Lost in transition? Modernization, formal education and violence in Karamoja

•How formal education is designed, redistributed, governed and imposed led to multiple forms of violence against pastoralists in Karamoja.•Formal education justifies and increases processes of stability (e.g. sedentarization) in an environment of high environmental variability.•There is an urgency to rethink the purpose and potential of formal education in contexts of high variability such as Karamoja.•More reflection is needed to consider the harm formal education can cause (and has already caused) to marginalized and non-western societies.•There is a need to build on, expand and re-invest in locally developed, flexible and alternative modes of education.