Source: The Daily Nation (Kenya)
By MWAKERA MWAJEFA Posted Monday, September 14 2009 at 17:29
Conflicts and insecurity continue to pose major challenges to the economic, social and cultural development of many African countries, Education minister Sam Ongeri said on Monday.
Prof Ongeri, in a keynote address to five African ministers drawn from war-torn countries in Mombasa, expressed concern that instability was costing the continent dearly in terms of development issues.
“Some of our countries suffer from violent conflicts which lead to millions of people being rendered refugees or internally displaced persons in their motherland,” he said.
The minister noted that in such conflicts the education sector suffered most through the destruction of essential resources.
In conflict situations, Prof Ongeri said most governments prioritised allocation of resources to matters of security other than funding education as a basic human right.
According to the minister, the 1 per cent of the global military and arms expenditures in a year could be able to achieve education for all (EFA) and millennium development goals (MDGs) related to education.
From what Kenya experienced last year in the polls chaos the government introduced Peace Education as a compulsory subject in its school system, the minister added.
“The main aim of peace education is to empower citizens with knowledge, skills, values and attitudes needed for harmonious co-existence,” he said.
He noted that during the political crisis over 200,000 primary and secondary schools’ children were displaced and numerous learning institutions destroyed throughout the country.
Earlier, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) chairman Zingai Mtumbuka asked ministers to use their education systems as agencies and forces for peace-building, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and nation building.
“Without peace there cannot be development, without peace there cannot be human development and without peace social, economic or political gains become a mirage,” he said.
For education to be an agency for fostering peace, Mr Mtumbuka told the participants to become activists of spreading peace in the minds and souls of their people.
He reminded them that education does not take place only in the learning institutions but also in the family setups where instilling of values, attitudes and knowledge is done to the young ones.
Five ministers Dr Kamanda Bataringaya (Uganda), Mrs Angelina Motshekga (South Africa), Halima Hasaballa (Sudan), Mwangu Famba (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Dr Antonio Burity Da Salva (Angola) will share experiences related to peace education during the three-day workshop.
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