Ghulam Quadir Jeelani
Education empowers individuals to realise what kind of behaviour and actions are expected of them as responsible human beings. The purpose of education goes beyond the mere propagation of knowledge; rather, peaceful coexistence serves as an integrative perspective of the school curriculum. By helping to discipline human feelings and emotions, education for peace,e which is truly education for life, becomes a fundamental prerequisite for individual development and peaceful coexistence. Today, education is urgently required to equip individuals with values, skills, and attitudes necessary to become wholesome persons capable of living in harmony with others.
Schools, meant to be the true nurseries of peace, must never become transmission points for violence. Policymakers, educational authorities, parents and teachers must refrain from mounting unnecessary pressure on learners. There is an urgent need for a mindset shift; we must stop expecting outcomes that exceed the natural capacity of our children.
True education for peace calls for a significant reduction-not an increase-in curriculum load, making concepts easy to comprehend and transforming learning into a joyful experience. In today’s fast-paced world, constant hurry and relentless worry sour the very joy of learning. Tragically, this mounting pressure is taking a heavy toll, driving vulnerable students toward antisocial activities, drug addiction, violent behaviors, and a rising incidence of suicide.
Alienation is the seed of violence. Within it, silence often gives way to explosive aggression . We must critically examine whether our current system of education unwittingly fosters alienation, undermining the relational and experiential aspects of learning. When education lacks vital emotional and relational dimensions, children are left socially and emotionally deficient, making young minds vulnerable to violence. In our daily life, symptoms are evident: children taking cruel pleasure in violent acts such as harming animals by stoning dogs and cats, plucking flower buds from plants, while older youth engage in eve-teasing, ragging, and acts of aggression that sometimes become very dangerous.
The growing faith in violence is an alarming sign of a culture that craves shortcuts, abandoning the virtues of patience, hard work, and dedication.
This societal impatience is also reflected in our representatives. Instead of engaging in civilized debate, legislators often resort to holding the house to ransom to force their points home. Consequently, we operate under the assumption that even routine matters cannot be accomplished unless launched on a war footing.
When children indulge in violence, they should not bear the sole blame; true accountability lies in their upbringing and environment. Witnessing power struggles at work, gender conflicts at home, and propaganda battles in public places, children grow up unwittingly schooled in aggression. Infecting young minds with violence-through the indoctrination of destructive ideologies and the passive denial of universal values is the greatest disservice we can commit against a nation. Education must instead empower tomorrow’s citizens to choose the path of peace.
Peace remains the prime prerequisite for national progress and integration. Conflicts dissipate our collective energy and shatter the framework needed for a better quality of life. Consequently, implementing education for peace is not merely a strategy for conflict resolution and conflict avoidance, but a proactive investment in realizing the world of our dreams.
Beyond curbing violence, education must actively secure social justice. Persistent discrimination based on gender, caste, and religion robs millions of children of their right to education and human dignity within school walls. Addressing and rectifying these systematic injustices stands as the core agenda in education for peace and harmony.
There is an urgent need to support our teachers. We demand a great deal from educators and place endless expectations upon them, yet we frequently turn a blind eye to their actual living and working conditions. Parents must guide their children to respect educators, while authorities must resolve institutional challenges, empowering teachers so they can cultivate a cordial and inspiring atmosphere for teaching and learning.
Education for peace serves a dual purpose: first, to empower individuals to choose the path of peace, and second, to enable them to become peacemakers rather than consumers of peace. Peace implies the capacity to live in harmony with others and demands non-violent methods for resolving conflict. Therefore, education must instill the values of non-violence while fostering international cooperation and understanding. Peace begins within the individual and spreads to the family, community, nation, and global village; education must cultivate a deep awareness of cooperation and the art of harmonious living.
The primary stage of schooling is the ideal time for building a peace-oriented personality. The core values required here include environmental care, respect for others and elders, the dignity of labour, honesty, truth, non-violence, love, sharing, cooperation, tolerance, regularity, punctuality, and responsibility.
As students progress to the middle stage, learners from diverse social, cultural, and religious backgrounds must be equipped to understand the democratic values of liberty, equality, fraternity, justice, dignity, and human rights.
During the secondary and senior secondary stages, students gradually discover their identities and stand on the threshold of independence, though often lacking emotional maturity. This developmental transition frequently sparks conflict with peers, parents, and teachers, putting their rational thinking, communication, and self-discipline to the test. Consequently, they require explicit training in dialogue and negotiation to resolve daily conflicts, alongside an expanded awareness of global and ecological interdependence. They must be guided to become active architects of peace who look beyond themselves to support others.T o foster these values and skills, educational institutions should establish peace clubs and libraries, while actively celebrating important events like Human Rights Day, Environment Day, and Women’s Day to reinforce mutual respect and coexistence.
In a world where violence and hatred are increasingly prevalent, education for peace is an absolute imperative. It equips individuals with the tools to champion harmony, resolve conflicts peacefully, and build a more inclusive and just society. By nurturing empathy, critical thinking, and a culture of peace, education ultimately empowers humanity to work toward a world free from violence and discrimination, securing a bright future for all.
(The author is an educator at Government Model Higher Secondary School, Zoohama. He can be reached at gulamqadirjeelani786@gmail.com)