NSWTF: Statement on school massacre in Pakistan

By NSW Teachers Federation 18 December 2014

The AEU wishes to express its shock at the massacre of over 100 students and teachers at a school in Pakistan and its solidarity with the families of the victims and the school community.

All schools should be safe havens for both students and teachers. Children have the right to an education without fear or violence, and no war or conflict should prevent that. No parent should live in fear that their child will not return from school.

This attack on innocent children attending school is a barbaric act which can have no justification and should be condemned.

Access to universal, quality education is vitally important for all developing nations, and attempts to deny children in Pakistan an education are an attack on the future of that country.

As a member of Education International, the AEU endorses EI’s call for the Government of Pakistan to take all steps to ensure that all children – boys and girls – are able to safely attend school.

The global community must not tolerate the brutal massacre of students wanting to be educated and of the teachers who teach them.