Teaching people how to restore peace when it breaks down and maintain peaceful relations has been a continuous endeavor in human societies. This is because conflicts are natural. This subsequently explains the diversity in conflict management methods to encompass peace building, peace making and conflict transformation. But despite these methods, scholars have realized that to create conducive conditions for peace, cessation of violence is not enough.
Creating a culture of peace requires development of values, beliefs and attitudes that recognizes and empowers the community to play an active role in conflict transformation. That is how the concept of peace education came about to be proposed as a degree programme to be offered.
In Kenya, there has been some form of Peace Education. This can be seen through courses such as development and environmental studies that are offered as common courses in Universities and also civic education that is carried out by civil societies. However, these activities do not reflect a comprehensive peace education that can generate a culture of peace.
Education is considered an important and a key feature in managing various issues in any society. It is also perceived as an instrument for alleviating poverty, promoting social change, equality and general well being of a people. Despite this recognition worldwide, the role of education in conflict resolution particularly in Kenya has received minimal attention. Instead, the focus of education in conflict has been on its effects, which include; destruction of schools, death of teachers and pupils as well as effects on development.
Since conflicts are natural, there is thus a need to embark on developing skills to deal with intolerance and violence. A Bachelor of Arts in Peace Education programme is therefore customized to help the Kenyan community to move from a culture of violence that is well known, to a culture of peace and tranquility.
Moreover, the post election violence experienced in early 2008 in Kenya was a wake up call to institutions of higher education, NGOs and civil societies to rethink mechanisms to settle internal disputes in a non-violent manner. This clearly show that there is need to equip the Kenyan society, especially the youth and security agencies, with skills and knowledge that can help them cope with the social, economic, environmental and political challenges.
There are many opportunities for those trained in the peace education discipline. Graduates with BA in Peace Education are likely to find employment with the following;
- Civil Society Organizations
- Human Right Bodies
- Government
- International Organizations working for peace and education
- Teaching
- Security Agencies