Armed Conflict and Schooling : Evidence from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide

38 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Richard Akresh

Richard Akresh

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Damien de Walque

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG); World Bank

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Date Written: April 1, 2008

Abstract

Civil war, and genocide in particular, are among the most destructive of social phenomena, especially for children of school-going age. In Rwanda school enrollment trends suggest that the school system recovered quickly after 1994, but these numbers do not tell the full story. Two cross-sectional household surveys collected before and after the genocide are used to compare children in the same age group who were and were not exposed to the genocide - and their educational outcomes are substantially different. Children exposed to the genocide experienced a drop in educational achievement of almost one-half year of completed schooling, and are 15 percentage points less likely to complete third or fourth grade. Sustained effort is needed to reinforce educational institutions and offer a"second chance"to those youth most affected by the conflict.

Keywords: Population Policies, Youth and Governance, Primary Education, Post Conflict Reconstruction, Education For All

Suggested Citation

Akresh, Richard and de Walque, Damien, Armed Conflict and Schooling : Evidence from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide (April 1, 2008). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4606, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1149109

Richard Akresh (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Damien De Walque

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

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World Bank ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://econ.worldbank.org/staff/ddewalque

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