The civil war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in 2009, with total defeat of the LTTE and many thousands of civilian casualties. The country is now engaged in peace-building. Key elements of the secondary school curriculum – truth-seeking, social cohesion and active citizenship – may contribute to this. Six state secondary schools serving different ethnic and religious groups were selected for qualitative research into how far this is the case. Data was collected on the application of knowledge, skills and values in lessons, extra-curricular programmes and whole school culture. The analysis suggests that truth-seeking is weak, with no teaching about the historical roots of the conflict or contemporary issues. There are efforts to build leadership skills and impart democratic values, but the critical thinking and discussion skills necessary for social cohesion and active citizenship are largely absent. The findings are discussed in relation to evidence from Uganda, Cambodia and Northern Ireland.

Civil wars impede progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. As many conflicts re-erupt within a short time, it is important to know what may increase the chances of sustainable peace. Access to education is a factor but relatively little is known about the contribution of what students learn in school. This thesis aims to respond to a research gap by addressing the following question: 'How can schooling contribute to conflict transformation?' Significant curricular approaches that may he used after civil war -peace education, human . rights education and citizenship education -are assessed for their strengths and weaknesses.As no single approach is found to be sufficient for conflict transformation, a framework is proposed based on three fundamental concepts: (i) truth seeking; (ii) reconciliation; and (iii) inclusive citizenship.This framework is examined through a qualitative case study of curriculum in seven schools in a district in northern Uganda that is emerging from a twenty-year civil war. The curriculum of four primary schools, two secondary schools, one special school and one teacher training college was studied over a three-month period. A structure of knowledge, skills and values was used to research the framework at a detailed level. It is found that schools exhibit good socialization of reconciliation values and some development of problem-solving and communication skills. There is some understanding of human rights, hut little knowledge of history, or of local, national and international political/legal systems. There is minimal development of discussion and critical thinking skills.It is argued that the framework can be used to investigate other schools and to inform the design of a curriculum that can contribute to conflict transformation, with the ultimate aim of reducing the risk of civil war re-eruption.3 CONTENTS