Spotlight on Schools and Education

The main role of schools and universities is to prepare young people for adulthood and to become active citizens and positive members of society. In so doing, their role is to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills, tools and knowledge necessary to access opportunities and succeed in life. One of the main challenges in this work is to safeguard young people of negative and harmful influences, such as those that seek to radicalise and recruit them to violent extremist causes – particularly given progressively younger school children are being targeted by violent extremist organisations and becoming ensnared in extremist ideologies.

Teachers and other educational professionals, both in school and outside, play a critical role in protecting young people from such radicalising influences and preventing them from turning to extremism. To do this, it is important to build their resilience to these influences while strengthening democratic citizenship among them. This can often involve facilitating discussions with young people on controversial topics in a productive and meaningful manner, developing their critical thinking skills and guiding them in making the right decisions, helping them to understand democratic and social values, and helping them to form their own identity.