Developing a Violence-Free and Inclusive School for Peace and Democracy in Tanzania

There is a strong connection between the level of social peace and democratisation within a society and the educational level of the population. This correlation is evident even for basic levels of primary schooling and becomes stronger for higher education. However, schools as the main educational institutions only contribute to democratisation and to peacebuilding if they themselves are democratically organised and based on children’s rights. This is not yet the case in many countries. The chapter begins with an introduction depicting the theoretical links between democratisation, peacebuilding and schooling in societies. In a second part a literature review is provided that proves that corporal punishment and violence are very common in schools in many African countries, irrespective of whether corporal punishment is legally banned or not in a country. A special focus is placed on the situation in Tanzania. The high amount of physical, emotional and sexual harassment and violence as well as the extent of corporal punishment has a very negative impact on the socialisation of children and youths. The chapter then describes in a third part the development of St. Therese Secondary School, which bans corporal punishment and violence and is highly inclusive.