A classroom represents one of the most fundamental promises that societies make.

Parents send their children through school gates believing they will learn, expand opportunity, and, perhaps most importantly of all, be safe.

That promise is under strain today across much of the Middle East. Schools have closed in multiple countries, while others have switched to remote learning. Students are sheltering at home. And parents try to protect them from the distress of missiles, drones, emergency sirens and uncertainty.

Societies depend on schools not only to teach but also to provide routines that help children feel safe. Teachers help students to make sense of events that might otherwise feel overwhelming.

Education disrupted by war

In many places, teachers continue their work under extraordinary circumstances, moving lessons online, reopening classrooms when possible and helping students to process events that no child should have to witness.

When schooling is disrupted, the consequences ripple outward. Young people carry the impact long after the immediate crisis has passed. Memories of the sound of a siren or distant explosion can become intertwined with memories of school, shaping how children experience learning long after the conflict ends.

When a school community suffers from direct violence, it touches something deeply human.

The devastating, deadly tragedy at a girls’ school in Minab, Iran, has shaken people around the world. Scores of other classrooms have been destroyed, damaged or turned into emergency shelters across the region in recent weeks and years.

Worldwide impact

The impact of conflict on education extends far too wide. The number of armed conflicts being waged around the world is now higher than it has been in decades. Ethiopia. Gaza. Myanmar. Nigeria. Somalia. Sudan. Ukraine.

More than one in five children globally live in areas affected by conflict, Unicef reported in January. Classrooms are shuttered and young people’s futures are dimmed.

The international community has long recognised the importance of protecting education in war.

UN Security Council Resolution 2601 condemns attacks on education and calls on all parties to safeguard children’s right to learn, even in times of armed conflict. The Safe Schools Declaration, backed by 123 countries, commits governments to protect students, teachers and schools from the effects of armed conflict.

Yet in practice, violence still leaves far too many classrooms empty.

Conflict reminds us that the greatest challenges societies face are not only technical problems to solve but also questions about how we live together and treat one another.

A more peaceful future

This raises an important question: what is the intersection between protecting children during war and building a more peaceful future?

Schools are where young people encounter perspectives different from their own, question assumptions and begin to understand the responsibilities that come with living in diverse communities.

In many schools around the world, students bring unique perspectives and experiences into their shared space.

When education is done well, classroom leaders help to explore difficult questions and see multiple perspectives. When educators model respect across differences, they help students to imagine futures shaped by understanding.

Peace is often discussed in the context of diplomatic negotiations between states. But peace also lives in everyday interactions: how people listen to one another, how communities handle disagreement and how societies nurture respect across differences. Experiences such as Model United Nations help to teach such skills.

Schools are not only places of knowledge and curiosity. They are also institutions through which societies cultivate the capacity to live together.

The power and purpose of education

This belief lies at the heart of the mission of my organisation, the International Baccalaureate: to create a better and more peaceful world through education.

Our programmes encourage students in 160 countries to understand perspectives beyond their own as a foundation for peaceful societies.

For the many students, teachers and families currently living with uncertainty, the international community must continue to affirm a simple principle: schools must remain places of safety, learning and possibility.

Governments and armed actors must remember that every attack on education damages not only the present generation but also the prospects for peace itself.

Protecting education is an investment in the future of every society. The more children who receive a robust, dynamic education, the more societies will be capable of dialogue, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen is director general of the International Baccalaureate