Peace Education Should Not Be a Privilege

Peace education should not be something a young person is lucky enough to discover. It should not depend on where they live, what language they speak, how confident they feel applying for an opportunity, or whether they happen to know that one exists. Peace education is not about telling young people what to believe. It is about giving them the tools to think critically, listen actively, understand different perspectives and approach disagreement constructively. These are not specialised skills reserved for peacebuilding. They are fundamental skills for living with others.

This is particularly important in Cyprus, where questions of history, identity, memory and belonging continue to influence how young people understand their society. Yet peace education remains largely outside the formal educational experience. There are no dedicated peace education classes in schools, while history lessons are expected to provide much of the knowledge through which students understand the past. History education is essential, but learning historical events alone does not necessarily teach students how to discuss different interpretations of those events, recognise the influence of memory, question inherited narratives or communicate across disagreement. Knowing the past and learning how to engage with its consequences are two different forms of education.

Cyprus already provides examples of what meaningful peace education can offer. Organisations such as the Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (AHDR), the Home for Cooperation, HADE and the Cyprus Friendship Programme have created opportunities for young people to engage with dialogue, historical inquiry, cooperation and contact between communities. The Imagine programme, coordinated by AHDR under the auspices of the Technical Committee on Education, illustrates the reach such initiatives can achieve. Since its launch in 2017, it has reached more than 8,800 students and 3,600 teachers through workshops involving historical inquiry, contact and peace education.

These initiatives are valuable because they demonstrate what becomes possible when young people are given opportunities to learn through experience. At the same time, their position largely outside the formal curriculum exposes a significant limitation. For many students, participation depends on actively finding a programme, researching its requirements, completing an application and sometimes succeeding in an interview. Some opportunities also require a particular level of English, financial contribution or travel. These requirements may be reasonable for individual programmes, but when extracurricular initiatives provide some of the few opportunities for meaningful peace education, they inevitably make access uneven.

A student may be interested but never hear about the programme. Another may find the application process intimidating. Someone else may be unable to participate because of cost, language or distance. This means that access can favour students who already possess the information, confidence and resources necessary to navigate extracurricular opportunities. Peace education should not depend on a student's ability to find their way into it.

Geography is equally important. Opportunities should not be concentrated primarily in Nicosia simply because many organisations are based there. Students throughout Cyprus should be able to participate in meaningful peace education within their own communities and schools. A student in a rural area should have the same opportunity to engage in dialogue and experiential learning as a student living close to the capital. Making peace education available across the island would also allow programmes to respond to the different histories, communities and local experiences that exist throughout Cyprus.

Language must be considered as part of accessibility. English can create valuable international connections, but English proficiency should not determine who gets to participate in peace education. Opportunities should be offered in ways that allow students to engage fully in the languages they are most comfortable using. The same principle applies to cost. Peace education should not become an extracurricular activity available mainly to students whose families can afford additional programmes, transportation or participation fees.

The importance of peace education extends far beyond Cyprus. Conflict resolution, empathy, active listening, cooperation and constructive communication are skills that every individual can use throughout life. Young people encounter disagreements in friendships, families, classrooms and workplaces. Learning to listen before responding, understand another person's perspective without necessarily agreeing with it, recognise personal assumptions and resolve conflict without hostility can influence how individuals participate in their communities. Peace education therefore has value even outside societies where historical or political divisions are particularly visible.

For this reason, peace education should become part of education itself rather than remaining an occasional extracurricular experience. This does not necessarily require creating another isolated subject. Instead, its principles can be incorporated throughout existing areas of learning. History can encourage students to examine sources, perspectives and competing interpretations. Literature can introduce experiences beyond their own. Drama can allow students to explore perspective through embodied and collaborative practice. Art can engage with memory and identity. Language education can create opportunities for communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In this approach, peace education becomes something students practise rather than simply something they are taught.

Experiential learning is especially important. Oral history projects, collaborative theatre, community heritage work, school exchanges and dialogue workshops can allow students to encounter perspectives beyond their immediate environments. These experiences make learning active and personal. They give students opportunities to ask questions, create together and develop relationships through shared experiences. Most importantly, participation should be driven by genuine curiosity and enjoyment. Young people should want to be involved because the experience is meaningful, creative and relevant to their lives, rather than feeling that it is simply another requirement or achievement.

Teachers also need support in making this possible. Conversations about history, identity and memory can be difficult, particularly when students bring strongly held understandings into the classroom. Professional development in dialogue facilitation, historical multiperspectivity, conflict sensitive pedagogy and critical media literacy would help teachers approach these subjects with greater confidence. This would also allow peace education to become part of everyday learning rather than something that occurs only when an external organisation visits a school.

Cyprus already has the knowledge, organisations and educators capable of creating meaningful peace education. What is missing is equal and consistent access. Existing programmes should be recognised as evidence of what can be achieved, while their limitations should encourage us to consider how these opportunities can reach far more young people. Every student should have the opportunity to learn how to listen, empathise, question, communicate and resolve conflict.

If education is preparing young people for the society they will inherit, then these skills cannot remain optional. Peace education should be available throughout Cyprus, within and beyond schools, as an accessible and meaningful part of growing up. Peace should not be something young people are expected to build without first being given the opportunity to learn how.