Thailand: Protect Students, Teachers, Schools in South

A Royal Thai Army soldier who is part of an armed teachers' escort plays with students at Pakaluesong Elementary School, Pattani. Since November 2006, either army or paramilitary soldiers have lived in a camp established in the school compound.

© 2010 David Hogsholt/Reportage by Getty Images

Related Materials: 

“Targets of Both Sides”

More Coverage: 

Al Jazeera: Violence Endangers Thai Schools

Related videos: 

• Education Under Attack in Thailand

Being a teacher in southern Thailand sadly means putting yourself on the front lines of conflict. Separatist leaders need to end attacks on teachers and schools, while the government should stop using schools as long-term military bases and conducting mass arrests at Islamic schools. These practices harm children and create further grievances for the insurgents to exploit.

Bede Sheppard, senior Asia researcher for children's rights at Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) - Separatist attacks on teachers and schools and the government's use of schools as military bases are greatly harming the education of children in Thailand's southern border provinces, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 111-page report, "'Targets of Both Sides': Violence Against Students, Teachers, and Schools in Thailand's Southern Border Provinces," details how ethnic Malay Muslim insurgents, who view the government educational system as a symbol of Thai state oppression, have threatened and killed teachers, burned and bombed government schools, and spread terror among students and their parents.