Government risks breaking pledge to teach rules of war
The UK government is examining dropping citizenship from the National Curriculum. If it does, it could be in danger of breaking an obligation to teach International Humanitarian Law. John Lloyd explains why.
International Humanitarian Law (IHL) serves to protect those not participating in fighting and to restrict the potential for war. It’s outlined in the Geneva Conventions, which require all states to share awareness of it as widely as feasible.
In the UK this has been done through the citizenship curriculum since 2006, when Liz Moorse (then at the QCA) and I succeeded in amending the key stage 4 requirement. It now specifies that citizenship education should contain:
‘Political and human rights and freedoms in a range of contexts from local to global. ([Explanatory Note] Human Rights are element of national and international law. Learners should explore the functions of the United Nations and European Union in securing human rights and learn that International Humanitarian Law seeks to offer protection for victims of armed conflict and children caught up in fighting)’ (QCA, 2007).
Every state in the world has agreed to be bound by the Conventions and, from subsequent obligations, to encourage the study of IHL by their citizens:
‘The High Contracting Parties undertake, in time of peace as in time of war, to disseminate the text of the present Convention as widely as feasible in their respective countries, and, in specific, to contain the study thereof in their programmes of military and, if possible, civil instruction, so that the principles thereof may become known to the entire population…’ (Geneva Convention I, Article 47; GCII, Art. 48; GCIII, Art. 127 and GCIV, Art. 144).
In 2007 the UK Government made a pledge, to an international convention, on covering International Humanitarian Law in the school curriculum. They have to report back at the next convention later this year. What will they say? That the previous government embedded it in the citizenship curriculum and now the incumbent Education Secretary wants to drop that area of study altogether?
The 1949 Geneva Conventions are the cornerstone of International Humanitarian Law. I wish a serious debate about the review of citizenship education and the place of IHL within it; and I would like the Department of Education to disclose its plans for IHL within the curriculum.
Dr. John Lloyd is the Policy Adviser for the PSHE Association, formerly an adviser at the DCSF for Citizenship and member of the Citizenship Education Working Party 2000-2004.
References
Coffey D. (2010). Teaching the ‘rules of war’. Teaching Citizenship Matter 28 Autumn
QCA (2007). The National Curriculum. Statutory requirements for key stages 3 and 4. London. Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
You can learn more about IHL and the Geneva Conventions (1949) on the ICRC’s website. For further guidance, see the relevant UK information.
