Planning 2021 with Direction of Education in the Post COVID-19

On 28 November, nine countries held an online meeting in coalition to implement HWPL peace education. This meeting was conducted on the two topics of the “2021 plan to implement peace education within schools for continuous peace education” and the “2021 plan to implement peace education outside of school to spread a culture of peace in the region.” This was the second meeting in continuation from the first meeting held on 30 October, and 64 educational personnel including UNESCO ambassadors, university professors, principals, instructors, leaders of human rights organizations participated.

Due to the corona pandemic, the issue of discrimination such as race and religion in each country has risen significantly. At this time when each social class must cooperate to overcome difficult problems, it is imperative to have peace education that respects human rights, is considerate of others, and fosters citizenship. All participants of this meeting agreed that HWPL peace education is an essential education at this time. In the context of the ongoing corona pandemic, they discussed specific measures to continuously and effectively implement HWPL peace education according to each country's circumstances. In particular, due to the pandemic, face to face education at school has become difficult, and therefore, various ways to implement online education were suggested.

Mrs. Ramla Chemli, the director of Etoile Nejma school in Tunis, presented specific plans to be implemented next year. “For peace, and education for peace really requires the notion of respect and not only on the side of the child or towards the child but also on the part of parents and teachers. This is why by April we would like to organize an online event whose theme will focus on the place of respect in education in Tunisia. First, we hope that our school will be able to benefit from the online peace education program in January. Secondly, we want to quickly apply the content of the program with the children taking into account the health situation of the country. Thirdly, we wish that the issue can also be addressed in relation to the attitude of the teacher during the lessons when he is facing the students. We wish to have this event in April and for this, we must prepare ourselves, look at the most suitable means of broadcasting such as live Facebook, Zoom or Skype to be defined.”

Mr. Hamad Louhich, a high school teacher at Jemna School, emphasized that the peace education should also precede outside of school through presentations and proposed various measures in regard to this. “I think it is important to raise young people's awareness of peace. To accomplish this, youth, education, and civic groups must work together. Therefore, local governments such as city halls and cultural centers, youth sports departments, and managers of each facility should be encouraged to participate and attend peace education conferences and seminars. In addition to this, blogs, seminars, and educational venues should be used to enable exchanges amongst youth.”

After attending this meeting, Melanie Robertine Razarinivo, a lecturer of ENS school in Madagascar, expressed that HWPL education is an education prepared to welcome a world of peace. “Through this event, I learned that peace education creates valuable peace in both school and home within the family order and that through diversity, relationships are formed. My institution trains teachers, and thus, I would like to know how to train teachers as peace educators through HWPL webinars in the future. I felt that this event was enriching, and I gained confidence in peace education.”

In the year 2021, starting with the meeting, more educators from each country will form networks and share implementation plans to develop peace education. We hope that educators, who truly love peace and their students, can join forces and overcome the pandemic just one day sooner, and students can grow into citizens for peace.