Educide: The Genocide of Education A case study on the impact of invasion, and conflict on education

Abstract

History has proven that education is the lifeblood of any society or country, providing a firm foundation for an established and civilised community. The destruction of an academic system may be recognised and conceded as a massacre imposed on a selected group. The importance of this research comes from its originality as it explores and introduces a “word” which to date has had no formal definition nor recognition in the English language dictionary, which signifies the impact of mass killing and destruction on education. This research makes an original contribution, through recognising the destructive impact on educational infrastructure as a form of genocide. Accordingly, a significant impact on education and reduces the country's literacy rate, according to the International Criminal Court (International Criminal Court, 1998). The research also makes an original contribution to knowledge as it presents for the first time a formal introduction to this word, reflecting this impact with a well-researched and investigated definition. The research findings demonstrate how war and conflict unquestionably have a significant impact on nations affected by conflict, notably in the fields of education and health. From this point, the research presented reference to previous historical cases, such as the invasion of Iraq, the Vietnam war, the genocide in Rwanda, and Nazi Germany, which can be seen as real-life evidence of how conflict would affect education and literacy rates. The research methodology was based on Iraq as a case study, using systematic literature review to investigate the link between genocide and the destruction of the education infrastructure. The research aims to present the elements of crime, justify the usage of the word educide while presenting a formal definition based on the research of previous usage, the genealogy and legality of the term through identifying what constitutes genocide.