ATTACKS on teachers and schools have done more than compromise the right to life; they have put in jeopardy the right to education. Terrorism is not merely a physical phenomenon; it is also an ideological one. Attacking the intellect has profound consequences.

But what premium do we put on this? For example, an attack on a school van in Bajaur some time ago earned scarce mention in the print and electronic media, illustrating the latter’s priorities. The recent directive of the Islamabad High Court to have schools vacated from the temporary possession of the police is, however, an encouraging step.

Non-state actors are hell-bent on depriving children of their right to learn. They attack school buildings with the objective of harassing the poor by preventing education, and pushing them further into the shadow of illiteracy. As soft targets, schools are attacked with low-intensity explosives when they are closed. Girls’ schools have proved the ideal target.

In failing to protect schools, we are denying children their right to learn.

Although schools in the north have security guards because of the militant threat, the majority of these guards are unarmed; they are afraid of reacting or naming the accused. Absenteeism among the guards and poor monitoring have also compromised security.

The situation warrants the implementation of a rapid response mechanism. Whenever a school is attacked the damage should be rectified within the shortest possible time. The rubble must be immediately removed and classes continued elsewhere in the meantime.

During natural disasters and the movement of the internally displaced, schools are used as shelters. The post-earthquake scenario in 2005 gave birth to disaster management institutions. It is their task to house affected populations in a manner that educational progress is not hampered.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since 2007, hundreds of schools have been attacked. An annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan states that during 2011, 440 schools including 130 girls’ schools were targeted.

Why are schools targeted? The answer is simple: the attackers wish to impose their own educational scheme. From 2007 to March 2009 in Swat alone, 116 girls’ schools were attacked, which speaks volumes for the extremists’ gender bias. Further, school buildings are symbols of the state; when they are attacked, fear is enhanced.

Article 25(A) of the Constitution guarantees the right to education. So do Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 13 of the Inter­national Covenant on Economic, Cultural and Social Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. By ignoring these, together with the fact that providing education and giving protection to schools in conflict areas go hand in hand, we are allowing such attacks to erode our international commitments, when we should be doing our ut­­most to guard the educational infrastructure.

In fact, international law terms schools protected properties. Such protection was accorded in the Hague Regulations of 1899 and 1907. Article 8(2-ix) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court refers to intentional attacks on buildings dedicated to education as a war crime. According to international law, in armed conflicts, the protection of schools is not only the responsibility of the state but also of non-state actors. The problem with the latter is that they have neither signed nor ratified such instruments.

The office of the UN secretary general’s special rapporteur also lists attacks on schools as a grave violation. According to a Unesco report, Pakistan is one of the 31 worst-affected countries where such attacks occurred from 2007 to 2009. This was when there were more than 100 attacks, or large-scale recruitment of child soldiers, in the two-and-a-half-year reporting period covered by Education under attack 2010.

The UN secretary-general’s annual report on children and armed conflict underscored the intensity of the problem, especially in KP and the adjoining Federally Administered Tribal Areas. In addition to documenting the number of attacks on school buildings and teachers in 2013, the report stated that militant groups continued to threaten and intimidate school authorities. In this environment, there are many parents who fear sending their child to school.

To ensure the protection of educational institutions, special legislation is required. Such acts have to be synchronised with international law. Although KP passed the Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010, it has yet to criminalise attacks on schools. Existing domestic laws have no explicit reference to criminalising either attacks on schools or their occupation and their being put to other uses.

Apart from special legislation, donors should join hands to achieve rapid reconstruction. With the support of communities the existing security apparatus, too, needs to be strengthened.

The writer is a police officer.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2014