The Political Economy of Education Research (PEER) Network

几乎一半失学儿童生活在受冲突影响的国家(24个国家至少有2700万儿童)。这些国家的儿童在五岁生日之前死亡的可能性是其他国家的两倍，冲突国家的识字率是世界上最低的，女孩和男孩、富人和穷人之间的不平等程度也是最大的。优质教育可以保护处于暴力中的儿童，并提供有关健康和安全的救命信息，以及在冲突后生存、恢复和重建社会的知识、技能和态度。然而，在冲突局势中，教育往往被放在较低的优先地位。我们知道，现代冲突可能持续20多年，往往涉及多个武装团体争夺对政府机构[如学校]、自然资源和领土的控制权。这也意味着，在冲突局势中，教育的提供可以高度政治化，这可以防止最需要援助的人得到援助--通常是最贫穷或最边缘化的人遭受暴力冲突的最严重后果。教育通常被认为是“一件好事”，但我们知道，在某些情况下，教育实际上可能是“问题的一部分”，也是“解决方案的一部分”。例如，受教育机会不平等和教育资源分配不平等可能加剧社会群体之间的不满，特别是如果他们已经处于冲突之中。将少数群体的声音排除在决策之外会引起怨恨。在教学语言或课程内容方面不敏感或带有政治偏见的教育政策可能会助长陈规定型观念、仇外心理和其他敌对情绪，从而在不同的族裔、宗教或文化群体之间造成不信任。因此，我们需要更好地理解教育有时可能加剧冲突的根本政治、经济和社会原因。这被称为政治经济学分析(PEA)，与受冲突影响国家的教育提供高度相关。然而，目前的方法存在问题。他们依赖国际顾问进行对当地历史、政治、文化和权力关系的了解缺乏敏感性的“一次性”评估--这些都是用当地语言更好地传达的。还有一种倾向是忽视国际机构对国家政策和做法的影响，以及在一个国家不同地区运作的不同政治环境。人们往往不愿提出关于教育提供的批判性问题，因为这些问题过于敏感，或者可能会挑战既得利益。这严重限制了改进社会公正教育系统规划和发展的分析潜力。PEER网络是由四所大学(阿尔斯特大学、开普敦大学、纳扎尔巴耶夫大学和苏塞克斯大学)领导的一项为期三年的倡议，旨在与受冲突影响国家的学者、政策制定者和从业人员合作，提高PEA的质量。到项目结束时，我们的目标是通过以下方式产生影响：-在中亚和撒哈拉以南非洲受冲突影响的国家建立两个区域环境保护专业知识中心-聚集40名政策制定者、从业人员和学者开发环境保护工具、知识和专业知识-委托进行至少20项研究，价值800,000 GB，以创建当地拥有的知识库-使所有工具和资源免费在线提供给学生、研究人员和从业人员-支持新一代在各自背景下对教育系统进行政治经济分析-影响环境保护全球实践的变化，造福受冲突影响国家的儿童和年轻人

Almost half of all children who are out of school live in conflict affected countries (at least 27 million children in 24 countries). Children in these countries are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday and countries with conflict have some of the lowest literacy levels in the world and the largest inequalities between girls and boys, rich and poor. Good quality education can protect children in the midst of violence and provide life-saving messages concerning health and safety, as well as the knowledge, skills and attitudes to survive, recover and rebuild their society after conflict. Yet, education is often given a low priority in situations of conflict.We know that modern conflicts can last more than 20 years and often involve multiple armed groups competing for control of government institutions [such as schools], natural resources and territory. This also means that provision of education can be highly politicised in situations of conflict and this can prevent much needed assistance reaching those who need it most - it is usually the poorest or most marginalised who suffer the worst consequences of violent conflict. Education is usually considered 'a good thing', but we know that in certain circumstances education may actually be 'part of the problem' as well as 'part of the solution'. For example, unequal access to education and distribution of education resources may fuel grievances between groups in society, particularly if they are already in conflict. Exclusion of minority voices from decision-making will cause resentment. Insensitive or politically biased education policies in terms of the language of instruction or content of the curriculum may create mistrust between different ethnic, religious or cultural groups by fuelling stereotypes, xenophobia and other antagonisms. We therefore need to better understand the underlying political, economic and social reasons why education may sometimes aggravate conflict. This is known as Political Economy Analysis (PEA) and is highly relevant to the provision of education in conflict affected countries. However, there are problems with current approaches. There is a reliance on international consultants to undertake 'one-off' assessments that lack sensitivity to local history, politics, culture and knowledge of power-relations that are better conveyed in local languages. There is also a tendency to ignore the impact that international agencies have on national policies and practices, and the different political circumstances that operate in different parts of a country. There is often a reluctance to raise critical questions about education provision because they are too sensitive or may challenge vested interests. These severely limit the potential of analysis to improve the planning and development of socially just education systems.The PEER Network is a three-year initiative led by four universities (Ulster, Cape Town, Nazarbayev and Sussex) aimed at improving the quality of PEA in partnership with academics, policymakers and practitioners in conflict affected countries. By the end of the project we aim to have made an impact by: - Establishing two regional hubs of PEA expertise across conflict affected countries in Central Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa - Bringing together 40 policymakers, practitioners and academics to develop PEA tools, knowledge and expertise - Commissioning at least 20 research studies worth £800,000 to create locally owned knowledge bases - Making all the tools and resources freely available online to students, researchers and practitioners - Supporting a new generation to undertake political economy analysis of education systems in their own contexts - Influencing change in global practice in PEA for the benefit of children and young people in conflict affected countries