Peace and Conflict Studies - Spring 2014

Peace and Conflict Studies Volume 21, Number 1 30 Given the role that identity plays in mobilisation for violence, there are implications for youth education programming. Over the past decade there has been increased recognition of the fact that education can be provided in a way that either promotes the peaceful management of diversity or be an instrument by which divisions are exacerbated, potentially providing the basis for conflict. Careful thought needs to be given to issues such as the language of instruction; values transferred through the curriculum and, in particular, the way young people are taught about the country’s past; and the ideological orientation of the education system. The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) has recently developed a Conflict Sensitive guideline to help integrate these issues into education policy and programming (INEE, 2013). Attention should also be paid to equality issues between groups within society, especially in terms of access to education, resource inputs, and actual and perceived benefits to different groups in terms of education outcomes. It is also important to understand the social significance of education for different communities. Stewart (2008) highlights that the social significance can lie either in an element’s innate value or in its instrumentality for achieving other goals, such as incomes and wellbeing. This point seems particularly relevant with regards the role of education. It is certainly the case that some minority groups not only have lower access to education, but also lower returns on their education. It is not difficult to imagine this to be a source of grievance in a context where education is valued as a means of social mobility. Economic Theory One economic hypothesis argues that youth participation in conflict occurs when it is financially viable and profitable. It is based mainly on research by Collier and Hoeffler (2000, 2004), who used three main proxies to measure the opportunity cost of participating in civil conflict across a number of countries. The first two proxies were mean income per capita (a population with high income may have more to lose from conflict) and growth rate of the economy (with high growth there are more employment opportunities). The third proxy indicator was the male secondary school enrolment rate. Collier and Hoeffler argued that young males are the group from which rebels are most recruited, the number of years of secondary education affects earning potential, and therefore having more years of schooling is likely to affect the opportunity cost of participating in conflict. Other studies have found similar results regarding this protective nature of secondary education (Barakat & Urdal, 2009; Thyne, 2006).