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Education Schools and other education partners play an important role in supporting community development, increasing social engagement and strengthening community resilience.136 Educational institutions can prepare communities for change and can promote peace, reconciliation and collaboration across groups. In addition, educational spaces can serve as community hubs and provide a neutral space for discussion. The role of educational institutions in supporting community resilience can be divided into three areas: 1. Compulsory schooling 2. Training and skills development for adults 3. Partnerships with higher education institutions.
Compulsory education and schoolcommunity partnerships Although the home is usually positioned as the most influential learning environment, the school is often placed second, since it plays a vital role in shaping a child’s future.137 A child’s school experience has a lasting impact on their development and future success as an adult.138 In addition, communities with high levels of social capital tend to have stronger school-community relationships. Improving school-community relationships can, in turn, increase community social capital. Examples of these kinds of school-based community building services include: out-of-schoolhours care, school information nights, and school events that are open to the wider community.139 Research has shown that school-community partnerships can effectively support 'distressed' urban and rural areas. In this case, 'distressed' refers to area-based deprivation, poverty and high levels of social exclusion.140 Within this method, schools expand beyond delivering academic and social support to also provide 33
