Nepal: Ten years Armed Conflict and educational Impact on Children

Table of Content

Introduction

Armed conflict and Children Involvement

Armed Conflict and Children Education

Post Conflict Situation and Children Reintegration On Education

Conclusions

References

Annex

Introduction

The armed conflict started from the year since 1996 to 2006 against the Nepali state by the Maoist party in Nepal. No any Nepalese is free from the conflict and its effect, affected all aspects of livelihood and dominion (Pherali, 2006). The armed conflict in Nepal has left a legacy of some 15,000 dead (INSEC, 2007), and more than 1,300 missing (ICRC, April 2009). According to Shrestha, (2004) he has acknowledged that the armed conflict also destroyed human life and physical infrastructures as well. Similarly, Pherali (2011)states that children from rural people to the urban, being abduct from their home, and killing of innocent children and people, people being homeless, people being internally and externally displaced, the big number of children being orphan and homeless were the regular phenomena in that period. However, ten years armed conflict with the political aim has been the longest ever conflict witness in the past of Nepal. Ten years since then, the conflict has overcome almost 70 out of 75 districts, making it a problem of Nepal in many sectors like health, education etc .Therefore it can be said that Ten years conflict has a profound effect on children development negatively.

Armed conflict and Children Involvement

According to Angucia (2009), the use of children in conflict is perhaps as old as humanity. Moreover children's involvement in warfare ranges from as far back as ancient Greece (Macmillan, 2009) to till now. According to him, children involvement in conflict is mostly in South African countries. Similarly there were heavily children used in ten years armed conflict in Nepalese armed conflict, Shrestha, (2004), which was beyond the child convention and their right. UNICEF (2005) considers childhood to be a period when children are given an opportunity to grow and develop to their full potential. For this, we people have the accountability to provide them safe space to grow, play and develop. Nevertheless,Pauletto&Patel (2010)states that children have been conscripted, kidnapped, pressured, or duped into joining armed groups in conflict and somehow these scenarios was experimented to involve children in armed conflict. But Neupane (2003) disagrees it and claims that the social and political agenda of the Maoists motivated young people and unequal conditions that surrounded them to motivate to involve in armed conflict even they were below 18 years old. Also, many children decide to join armed groups without explicit coercion, although their decisions cannot be regarded as voluntary because they are nearly always bounded by desperation and survival needs, (Wessells, 2002). And in Nepali context, some children were enforced to engross in armed conflict cause of missing their parents by conflict and they have alternative way to stay in society. These conditions enforce them to left their academic career and they involved in armed conflict. Some are recruited as combatants and some were recruited as a cooks, labors and messenger. And most children were killed in armed conflict some were injured, uproot from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, Pherali (2011).They were victims of trauma as a result of being exposed to violence, deprived of education and recreation, at risk of becoming conflict victims.

Armed Conflict and Children Education

The conflict that becomes known out of socio-economic and political problem has affected the education sector most, Pherali (2007). In some illustrations, revolutionary party and Government security man have threatened on the pupils and their teachers to support their cause from two sides. Similarly Pyakurel (2006) has stated that rebels have even threatened the school custodians to implement the 'Janavadi Sikchhaya', the Maoists curriculum and stop the government system. If the students and teachers had failed to listen, they also were threatened of their lives or are killed. Alike the Maoist party initially targeted and closed private schools across the country but more recently the Maoists appear willing to tolerate private school, possibly because the schools represent important sources revenue. And according to Sharma and Khadka (2006 ), the government security men, on the other hand also constantly harassed the teachers and students for supporting the rebels or for sheltering those overnights and providing food to them. Those students and teachers are thus, the losses of the two ideological conflicts. They are sufferers of the conflict, which is fought for supremacy between two military parties (State and Maoist). Education in Nepal is thus, under serious dilemma. Bombs go off, dozens killed, hundreds injured, school closed, exams cancelled and so on make headlines almost every day in media (Thapa & Sijapati, 2004)..So thinking the interplay between education and conflict, we can analyses the nexus of the ‘Ten years armed conflict’ and education in Nepal and shows how education served indirectly as one of the main causes of the violent conflict.

With extremely large destruction of its infrastructure, education has been badly affected during the moment of ten years armed conflict. According to Shrestha, (2004), both the conflicting parties (State and Maoist) have been using the educational institutions as training centers and army camps. He further states that schools have been closed in many villages, students feared coming to schools. While the Maoist party forces the children &students to join them, the security forces accuse them of being Maoists & assert them from their schools, (The Kathmandu Post, 2004). As a result thousands of children have been deprived of their right to education. And it goes ahead the condition of children’s education has been degrading. The children have been deprived of education, been illiterate and have been trapped in the vicious circle of illiteracy, unemployment, poverty. They have not obtained the essential opportunities of physical, mental, moral and overall development through education .UNESCO (2004) states that thousands of orphans (victims from both sides) have seen their parents, siblings, or friends being beaten up or tortured or killed. According to UNESCO report, over 4,000 children have been internally displaced; some of them even live on the street, exposed to various types of danger. Many displaced children have witnessed violence and destruction and thousands have been traumatized themselves. Children who have been directly affected or who have witnessed violence from either side are deeply upset or have developed a sense of revenge and engaged in crime,(Pauletto &Patel, 2010). Lacking protection and guidance, orphaned children have fallen into bad habits, often misbehaving & developing a deep sense of revenge, (Bush &Saltarelli, 2000). Their youth has been stained by cruelty, inhumanity and helplessness. So their growing up in such an environment is certain to have server effect on their psychology which may destruct their present along with future life and it can have severe adverse effects on the society as well.

Post Conflict Situation and Children Reintegration On Education

The Twelve-Point Agreement signed by the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) and the CPN (Maoist), on 22 November 2005 along with the successive popular peaceful movement of April 2006 brought an end to the armed conflict in Nepal, Pherali (2011) .Notwithstanding the delays, confusions and contradictions among major stakeholders on integration and rehabilitation, ultimately, the major political parties took a historic decision on 1 November 2012 and signed a Seven-Point Agreement on integration and rehabilitation of the former combatants and other armed conflict victims children.

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