Education Policy in Fragile States

Abstract

Basic education has spread in many parts of the world. Primary school enrollment is now almost universal in most countries. In 2019, only 17% of the world’s population remains illiterate compared to 78% in 1820 (The Human Journey, Education in the developing world, Missed opportunities: The high cost of not educating girls, World Bank, 2019). However, these figures overshadow some of the problems that exist in education relating to developing countries. Millions of children of primary school age remain out of school because of poverty and conflict. For example, in Pakistan, non-fee expenditures such as uniforms can consume about 40% of the household income of the poorest households and thus parents resort to educating only their male children. Failure to educate girls not only comes at a high cost to their health and well-being but is estimated to cost the global economy about 30 trillion USD in lost earnings and productivity (World Bank, 2018a). In addition, half of the 3.5 million refugee children of primary school age do not go to school. Moreover, being in school does not necessarily translate into learning. In fragile states, there are two faces to education. Constructive education attempts to establish structures that build peace and stability while destructive education extinguishes peace-creating educational initiatives. In many of these countries, education has often been used to politicize and magnify group identities thus creating the basis for contentious and protracted conflict.