War on Terror and Education in Swat and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan: A Review of Literature

Abstract

Education is the most prolific pillar of humanitarian response in emergency situations. During and after emergencies, education affords opportunities for the children, their families and communities to move towards the rehabilitation process and learn the required skills for leading a standard life. The paper is based on review of available literature and for this purpose, an extensive review of research articles, newspapers, books, and online material was carried out regarding need and importance of education during and after conflict. As the conflict between Swat, Malakand and FATA Merged Districts (MDs) started in 2007 and continued until 2010, the main focus of this study is on educational problems during the mentioned period. The study aims to explore the hurdles in the provision of education during the conflict in the study area. In addition, the study aims to learn about the problems faced by teachers during the conflict. The study concludes that conflict in the study area has badly affected the education sector by depriving children of education. The schools were closed and the teachers were issued threats, due to which the teachers left their houses and got shifted to safer areas. Girl schools and female teachers suffered the most as girls education was declared un-Islamic. The study recommends that education ought to be the top priority of both the government and private sectors during times of conflict and temporary schools should be established for continuous education.