the potential to play a critical role in overcoming widespread structural issues. Investing in universities encourages innovation and improvement in curriculum, teacher training programs and capacity building within the education system (Tena & Motuma, 2024).

    Greater focus on students from disadvantaged backgrounds would also ensure that Ethiopia’s most vulnerable pupils would not miss out on an education. Targeted support for low-performing students, those from low socio-economic backgrounds and students from rural areas would prevent further widening learning inequalities (Araya et al., 2022). When possible, employing technological forms of teaching would keep pupils in school who otherwise would not be able to attend, whether caused by conflict, illness or events like Covid-19. When online learning is not possible, continuing to encourage the importance of education across local communities and providing learning resources would greatly encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue their education (Araya et al., 2022). Ensuring pupils can still access education, despite conflict, pandemics or remoteness is essential to ensure such high rates of failure do not continue in the future.

    Overall, Ethiopia must continue to invest and improve in their education system. This will ensure the robust functioning of not only its economy, but the right to self-determination for all Ethiopians regardless of economic background. Education has the power to reduce inequality and poverty and it is therefore necessary to ensure that future Ethiopian generations are not left behind.

    References

    Araya, M., Rose, P., Sabates, R., Tiruneh, D.T., Woldeanna, T. (2022). Learning Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ethiopia: Comparing student achievement in early primary grades before school closures, and after they reopened. Rise Insight Series. Retrieved from https://riseprogramme.org/publications/learning-losses-during-covid-19-pandemic-ethiopia-comparing-student-achievement-early.html

    Assefa, S., Asfaw, A., Fufa, D., Zewdie, G., Wodajo, H., Kekeba, H. & Tola, T. (2021). Status of teacher education programs in Ethiopia: Policy, curricula and resources. The Ethiopian Journal of Education, 41(1), 247-296.

    Belay, F., Berhane, D., Teshale, H., Mulubrhan, G., Hagos, T., Gebremariam, H., Brhane, T., Islam, Z. (2023). The effect of war on educational institutions of Eastern Tigray zone, Tigray state, Ethiopia. International Journal of Educational Development, 102:102864. Retrieved from

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738059323001402#:~:text=Children%20did%20not%20attend%20schools,relevant%20to%20the%20war%20experiences.

    Gebremeskel, H.H., Ahmed, A.Y., Getahun, D.A., Debele, M.L., Tibebu, D., Wondem, D.T. (2017). Revisiting teacher educators’ training in Ethiopia: Implications for a new approach to curriculum development. Bahir Dar Journal of Education, 17(2), 89-105.

    https://www.ajol.info/index.php/bdje/article/view/249011/235474

    Hood, L. (2023, November 23). Ethiopia’s education system is in crisis – now’s the time to fix it. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-education-system-is-in-crisis-nows-the-time-to-fix-it-217817

    Ministry of Education (2022). Education statistics annual abstract (ESAA). Federal Republic of Ethiopia. Retrieved from https://moe.gov.et/storage/Books/ESAA%202014%20EC%20(2021-22%20G.C)%20Final.pdf

    Tena, B. & Motuma, F. (2024). Policy reforms and unresolved educational challenges in Ethiopia: Implications for the University of Education. Bahir Dar Journal of Education, 24(1), 147-167. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bdje.v24i1.10

    Tiruneh, D., Hoddinott, J., Rolleston, C., Sabates, R., Woldehanna, T. (2021). Understanding achievement in numeracy among primary school children in Ethiopia: Evidence from Rise Ethiopia study . RISE Working Paper Series. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Hoddinott-2/publication/359826987_Understanding_Achievement_in_Numeracy_Among_Primary_School_Children_in_Ethiopia_Evidence_from_RISE_Ethiopia_Study/links/64676983c9802f2f72ea0135/Understanding-Achievement-in-Numeracy-Among-Primary-School-Children-in-Ethiopia-Evidence-from-RISE-Ethiopia-Study.pdf

    Featured image by Emmanuel Ikwuegbu from Unsplash

    Freedom of expression in Turkey: Lawyers and Arrests: Dilek Ekmekçi and others

    By Panashe Marie Louise Mlambo

    Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that protects the ability to express oneself without unjustified restrictions. It is normally undisputed when dealing with social media presence when individuals share their opinions without erroneous implications. However, in Turkey, despite the Constitution providing for freedom of speech, many laws and legislations have been enacted, and amendments have been made to undermine the very principle of freedom of expression. This article will provide an analysis of freedom of speech and the legal system in Turkey and take a look at the charges against different lawyers in the context of International law, Turkish Law, and countries near it, using the 2024 case of Dilek Ekmekçi as the case study. 


    The Arrests of Lawyers

    A lawyer named Dilek Ekmekçi was released from prison on October 22, 2024, only to be promptly detained again by police, reflecting the ongoing repression faced by legal professionals in Turkey. This incident follows a troubling trend highlighted by the Court of Cassation’s ruling on September 18, 2020, which upheld the sentences of 14 human rights lawyers from the People’s Law Office, , who were convicted on similar charges. The crackdown continued with the recent arrest of Naim Eminoğlu and Doğa İncesu on July 2, 2024, both prominent members of the Progressive Lawyers Association, accused of being part of the Gülen Movement.  In January 2024, a staggering sentence of over 125 years was handed down to 19 lawyers,  further illustrating the Turkish government’s aggressive stance against those perceived as dissenters. These cases underscore the precarious situation for lawyers in Turkey, where legal actions are increasingly viewed as tools for political suppression rather than justice.


    The law against the people

    Under The Social Media Law (2020), the Turkish government can restrict and monitor any social media interactions and online free speech if necessary  and this is one of the ways in which all these lawyers mentioned above had their data used for a case to be made against them. Coupled with Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law (Law No. 3713), which penalises individuals who disclose or publish the identity of officials on anti-terrorist duties or who identify such persons as targets, this is used broadly, and in most cases of online discourse, the different individuals are arrested for incitement and spreading of terrorism rhetoric.  


    In addition to the above, law enforcement usually limits freedom of speech with Article 125 of the Penal Code, which criminalises defamation and slander. In 90% of the cases above, the three legislations are cited together to justify the limitation of freedom of speech and arrest individuals who use online platforms to share their opinions on fraud, murder, and many more. Recent developments, such as the passing of the controversial “disinformation law” in October 2022, exemplify this trend by criminalising the dissemination of false information, which is determined by the government. 


    As can be deduced from the above cases and legal frameworks in Turkey, the country’s laws are against international laws of freedom of speech, particularly breaches Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information without interference by public authority.  The disinformation law also violates Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects the right to seek, receive, and impart information.  


    In 2021, the ECHR ruled that Turkey violated freedom of expression rights in the case of Vedat Şorli, who faced criminal charges and pre-trial detention for criticising the president on social media.  The ECHR concluded that this conviction represented unjustified interference with Şorli’s freedom of speech and in a 2014 case, journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener were detained as part of the OdaTV investigation after publishing material critical of government-linked entities. The ECHR ruled that their detention violated both their rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression. 


    Despite these findings, he Turkish government continues utilising the legal frameworks to arrest and detain different individuals who use social media to criticise the government. 

    Lawyer Dilek Ekmekçi

    The case of Dilek Ekmekçi highlights the ongoing challenges to judicial independence and freedom of expression in Turkey. Ekmekçi, after accusing prominent leaders of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of being involved in the assassination of former Grey Wolves leader Sinan Ateş, was arrested; her allegations targeted high-ranking MHP members, including figures close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; she was charged with defamation and insulting public officials through social media posts. Despite an initial release, the prosecutor’s appeal led to her re-arrest by the Istanbul 25th High Criminal Court. 


    In her court statements, Ekmekçi claimed that her detention was due to a fabricated indictment and referenced other government actions intended to undermine her legal standing. She cited instances where she was pressured, including through threats of psychiatric evaluations and multiple lawsuits. Ekmekçi’s defence argued that her prosecution was a retaliatory measure aimed at silencing her criticism, categorising the case as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), often used to intimidate and suppress dissenting voices. 


    The state of freedom of expression 

    The state of freedom of expression in Turkey has reached a critical juncture, characterized by systemic repression and legal frameworks that stifle dissent. Recent legislative measures, such as the controversial “disinformation law” passed in October 2022, exemplify the government’s tightening grip on free speech, allowing for the criminalisation of information deemed false and imposing severe penalties for those who share it (Amnesty International, 2022).  


    This law has been criticised for creating a chilling effect, deterring individuals from expressing their opinions, or engaging in public discourse for fear of prosecution. Additionally, the Turkish judiciary has increasingly become an instrument of political control, often disregarding rulings from the European Court of Human Rights that emphasise the protection of free expression (English PEN).  


    The cases of lawyers like Dilek Ekmekçi, who faced charges under anti-terrorism laws for their advocacy work, highlight the precarious position of legal professionals in Turkey. As the government continues to utilise vague legal definitions to target critics, it undermines not only national constitutional guarantees but also international human rights obligations, effectively rendering freedom of expression nearly non-existent in Turkey’s current political climate (Freedom House).


    Conclusion

    It is evident that the Turkish government’s restructuring of the legal system aims to suppress all criticism of its officials and minimise freedom of expression. The excessive measures employed to address issues such as slander against officials do not resonate with the general public, and the blatant disregard for international law and democratic principles raises serious concerns that must be addressed. The legal profession, much like activism, journalism, and other sectors of society, deserves to uphold its freedom of expression. The direct targeting of the judicial system, evidenced by the significant number of lawyers arrested in less than a decade, signals a broader issue within the system and undermines the Turkish government’s claims of democracy. The case of Dilek Ekmekçi is not an isolated incident; rather, it reflects a troubling pattern of similar cases occurring throughout the country.

    Featured Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash

    References

     i       Front Line Defenders. (n.d.). 14 lawyers arrested and charged. Front Line Defenders. Retrieved from https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/14-lawyers-arrested-and-charged 

     ii       International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger. (n.d.). Joint statement of international protest condemning Turkey’s arrest of Naim Eminoglu and Doğa İncesu of the Progressive Lawyers Association (CHD). International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger. Retrieved from https://protect-lawyers.org/en/joint-statement-of-international-protest-condemning-turkeys-arrest-of-naim-eminoglu-and-doga-incesu-of-the-progressive-lawyers-association-chd-2/ 

     iii      The Arrested Lawyers Initiative. (2024). Ankara appeal court defies ECHR, sentences 19 lawyers to 125 years. The Arrested Lawyers Initiative. Retrieved from https://arrestedlawyers.org/2024/01/31/ankara-appeal-court-defies-echr-sentences-19-lawyers-to-125-years/ 

     iv      Kandemir, E., & Hudson, M. (2022). Turkey’s new media law is bad news, but don’t report it. Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/articles/turkeys-new-media-law-is-bad-news-but-dont-report-it/ 

     v      Republic of Turkey. (1991). Anti-Terrorism Law (Law No. 3713) on crimes committed by terrorist organizations. Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey.

     vi      United Nations. (1966). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). United Nations Treaty Collection.  

      European Court of Human Rights. (2021). Şorli v. Turkey. European Court of Human Rights.

     vii    JURIST. (2021). Europe rights court: Turkey liable for freedom of expression right violation. JURIST News. Retrieved from https://www.jurist.org/news/2021/10/europe-rights-court-turkey-liable-for-freedom-of-expression-right-violation/ 

     ix    Turkish Minute. (2024). Lawyer arrested after accusing Erdogan, far-right ally of ex-Grey Wolves leader’s murder. Turkish Minute. Retrieved from https://www.turkishminute.com/2024/09/02/lawyer-arrested-after-accusing-erdogan-far-right-ally-ex-grey-wolves-leaders-murder/ 

     x    Amnesty International. (2022). Turkey: New disinformation law poses serious threat to freedom of expression. Amnesty International.  

     xi      English PEN. (n.d.). Turkey: Freedom of expression in jeopardy. English PEN. 



    Current Issues The conflict in Congo: impact on education

    By Zoe Alford

    The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is undergoing a major humanitarian crisis, that is severely impacting education and human rights. Due to the ongoing conflict in the region, millions of people have been displaced, teachers kidnapped and schools turned into battlegrounds. Escalation of the conflict in the North Kivu region of the DRC has forced 540 schools to close in the past year, removing pivotal educational opportunities from many students (Save the Children, 2024).

    Education in the DRC:

    This current situation unravels decades of progress in the DRC, where great strides had been made in recent decades to create universal access to education. Access to primary school education has increased significantly in the last few decades, with net attendance rates increasing from 52% in 2001 to 78% in 2018 (UNICEF, 2024).

    Nonetheless, the country still faces major structural issues regarding access to education. 7.6 million children and half of all girls between age 5-17 are not in school, with the cost of school for families living in poverty being a major reason (UNICEF, 2024). Despite the promise of free primary education from the DRC government, households facing extreme poverty struggle to pay for registration fees, school uniforms and school supplies (UNICEF, 2024). Secondary school enrolment rates further reflect this education gender gap, with 44% of girls enrolled compared to 70% of boys (UNESCO, 2024). This is further reflected in secondary school completion rates with just 51.4% of girls and 63.5% of boys continuing onto graduation (UNESCO, 2024). For higher education, 5% of women and 8% of men were enrolled in tertiary education in 2020 (UNESCO, 2024).

    Payroll fraud, insufficient budgets, and a lack of materials and infrastructure also create challenges for the educational system in the DRC. Many of the 500,000 teachers in the country have gone without government pay for many years, leaving parents responsible to supplement their pay (Brant et al., 2021). In a country with already high levels of poverty, this creates a major financial obstacle to education. Teachers often must supplement their low incomes with second or even third jobs, reducing their time, energy, and passion and consequentially the quality of teaching (Brant et al., 2021).

    The gender gap in school enrolment, the socio-economic disparities in educational access, as well as financing issues, are only worsened by the escalating conflict in the DRC. With the closing of hundreds of schools in the country, these systemic issues have and will continue to exacerbate, leaving hundreds of thousands more and more children without education opportunities.

    Violence in North Kivu:

    Since the beginning of the conflict in DRC in 1996, more than 6 million people have died and many millions more displaced (CFR, 2024). Beginning in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, the First Congo War saw the invasion of the eastern part of the DRC by Rwandan troops and Congo-based Tutsi militias. The invasion of the north Kivu region was supported by Uganda, Burundi and Congo’s then opposition leader and future leader Laurent Kabila. Rwandan officials justified the invasion, arguing that Hutu groups in eastern DRC were still a threat to their Tutsi population who had been decimated during the genocide. While some Hutu militants were killed, the majority of the thousands of causalities were refugees and non-combatant Congolese (CFR, 2024). In 1998, the second Congo War saw worsening political tensions between armed groups and governments in the region. With targeted campaigns against the Huti amounting to war crimes, it caused international outrage. In a failed coup attempt, DRC’s leader, Kabila, was assassinated and replaced by his son (CFR, 2024). The following years saw peace agreements between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda implemented, however rebel groups continued to emerge creating tensions and flashpoints in the last two decades. Most notability, is M23, a mostly Tutsi rebel group with ties to the Rwandan and Ugandan governments. The name is taken from March 23 2009, when the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) signed a peace treaty with the DRC government, becoming a political party and the M23 soldiers integrated into the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and Islamic State (ISIS) are two major Islamist rebel and affiliated militia groups (Lawal, 2024). The DRC’s abundance of natural resources, especially their large reserves of rare earth minerals and metals essential for modern technology, has propelled their local problems onto the international stage. The involvement of China and historically, large US tech companies has only created further tensions and deepened inequality.

    The violent and fraudulent national elections in 2023 saw major clashes between M23 and ADF. This again escalated in February 2024, creating a humanitarian disaster, political chaos and insecurity across the region. Education is not only indirectly affected by this conflict, but also actively targeted. Armed groups have seized 23 schools in the north Kivu region and directly attacked 10 schools (Save the Children, 2024). Teachers have also been kidnapped and students abducted on the way to school or in class. A further 29 schools have also been turned into emergency shelters for displaced civilians (Save the Children, 2024).

    Conflict and its impacts on education:

    Conflict also indirectly impacts on the right to education. Economic hardship often leaves children forced to work instead of going to school, with girls disproportionally affected. The long-term consequences of conflict can be felt by generations to long-term development setbacks and lack of opportunity (Mlaba, 2023). This leads to long term economic and social disruption, which in turn can trigger further conflicts in the future. Education and its relationship to conflict is often “complex, multi-scalar and non-linear” (Novelli & Cardozo, 2008), meaning that the impacts of conflict are often not immediately noticeable.

    Emergency Education:

    International efforts have been made to mitigate these effects by protecting education during conflicts and promoting conflict-sensitive education strategies (Mlaba, 2023). As an example of such mitigation efforts, UNICEF, the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) and the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) have partnered up to construct three temporary learning spaces (UNICEF, 2024). In just a few weeks, with support from local communities, classrooms were constructed using wood and other readily available materials. These new spaces have allowed several dozen additional pupils to enrol. The temporary classes provide displaced children the opportunity to continue their education and benefit children from nearby families (UNICEF, 2024). On top of their academic studies, students are also learning essential social skills, such as interacting and building relationships with others outside their immediate community. Unfortunately, however, with around 3 quarter of a million children out of school because of this conflict, a lot more must be done to ensure all Congolese children have access to education (UNICEF, 2023).

    Conclusively, To to ensure peace and development not only in the DRC, but across the globe, it is of paramount importance that education is prioritised for all children. By protecting education, investing in quality teachers, educating future generations about history and financing rebuilding projects, a more stable and equal society can be reached. While access to education is perhaps not the first issue that comes to mind when discussing the conflict in the DRC, it is highly important to use education as a tool to safeguard long-term stability and peace.

    References

    Brandt, C.O., Marchais, G., Mwakupemba, J.T., Moshonas, S. De Herdt, T. (2021). Why payroll fraud in the DRC’s education sector will be hard to fix. The Conversation.

    https://theconversation.com/why-payroll-fraud-in-the-drcs-education-sector-will-be-hard-to-fix-162257

    Center for preventative action (CFR). (May 15, 2024). Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

    Lawal, S. (February 21, 2024). A guide to the decades-long conflict in DR Congo. Aljazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo

    Mlaba, K. (June 26, 2023). How do war & conflict impact education? Global Citizen. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/how-do-war-conflict-impact-education/

    Novelli, M., & Cardozo, M.T.L. (2008). Conflict, education and the global south: New critical directions. International Journal of Educational Development, 28(4), 473-488. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2008.01.004

    Save the Children. (2024, March 28). DRC: Violence in North Kivu forces over 500 schools to close, with teachers kidnapped and students terrified [Press release].

    https://www.savethechildren.net/news/drc-violence-north-kivu-forces-over-500-schools-close-teachers-kidnapped-and-students-terrified

    UNICEF. (March 29, 2023). Conflict in eastern DRC is having a devastating impact on children’s education. UNICEF [Press release].

    https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/conflict-eastern-drc-having-devastating-impact-childrens-education

    UNICEF. (2024). Education: every child has the right to go to school and learn.

    https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/what-we-do/education

    UNICEF. (February 22, 2024). A wish to return to school is realized. UNICEF

    https://www.unicef.org/drcongo/en/stories/wish-return-school-realized

    UNSECO. (January, 2024). Congo, Democratic Republic (DRC): Education Country Brief. International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa.

    https://www.iicba.unesco.org/en/node/80#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20UNESCO%20Institute,and%2063.5%20percent%20of%20boys

     

    Featured image by Doug Linstedt  from Unsplash

    Academic Freedom in Zimbabwe: A concerning trend 

    Introduction 

    Academic freedom in Zimbabwe is currently at one of its lowest levels in history. Regionally, the country also ranks as having one of the lowest academic freedom index in sub-Saharan Africa (Academic Freedom Index, 2024). As a cornerstone for democratic and free societies, it is essential that students and scholars can pursue education, research and knowledge without the fear of repercussion. However, in Zimbabwe, academic freedom remains precarious, constrained by political interference, economic hardships, and legal ambiguities. This has profound implications for both human rights and education, as the suppression of academic freedom not only limits individual expression but also undermines the development of a society that values knowledge, critical thinking, and innovation.  

     

    A Historical Context of Suppression 

    Zimbabwe’s struggle with academic freedom has deep historical roots, tracing back to its colonial past. During the era of British colonial rule, the government employed various strategies to control academic discourse, including surveillance and deportation of academics deemed subversive (Mushawatu, 2023). This tactic continued post-independence, with the government of Robert Mugabe using similar methods to silence critics and maintain control. A major way in which Mugabe curtailed academic freedom was though the University of Zimbabwe Amendment Act of 1990, which reduced democratic freedom within universities, and made Mugabe officially the chancellor of all state universities in the country (Mashininga and Mukeredzi, 2019).  

     

    Since Mugabe’s ousting in the 2017 coup, academic freedom has continued to decline. In the last 7 years, deportation has resurfaced as a tool for stifling academic inquiry. This can be seen in case of the Good Governance in Africa (GGA) researchers being deported in 2023. These researchers, intending to study the political landscape around the critical August elections, were barred entry into the country (Mushawatu, 2023). This example illustrates a broader trend of how the current Zimbabwean government considers academic scrutiny as a threat, and not as an opportunity for greater societal freedom. This alarming use state power to limit academic freedom has far reaching consequences and without change, will continue to tarnish the right to education and freedom of opinion in Zimbabwe.  

     

    Legal and Constitutional Ambiguities 

    Zimbabwe’s constitution, which was adopted in 2013, clearly outlines fundamental rights regarding education and its protection as well as academic freedom. Section 75 of the constitution explicitly mentions the right to education, and that every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe should have access to it (Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, 2019). Section 61 enshrines the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom of scientific research and creativity, however, Section 62 conversely restricts the right to access information for citizens and permanent residents only (Zimbabwe 2013 Constitution, 2013). This contradictory legal framework creates a loophole that allows the government to restrict foreign researchers’ activities under the guise of legal compliance (Mushawatu, 2023). 

     

    This legal ambiguity poses a significant threat to academic freedom, as it gives the government power to exclude foreign academics from participating in research on public institutions. This therefore restricts diverse opinion and discourse, and greater research on governance, human rights, and development in Zimbabwe. By limiting access to information and deporting researchers, the government not only contravenes the spirit of academic freedom but also undermines the pursuit of transparency and accountability. 

     

    Impact on Education and Human Rights 

    The suppression of academic freedom in Zimbabwe extends beyond the academic community, affecting the broader education system and society at large. Education is a fundamental human right, essential for the fruition of other rights and for the empowerment of individuals and communities. When academic freedom is curtailed, the quality of education suffers, as does the ability of students and scholars to engage critically with societal issues. 

     

    In Zimbabwe, the interference in academia illustrates a broader symptom of a culture of government suppression of opinion. In 2020, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) voiced concern over allegations that the authorities in Zimbabwe may have used the COVID-19 pandemic to limit freedom of expression and the right to peacefully assemble (UN News, 2020). While health workers were protesting for better working conditions and salaries, violent force was used against them, with many being arbitrarily arrested, including some journalists and members of the opposition party (UN News, 2020). 

     

    The recent elections further highlight a system that is suppressing human rights, political opposition and a peaceful democratic process. Although there were 11 candidates for the presidential campaign, the competition was seen as a contest between two main leaders. The first being Coalition of Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa, and the second being Emmerson Mnangagwa, from the governing Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) party (Nyoka, 2023). The Zanu-PF party has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence and while they did oust Mugabe in 2017, many human rights advocates, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights watch have argued that little has changed politically (Nyoka, 2023). During the campaigning, CCC activist, Tapfumaneyi Masaya was kidnapped and murdered while another member of the party, lawmaker Takudzwa Ngadziore, was abducted and tortured (The Guardian, 2023). Chamisa later resigned, citing Zanu-PF infiltration of the CCC and corruption as the reason for his decision, ultimately leading Mnangagwa and the Zanu-PF party to victory (BBC News, 2024).  

     

    Parallels with Broader Human Rights Issues 

    The situation of academic freedom in Zimbabwe is reflective of broader human rights challenges in the country. Freedom House classifies Zimbabwe as “not free”, highlighting issues such as restrictions on freedom of speech, assembly, and the press (Freedom House, 2024). The suppression of academic freedom is part of this broader pattern of limiting civil liberties, which is characteristic of authoritarian regimes that prioritise control and power over openness and accountability. Therefore, Zimbabwe’s repression of academic freedom represents an assault on the right to education. In these contexts, education is not merely a victim of conflict and authoritarianism but a critical battleground where the struggle for rights, justice, and democracy plays out. 

     

    The Way Forward 

    To improve academic freedom in Zimbabwe, there must be a commitment to broader political and legal reforms. This includes revising the constitution and Zimbabwe’s legal framework, to provide unequivocal protection for academic freedom, including the rights of foreign researchers. Furthermore, the Zanu-PF government must recognise the value of academic freedom as a vital component of a thriving, democratic society and take steps to ensure that universities can operate free from political interference. If that is not possible, then the international community, including academic institutions, human rights organisations, and governments, should continue to condemn and act against infringements on academic freedom. By advocating for academic freedom in Zimbabwe, the global fight for the protection of education and human rights will be strengthened.    

     

    References: 

    1. Academic Freedom Index. Academic Freedom Index. 2024. https://academic-freedom-index.net/. 
    1. Mushawatu, Zachariah. Deportation as a Tool to Stifle Academic Freedom. University World News, August 25, 2023.  https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=202308242015511. 
    1. Mashininga, Kudzai and Mukeredzi, Tonderayi. Mugabe: From Glory to Misery, Especially for Students. University World News, September 14, 2019. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190911161959567. 
    1. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. What Is the Right to Education? Fact Sheet. 2019. https://www.zlhr.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2015-Right-to-Education.pdf. 
    1. Zimbabwe 2013 Constitution. Constitute Project. 2013. https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Zimbabwe_2013. 
    1. UN News. Zimbabwe: COVID-19 Must Not Be Used to Stifle Freedoms, Says UN Rights Office. United Nations, July 29, 2020. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1069011. 
    1. Nyoka, Shingai. Zimbabwe Elections 2023: What You Need to Know. BBC News, August 22, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65775996. 
    1. The Guardian. “Abducted Zimbabwe Opposition Activist Tapfumaneyi Masaya Found Dead.” The Guardian, November 14, 2023.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/14/abducted-zimbabwe-opposition-activist-tapfumaneyi-masaya-found-dead. 
    1. BBC News. “Nelson Chamisa: Zimbabwe Opposition CCC Leader Quits ‘contaminated’ Party.” BBC News. January 25, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68095685. 
    1. Freedom House. Zimbabwe. Freedom House, 2024. https://freedomhouse.org/country/zimbabwe/freedom-world/2024. 

     

    Featured  Photo by Santi Vedrí on Unsplash

    Seven Turkish Citizens Abducted in Kenya Press RELEASE

    Panashe Mlambo and The Journalism Department.

    Broken Chalk is deeply concerned about the proposed amendments to the Iraqi Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959 and appeals to the government to safeguard the interests of children. If enacted, these amendments would pose a significant threat to the rights of women and children in Iraq.The proposed changes aim to reinstate religious laws over the current constitutional laws that govern Iraq. A particularly alarming aspect of this proposal is that it would allow for the legal marriage of girls to be 9 years and boys 15 years. Currently, Iraqi law prohibits marriage under the age of 18, ensuring a level of protection for children.The enactment of this proposal would have far-reaching consequences, not only economically and politically but also in terms of education. Every child has the right to education and to be treated as a child. As a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iraq is obligated to protect the interests of its children. This proposal represents a serious deviation from Iraq’s commitments under the UN Convention and would likely result in grave human rights violations.Research has consistently shown that child marriages reduce educational opportunities, increase school dropout rates, and restrict the freedom of children. Moreover, this law would likely exacerbate gender-based violence and further diminish accountability for perpetrators who target children.Broken Chalk strongly urges the Iraqi government to safeguard the interests of children and to protect their childhood and freedom by rejecting this harmful proposal.

    Seven-Turkish-Citizens-Abducted-in-Kenya-Press-RELEASE

    Missing Childhoods: Child Kidnapping in Nigeria

    Written by Iasmina-Măriuca Stoian

    “The statistics are disturbing; the reality is devastating. It has been 9 years since the horrendous abduction of the Chibok girls, yet the nightmare continues as children are still being kidnapped, forcibly recruited, killed and injured– their futures torn away,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.

    Historical background

    Situated on the West coast of Africa, Nigeria is a country with a rich history, that was also intertwined with its history as a British colony. Only after 1960, when it gained its independence, and it was declared a republic in 1963, Nigeria faced a difficult period of various dictatorships and political regimes that led to more political instability.

    Additionally,  the country has faced issues such as cultural tensions, corruption and inequality. Recently, the numbers on child kidnappings have grown exponentially, particularly in conflict areas. These abductions not only have affected the families and the local communities but also have raised serious issues relating to the current administration and calls for urgent measures to be taken both at the national and international levels.

    Despite the continuous efforts to address this issue, child kidnappings continue to remain one of the main challenges of the country, affecting not only the lives of children but also the country’s future. This article will look into the root causes that led to this serious issue, as well as the measures that were taken to combat the kidnappings and possible future measures to be taken by the government and international agents.

    Understanding the issue

    According to recent articles , more than 280 students were kidnapped from elementary schools in the northern region of the country, and seized by militants. This incident is reported to be bigger than the previous one[jc6] , also known as the Chibok girls abduction case. In 2014, Boko Haram, an Islamist jihadist group based in the northeastern region of Nigeria, abducted 276 girls from their dormitories, many of them still remaining missing to this day. This outrageous incident sparked international debate and led to the creation of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on numerous social media platforms. The reality behind the abductions is even more horrific, leading to other crimes, such as rape, killing, and forced marriages.

    Nine years after the Chibok girls incident, Amnesty International and UNICEF highlighted the lack of investigations by local authorities, abandonment of the cases and lack of action from the government. However, schools still are targets of abduction cases that are reported weekly, resulting in approximately 780 abducted children and 61 still held in captivity. [ii]Thus, international organizations are continuing to call for protection and justice for those children, as well as for measures to be taken by the Nigerian authorities.

    This issue not only affects the lives of children and families, but it also associated with other issues in the country such as poverty, low rates of employment, political instability, and religious tensions. These challenges will be further discussed in the following paragraphs, explaining them in more detail.

    Root causes

    Poverty & unemployment

    There is a strong link between poverty and unemployment and the issue of kidnapping in Nigeria. Recent rates indicate that almost 46% of Nigerians live in poverty, [iii] and this includes millions of youths who are unemployed and do not benefit from governmental help in any way.

    Most of those children did not have access to education, finding their way of living on the streets, where they are most vulnerable. Kidnapping of children is used, besides for political bargains, also for economic gain (kidnapping for ransom), which seems to become more common as the economic gap between rich and poor families grows.

    Religious & political factors

    Religious differences and the constant tension between the Christian and Islamic citizens are also root causes of the kidnappings. The two religions have been in conflict for generations, thus leading to the abduction of numerous children who were secretly killed in the northern part of the country.

    Boko Haram is an extremist terrorist group and their kidnappings are both religious and politically rooted, as declared by their leaders. They mostly target and abduct Christians, as well as people who do not recognize their ideology or political movement.

    Methods and tactics of kidnappers

    As methods, kidnapping of children can involve the use of offensive gadgets, weapons, specially designed technologies for tracking victims, as well as sensitive information about the targets in order to forcefully take them away from their families and instil fear in their minds. Moreover, kidnapping groups have an impressive organization strategy, in which they are structured on different teams, such as operation teams, guards, tax forces etc.

    The reports show that most kidnappers carefully plan their abductions, calculating the costs and benefits of each action. Their preferences on targets vary between different factors that were previously mentioned, such as political, religious, and social backgrounds. This cost for each victim is calculated according to their Kidnap Ransom Value(KRV). In the context of child kidnapping, children from affluent families, with high social status, or from families that have bigger influence may have a higher KRV than others.

    Impact on families and society

    Child kidnapping can have a devastating effect on families and also on the community, instilling fear and anxiety. Apart from the evident trauma that is inflicted on the past victims, families are also affected. The emotional burden of not knowing the fate or the status of their relative who was abducted is a real trauma, that can cause stress, depression and anxiety in the long-term. Additionally, to the emotional impact, families can also be affected financially, having to face the costs of recovery, treatment or, in the cases of ransom kidnappings, the price they have to pay for having back their children.

    On a larger scale, those abductions have also a long-term impact on the local communities. Kidnapped children, especially underaged girls, who can often be victims of other cruel acts, such as slavery, forced marriage and sexual molestation, have a higher impact on society. Thus, from affected families to a local community and later to the whole nation, this issue leads to insecurity, while insecurity leads to political tensions and instability.

    Future challenges & solutions

    Both present and past governments have tried so far to combat this issue of kidnapping children in Nigeria, through several measures. National and international bodies have collaborated and started several projects, to combat both terrorist threats by the Boko Haram group, and also the criminal activities associated with kidnapping. Other projects were designed to reduce poverty and to increase the quality and accessibility to education, in order to offer children an option and a chance not to end up living on the streets.

    More effective solutions in combating this issue are to focus more and pay more attention to the root causes of kidnapping. This could include offering more employment opportunities for youth, investment projects in education, adoption of stricter and more protective laws and regulations and anti-kidnapping measures.

    Conclusions

    In conclusion, child kidnapping is a serious and complex issue that has different root causes, such as poverty, unemployment, religious and political tensions, and organized criminal group activities. The impact on families and society is enormous, leading to psychological and emotional long-term trauma. Thus, both international and national authorities should take urgent measures and also highlight the importance of international collaboration.

    References

    [i] See the articles from UNICEF titled “Devastating Reality: 9 Years After Chibok Abductions, Children in Northeast Nigeria Continue to Suffer the Brutal Consequences of Conflict”, and from CBS News “Witnesses in Nigeria say hundreds of children kidnapped in second mass-abduction in less than a week” for more details.

    [ii] See the article from Amnesty International “Nigeria: Nine years after Chibok girls’ abducted, authorities failing to protect children”.

    [iii] See Bello (2022) for more consideration.