William A. L. SAMBO
Abstract: The study investigates the impact of civil wars on basic education in the African Great Lakes Region focusing on Tanzania. The study is guided by a conceptual framework based on the eclectic model. The model takes into account direct and indirect components as explanations for the impact of civil wars on basic education in Tanzania.
Questionnaires and structured interviews were administered to a sample of 251 respondents consisting of schoolteachers, pupils, parents, and education officers in Karagwe District (Kagera region). Similarly, these were administered to primary and elementary education teachers, school age children out of school, pupils, the education coordinator and commander in refugee settlements in Mpanda District (Rukwa region).
The findings reveal that civil wars had direct and indirect impact on basic education, affecting infrastructure, human and material resources, budgeting, planning and administration, and teaching and learning process. Equity in basic education was a serious problem among refugees due to poverty. Assistance from relief agencies to the affected areas included building and repairing schools, digging wells, providing seedlings and planting trees. However, there were no plans to help teachers and children who suffered from civil wars and the resultant refugee influx. Finally, it is suggested that Tanzania should take precautionary measures whenever civil wars loom in neighbouring countries.
1. 1 Background
Education, in whatever form, is an essential power engine that plays a dynamic role in the development of people, societies, and the world at large. As Ishumi (1974, 6) argues, “Education becomes an inevitable topic in discussions about development because it is an instrument, a pre-requisite and an outcome of the development (or transformation) process in any given community.” Accordingly, any neglect of education could result in socio-economic and political stagnation. As Mosha (1997, 7) puts it, “there is no country in the world, with a poorly developed education system that has managed to develop politically, socially and economically”. It is this decisive position of education that has been drawing the attention of people, governments, international and local organizations in developed and developing countries concerning education issues and problems.
However, despite being a crucial prerequisite and panacea to many development problems, education is still haunted by complex challenges, which are threatening to undermine its continued contribution to development in many places, especially in the developing countries. Ongoing civil wars in Africa and other parts of the world have become major threats against educational development.
Civil wars are not new phenomena; neither are they confined to one place only in the history of humankind. In Africa, during the contemporary period, the oldest ones are traceable back to the early 1960s, including the Ethiopian civil wars, which marked the beginning of a series of such man-made catastrophes on the continent.
There is little doubt that civil wars cause stagnation of many development programs, including education. Writing from the Ethiopian civil war experience, Rowley (1998, 482) reveals that, “the civil war with Eritrea and the time of the ‘Derg’ impacted schools and families”. The civil wars have been very costly and they have crippled social infrastructures including education and other basic and necessary social services (Waal and Vines 1992; Malecela 1999).
The civil wars have not only been causing inestimable cost in the war zones but also in the neighbouring countries, which suffer the effects of civil wars directly and indirectly. As Goulding (1999, 157-159) puts it:
The reality is that no conflict is completely internal. Its causes may be internal and the protagonists may be nationals of the same state. But the consequences of their conflict invariably spread beyond that state’s borders. Regional security is undermined; flows of refugees are created; communications and trade are interrupted, especially if sanctions are imposed; environmental damage can be caused.
This has been the case in the African Great Lakes Region. Although Tanzania has not witnessed any civil war, it has suffered significantly from the continual civil wars in the African Great Lakes Region. The underlying assumption is that civil wars do not only result into destruction of basic education in the warring countries but also in the neighbouring states.
In recent years, the world has witnessed a resurgence of a series of civil wars. Rwantabagu (2001) indicates that intra-state group conflicts and violence have become a worldwide phenomenon and an important feature of political life. These wars have left behind deaths and misplaced people all over the world. Africa has suffered the most from the impact of resurgent civil wars.
Scholars from varied background of specializations have addressed the essence, cause and consequences of these wars from various perspectives. However, despite the extensive coverage in terms of written documents on civil wars, none has dealt exhaustively and exclusively with the negative impact of civil wars on basic education in neighbouring countries. Apparently, the major problem becomes: To what extent has basic education in Tanzania been affected by civil wars that have been taking place in the African Great Lakes Region? Specifically, the study attempts to address the following research questions:
2. Do all civil war refugees hosted in Tanzania have access to basic education?
3. How can problems caused by civil wars on basic education be alleviated?
4. What do people say about the impact of civil wars/refugees on basic education?
5. How can civil war problems be prevented for the sake of posterity?
The main purpose of the study is to explore the impact of civil wars on basic education, in the African Great Lakes Region, especially Tanzania. Specifically, the study proposes to:
1. Examine the impact of civil wars on basic education in Tanzania;
2. Assess equity issues in education among refugees hosted in Tanzania;
3. Find out ways of addressing problems caused by civil wars on basic education;
4. Present cases of people affected by civil wars in the education industry; and
5. Suggest ways of preventing civil war problems on basic education.
1. 4 Significance of the Study
The study is significant in that it is expected to bring out the actual impact of civil wars on basic education in Tanzania and in countries that border warring countries. To this end, results of the study are expected to be a guide for research activities that focus on problems caused by civil wars in the African Great Lakes Region and other parts of the world. In addition, the study is expected to add to the body of knowledge regarding the impact of civil wars on basic education in countries surrounding strife-torn nations.
The study explores the impact of civil wars on basic education in the African Great Lakes Region. This region has recorded the highest statistics in terms of outbreaks of civil wars in Africa (Moosa 1996). The eclectic model has been used for data collection, presentation, analysis, interpretation, and discussion. The model is relevant as it makes use of viewpoints from various models that address the impact of civil wars on basic education in the world.
The eclectic model is based on recognition of major and sub-components as crucial exegesis underlying the impact of civil wars on basic education. The major component tries to capture both direct and indirect views with regard to the impact of civil wars on basic education in countries that border warring nations. In the first place, direct views hold that civil wars that are fought in any country tend to have straight and immediate consequences on basic education in neighbouring countries.
Indirect views, on the other hand, hold that civil wars have far-reaching oblique consequences on basic education in neighbouring countries, causing immense and immeasurable hardships. Specifically, indirect consequences take the form of civil war refuge activities and unexpected influx of masses of people into host countries.
In order to address both direct and indirect consequences of civil wars on basic education in the Great Lakes Region, major components as discussed elsewhere are further categorized into sub-components, namely economic, social, academic, psychological and political parameters. Relying upon sub-components simplifies collection, coding, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data; discussion of the findings; and the recommendations. Fig. 1 shows relationships that exist between major and sub-components in the study.
Fig. 1. Impact of civil wars on basic education
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Social parameter: This takes into consideration deaths of students, teachers, non-teaching staff, and shortage of food in educational institutions because of civil wars. During civil wars, some teachers and pupils are killed and others decide to flee their countries in search of refuge (Brown 1999; Koffa 1999; Stromberg 1997). Consequently, academic programmes are disrupted leading to a backlog due to spontaneous closures of schools.
Eventually, the search for safety in the neighbouring countries causes refugee problems, which in turn creates additional problems in host countries (Moosa 1996). Some of the problems affect the social services in host countries. Mwakasege (1995) shows that the problem of refugees has affected the educational system in Tanzania in two main ways: school property and students' performance.
Economic parameter: The economic parameter holds that due to civil wars, resources that are primarily meant for the education sector are deliberately diverted to battlefields. Even the social amenities, such as the health centres and schools, which are part of the package, are not catered for since the government prioritises the war effort (Mohamed Salih1993, 26).
Psychological parameter: The psychological parameter holds that civil wars affect students, teachers, and other people psychologically as they lead to phobia, anxiety and tension among them. In addition, teachers and students are likely to develop depression following the failure to attain and achieve their dreams that could be realized through education. This relatively tallies with Peters and Richards’ (1998) observation that during the civil wars in Sierra Leone, girl combatants aged between eight and fourteen were subjected to military rape.
Political parameter: It is assumed that people (students, teachers and the well-informed public), who have been displaced and/ or have their relatives killed because of civil wars develop a negative attitude towards their governments. Consequently, while living outside their countries as refugees, such people start mobilizing and organizing themselves into political movements against the governments in power. Many underage combatants join militia groups voluntarily; some seeking revenge and for survival (Peters and Richards 1998).
1. 6 Scope of the Study
The scope of the study is divided into thematic, geographical and historical areas. Thematically, the study is limited to the impact of civil wars on basic human rights especially basic education. Geographically, the study was carried out in Tanzania. In particular, it was carried out in Karagwe (a district bordering Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi) and Mpanda (a district with refugee camps). Historically, the study focuses on events of civil wars in the 1970s through 2000 in the African Great Lakes Region.
1. 7 Limitations of the Study
The study was not originally intended to cover limited geographical study areas. However, financial constraints have prevented the researcher from collecting data from a large sample as suggested in the research proposal. The second major limitation was the non-existence of both adult and pre-primary education programs, which are equally important in basic education, in the study geographical areas.
1. 8 Organization of the Study
The study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction. Chapters two and three focus on literature review and methodology, respectively. Findings of the study are presented in chapter four. Chapter five presents summary, conclusions and recommendations. References, notes, and appendices are presented after this chapter.
