Counting the costs of not sustaining education in conflict-affected contexts

This paper considers the impacts of conflict on education, in terms of the impact on enrolment and on learning as well as the financial implications of destruction of schools and disruption to education. The paper looks at... [ view full abstract ]

This paper considers the impacts of conflict on education, in terms of the impact on enrolment and on learning as well as the financial implications of destruction of schools and disruption to education. The paper looks at the numbers of out-of-school children (OOSC) living in conflict-affected areas, and investigates the extent to which conflict limits access to education. It attempts to estimate the direct costs of repairing the damage done to education systems by targeted attacks on education as well as considering the wider impact on education through collateral damage, displacement of populations and loss of human resources. The research includes case studies of conflict-affected countries with large out of school populations: Nigeria, Pakistan and DRC.

The research found that children out of school due to attacks on education (hundreds of thousands) are only the “tip of the iceberg”. The number of children out of school as a result of conflict (millions) is an order of magnitude greater. However, the majority of OOSC living in conflict-affected areas globally are out of school due to underlying social, political and economic factors that often predate the conflict.

Regarding the economic costs, it found that the direct costs of targeted attacks are real and substantial. But the long-term economic impact of reduced human capital accumulation is an order of magnitude greater, demonstrating the substantial costs of not sustaining education in conflict-affected contexts which will cause these countries to fall further behind in access to education and opportunities for learning.