Incorporating Peace Education into Primary School Education Curriculum: Issues and Roles in Conflicts Prevention

Abstract

The continent of African has experienced several kinds of violence, oppression, suppression, wars and conflicts. It is a truism that people live in groups, and wherever people lived in groups; they interact among themselves; and formulate regulations that will harmonize them in that very society. These regulations a times go contrary to some cultural/traditional beliefs, which may result to conflicts/violence or war as case may be. History reveals that in Africa, there have been persistent inter-state and intra-state conflicts, violence, religious crisis, political instability, economic recession and debt burden, to mention but a few. These issues and other problems constitute the bulk of the critical issues in national integration in Africa. In order to redress the wrongs that have been perpetuated by conflicts, wars and violence in Africa, peace values should be of paramount importance to all. Peace education is an academic discipline yet to be incorporated in the primary education curriculum of most countries of the world especially, in Africa; but the incidence of disruptive behaviours like conflicts, violence of all sorts, wars etc. calls for an urgent incorporation of such education in the education curriculum. This paper therefore, presents incorporating peace education into Primary education curriculum as a sustainable means for preventing and/or putting to a stop or minimizing the rates at which conflicts, wars, and violence in most African countries occur. Additionally, concept of peace education; needs for introducing peace education into primary and post-primary education curriculum were highlighted.

Keywords: Peace Education, Violence Prevention, Education Curriculum, Conflicts Resolution