Caught in Crossfire: Children and education in regions affected by civil strife

Save the Children’s report ‘Caught in Crossfire: Children and education in regions affected by civil strife’ finds that children and education are huge casualties in strife-torn regions in India. According to the report, a large number of villages, especially in remote areas of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Gajapati in Odisha and Khunti and Lohardagga in Jharkhand, schools simply do not exist despite the Right to Education Act. Many schools have been destroyed and several schools continue to be occupied by government security forces, making schools targets for Maoist groups. The report maintains that children living in areas of civil strife have been greatly affected by the ongoing violence, and recommends that schools in those areas be demilitarised and developed as zones of peace. Demilitarisation of schools is essential in order to restore schools as a place of security and learning for children.

The report also found that in some places, where schools do exist, they have poor infrastructure with inadequate number of teachers to run them. Schools often have absolutely no teaching or learning resources, and getting to school can be dangerous for children. The government must focus on development efforts and initiate measures to build confidence amongst the local popultion by investing in schools, teachers, Anganwadis, and health centres.

The aim of this report is to bring out the voices of the tribal people and the children who are caught in this violent civil strife and to highlight the special steps that should be taken to ensure that children living in these areas are safe and can access education equally.