The quantitative impact of conflict on education

Armed conflict can have a lasting impact on education over many generations. The violence has devastating effects on the educational path of youth and can create a legacy of lost years of schooling which are never recovered. This technical paper sheds light on the measured effects of conflict on education by analysing the educational attainment and literacy rates of target populations. Long-term impacts of armed conflict include smaller shares of the population with formal schooling, fewer average years of education, and decreased literacy rates. In addition, conflict exacerbates existing inequalities in school participation, negatively affecting girls, poor households and ethnic minorities. The report focuses on the population of school-going age during conflict periods in 25 selected countries. Household survey data collected between 2000 and 2008 are presented, providing information for national and sub-national levels. This paper provides the complete analysis which shows how conflict impedes the realisation of important education goals, such as universal primary education and gender equality.