**3. Enrollment trends and literacy rate in basic education**

Enrolment trends of pupils particularly in primary schools in the GLR are varied. Importantly, the region sadly contributes high in number of children who are out of schooling. For instance; while it is estimated that 54.6 million African children in Sub-Saharan Africa-SSA of primary- and lower secondary school age (averaging 24% of this age group) were out of school in 2015, accounting for 45% of the global out-of-school population, 3.2 million of the out of school children in the region were from the DRC [4]. Burundi is among the six countries in sub-Saharan region countries with success in increasing number of children enrolled in primary school for the period between 1999 and 2008 [5]. On literacy and numeracy performances, Burundi is ahead of other Francophone African countries as its performance internationally indicates to have lowest proportion of non-readers among African countries (A maximum of 20.4% of non-readers in grade 2 cannot read a word aloud) [6]. In addition, it has been reported that early grade children in Burundi show good learning outcome as in their assessment they observed that over 60% of second-grade pupils could read more than 20 letters per minute with only 3% of them failing to read even a word, hence scored zero [4]. On numeracy, pupils in Burundi had during the assessment attained sufficiency competency in mathematics as 63% of assessed children in the country demonstrated good skills in oral counting and like children in DRC, 60% of them could solve a one-digit addition problem.

Various reasons are associated with Burundi doing well in literacy and numeracy than other countries in the GLR. It is almost linguistically homogeneous with 98% of the population speaking a single language [4]. Kirundi has been the language of instruction from first through fourth grade since 1973 and it is phonetically coded using the Latin script and has stronger written traditions than many African languages. Consistent use of the education policy that has favored a "structured pedagogy" approach is another factor for Burundi doing better in literacy and numeracy than other countries in the region. The structured approach has caused that:


Comparatively, educational management of the GLR countries observes and recognizes contribution and participation of non-state organs including parents and community members, and civil society organizations (CSOs) [3]. The difference exists on the extent of the non-state organs in managing the education provision. For example, in DRC, though parents and community participate in school management and CSOs in education issues, they lack voice and the later seldom meaningfully represent parents' interests. Administratively, fee-free education policy is common in almost all GLR countries. However, in DRC parents contribute some 2000 CFs (equivalent to United States Dollar-USD 2.05) and other illegal and informal fees are collected at the school for support the implementation of the fee-free education policy. Obviously, some collected funds disappear into someone's pocket leaving primary education inadequately financed [3]. Further, the GLR countries have recorded doubling of the net enrolment of the primary school students from 5.5 million in 2001/2002 to about 13.5 million in 2013/14 which is an increase of the gross enrollment ratio (GER) from 62% in the respective years to 107% [3].

DRC has recorded good completion rate of the primary school pupils despite decline of the same with lower secondary students and worse for advanced secondary school students [7]. The DRC education system for primary and secondary schools can be classified into two: (i) public schools consisting of schools directly managed by the government and the schools managed by religious institutions, and (ii) private recognized schools which receive no government funding [8]. The privately organized schools receive funds from different funders and from different sources and they continue to expand at all levels, albeit slowly and with major oscillations. However, due to prevalence of nearly a decade of conflict, there is no sustained progress towards the goal of universal primary completion as large proportion of young children are not attending the primary school compared to 15 years ago.

Regardless of the different schools in the DRC education system, there has been some improvement in enrollment and completion rates [9]. However, learning achievements by students have remained weak as indicated by various indicators. It has been reported that up to 2018:


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For example, half of grade 2 pupils in Katanga have learning difficulties and 65% of children in grade 5 while in Bandundu only 18% have learning difficul-

Uganda is one of the pioneers in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of setting the goal to achieve universal access to basic education and it introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) since 1997 characterized of abolishment of primary school tuition, Parents and Teachers Association fees, and the textbook fees for up to four children per family [10]. Following the abolishment of fees, primary school enrolment increased from 2.5 million pupils in 1996 to 8.3 million in 2015 and the primary GER increased to 118% in 2011 before it stabilized at 111% in 2017. Uganda has progressive GDP growth from 6% in the financial year 2017/2018 to 6.4% in

However, Uganda invests less in the future productivity of its citizens mainly children and has had low levels of learning achievement compared to Burundi as measured through the Human Capital Index-HCI [10]. The low levels of learning achievement of children in Uganda were also revealed by the measure of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ ) assessment administered in 2013 with 70% of grade 6 students achieved the minimum competence level in reading, and only 40% of those tested reached that same competence level in Mathematics. In addition, EGRA evidenced that only 28% of children were able to read 20 words per minute in the third grade

Rwanda has its Vision of 2020 and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy aiming at moving from an agriculture-based economy to 'a knowledge-based hub for business and information technology' by 2020 [11]. As education has been used by countries as an instrument in attaining its development goals, the government of Rwanda abolished school fees in 2003/2004 as from primary (which takes 6 years) to lower secondary (which is offered for 3 years) hence ensuring equitable access to education and high-quality education enabling its citizen with the skills and knowledge required for the socioeconomic development of the country [12]. In addition, abolishment of school fees was used to increase enrolment, retention and completion rates for basic education, especially for vulnerable children [13]. Consequently, the GER for primary education improved steadily as in 2013 it reached 97% (98% of the enrolled were girls) though primary education completion rate was still down at 69% (64% for boys and 74% for girls) [12, 14]. The Ministry of Education achieved enrolment targets due to abolishment of school fees, hence managing to make preprimary, primary and secondary levels

Despite the achievement made by the Republic of Rwanda observes some pupils failing to attain the curricular expectations (for example through the measure of quality standards and assurance program of education, the Learning Achievement in Rwandan Schools-LARS) as 37% failed in literacy and 46% in numeracy compared to 55% of students who managed to meet the expectations in literacy and 27% in numeracy [13]. Geographical positioning affected numeracy results as results indicated significant difference between provinces and between districts. That implied that being in rural areas is a disadvantage as pupils in rural areas largely failed to meet curricular standards compared with their peers in urban areas with achievement distribution in both literacy and numeracy being relatively equal for

While the number of primary and the above levels of education are well recorded in Rwanda, pre-primary education (nursery education as they call it) started to be documented only in 2016 [16]. The number of nursery schools

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92417*

ties in grade 2, and 42% in grade 5.

2018/2019.

of primary (P3).

with gender parity [15].

girls and boys [13].

*Towards Global Peace and Sustainability: Role of Education in Peace-Building in the Great… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92417*

For example, half of grade 2 pupils in Katanga have learning difficulties and 65% of children in grade 5 while in Bandundu only 18% have learning difficulties in grade 2, and 42% in grade 5.

Uganda is one of the pioneers in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of setting the goal to achieve universal access to basic education and it introduced Universal Primary Education (UPE) since 1997 characterized of abolishment of primary school tuition, Parents and Teachers Association fees, and the textbook fees for up to four children per family [10]. Following the abolishment of fees, primary school enrolment increased from 2.5 million pupils in 1996 to 8.3 million in 2015 and the primary GER increased to 118% in 2011 before it stabilized at 111% in 2017. Uganda has progressive GDP growth from 6% in the financial year 2017/2018 to 6.4% in 2018/2019.

However, Uganda invests less in the future productivity of its citizens mainly children and has had low levels of learning achievement compared to Burundi as measured through the Human Capital Index-HCI [10]. The low levels of learning achievement of children in Uganda were also revealed by the measure of the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ ) assessment administered in 2013 with 70% of grade 6 students achieved the minimum competence level in reading, and only 40% of those tested reached that same competence level in Mathematics. In addition, EGRA evidenced that only 28% of children were able to read 20 words per minute in the third grade of primary (P3).

Rwanda has its Vision of 2020 and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy aiming at moving from an agriculture-based economy to 'a knowledge-based hub for business and information technology' by 2020 [11]. As education has been used by countries as an instrument in attaining its development goals, the government of Rwanda abolished school fees in 2003/2004 as from primary (which takes 6 years) to lower secondary (which is offered for 3 years) hence ensuring equitable access to education and high-quality education enabling its citizen with the skills and knowledge required for the socioeconomic development of the country [12]. In addition, abolishment of school fees was used to increase enrolment, retention and completion rates for basic education, especially for vulnerable children [13]. Consequently, the GER for primary education improved steadily as in 2013 it reached 97% (98% of the enrolled were girls) though primary education completion rate was still down at 69% (64% for boys and 74% for girls) [12, 14]. The Ministry of Education achieved enrolment targets due to abolishment of school fees, hence managing to make preprimary, primary and secondary levels with gender parity [15].

Despite the achievement made by the Republic of Rwanda observes some pupils failing to attain the curricular expectations (for example through the measure of quality standards and assurance program of education, the Learning Achievement in Rwandan Schools-LARS) as 37% failed in literacy and 46% in numeracy compared to 55% of students who managed to meet the expectations in literacy and 27% in numeracy [13]. Geographical positioning affected numeracy results as results indicated significant difference between provinces and between districts. That implied that being in rural areas is a disadvantage as pupils in rural areas largely failed to meet curricular standards compared with their peers in urban areas with achievement distribution in both literacy and numeracy being relatively equal for girls and boys [13].

While the number of primary and the above levels of education are well recorded in Rwanda, pre-primary education (nursery education as they call it) started to be documented only in 2016 [16]. The number of nursery schools increased from 2757 in 2016 to 3186 in 2017; and students from 185,666 in 2016 to 220,435 in 2017 indicating a Gross and Net Enrolment Rate increase from 23.8% (in 2016) to 24.1% and 17.5% (in 2016) to 20.6%, but the rates are still very low compared to the SDG target of 100% by 2030 [16].

In Tanzania, just as it has been in other GLR countries, basic education (preprimary to lower secondary) has been compulsory and fee-free since 2001 when the Primary Education Development Program (PEDP) was introduced and it has continued to be fully State-funded through the Tanzania Education and Training Policy of 2014 [17]. Regarding the objectives of the education, the government tells that the general objective of the education is *Kuwa na Watanzania walioelimika na wenye maarifa na ujuzi kuweza kuchangia kwa haraka katika maendeleo ya Taifa na kuhimili ushindani* translated as "to have Tanzanians who are educated with knowledge and skills for contributing effectively and timely for national development that can sustain competition" [18]. On enrolment, the net enrolment for pre-primary education is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa as it reached 44.6% in 2017 while primary education gross enrolment rate has almost become universal with net enrolment of 84% and more than 70% of the primary school leavers transit to secondary education [19]. Another report indicates that pupils' completion rate in Tanzania was 80% while in Rwanda it was close to 55% [7].

The gross enrolment rate in Tanzania is close to universal in primary education, but the government reports that a large number (close to one in every four pupils in primary and more than two in every five lower secondary students) were found be out of school [20]. Such report on Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children, Tanzania Country Report summarizes that about 2 million primary-school-age children and 1.5 million lower-secondary-school-age children were out of school in Tanzania by the time of the profiling. This number is huge and gives a lesson to the achievements of the SDG 4 and global vision of no one should be left behind.

#### **4. The concept of peace-building and its relationship with education**

The word 'peace-building' was first coined and famously used by Galtung [21] in his publication 'Three Approaches to Peace: Peacekeeping, peacemaking, and peacebuilding'. He developed the most of the popular core concepts that continue to be used in defining peace-building today, including negative peace, positive peace, structural violence, root causes of conflict, and sustainable peace [21]. Accordingly, peace-building involves addressing and removing the root causes of violence. These may include the structural and the cultural violence which is considered to feeds into and enables direct violence. The primary goal of peace-building is to establish positive, sustainable peace in societies once beleaguered by any form of violence. In Galtung's words:

*"… structures must be found that remove causes of wars and offer alternatives to war in situations where wars might occur" (1976: 297).*

To build and achieve peace and tranquility, there is a need to emphasize the importance of local knowledge, ownership and participation in whole process of peace-building. For example, the work of John Paul Lederach has systematically documented the gradual evolvement of the definitions of peace-building. Accordingly, peace-building are processes which are dynamic and social and involve transforming relationships of various groups and powerful individuals in the communities.

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quality education.

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**5. The role of education in peace-building in the great lakes region** 

Available education and economic evidences indicates that violence and conflicts are some of the biggest barriers and challenges to development in most of the world's poorest countries [22]. Of the 40 poorest countries in the world, 24 are either in the midst of armed conflict or have only recently emerged from it [23]. Empirical evidences and life experiences have consistently indicated that education is the most important tool for improving human development and to eradicate poverty. For generations, it has been used as a means by which to develop the values, knowledge and skills for the personal health, safety, and for future economic and social development. Perhaps, this may help to explain why the MDGs and SDGs places so much emphasis through Education for All (EFA) on achieving universal,

However, in the sub-Saharan region, there are many impediments to the achievement of EFA. In the Great Lakes Region, these impediments are said to include lack of priority to education on the part of national governments. In this context, lack of priority include misallocation and insufficient spending as a percentage of GNP, inequitable distribution of funding and resources across and within provinces or regions and districts within the countries, and sometimes limited or totally no commitment and/or effective action in the use of development assistance on the part of the international community. Even within individual countries in the GLR, barriers to the enrolment of children in school include the existence of armed conflicts and displacement, child-labor, poverty, distance from

Evidence from empirical and gray sources indicates that the number of out-ofschool primary-age children in the world has fallen in recent years, and the situation in conflict-affected countries has seen very little improvement. While conflictaffected countries are home to only 13% of the world's population, yet half of all the children out of school (37 million out of 72 million children) live there. More disturbing fact is that these countries receive less than one-fifth of education aid

One of the available the most recent estimates by the EFA Global Monitoring Report [5, 25] is that 28 million children live in conflict-affected countries (42% of the world total of children out of school). A huge segment of them (46%) live in the sub-Saharan region especially in the GLR of the African continent [26]. This section provides a brief summary of three ways in which the international community and aids agencies may think about the role of education in conflict-affected situations. Broadly, the noted agencies represent areas that have gained greater attention in the last three decades in international development discourses. It is important to note that background and scope this discourse can be traced back to the Second World War (1939–1945). Although each discourse seems to represent a slightly different perspective arising from a common concern, however, all are about the way that conflict affects the lives of school children, their families and their right to access

The first discourse is concerned with protection of children and a better way to respond to the negative impacts of violent conflicts on their education and psychological wellbeing. To some extent, this approach is primarily of humanitarian motivation. The second discourse focuses on the fact that education is provided in a way that 'does no harm' to anybody including children. Some scholars have termed it as a conflict-sensitive education. That is, it is sensitive to sources of conflict in the society in which it is situated, and is provided in a way that does not worsen

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92417*

**of sub-Saharan Africa**

free and compulsory basic education.

school, gender biases, and cultural factors.

from the international community [24].

*Towards Global Peace and Sustainability: Role of Education in Peace-Building in the Great… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92417*
