The Digital Gap and its Impact on Colombian Education During Covid-19

GW Peace StudiesMarch 6, 2021June 18, 2021Leave a comment

by Nam Lam

The 21st century has been marked as the end of the Information Age and the beginning of the Experience Age where people across the world are intricately connected through a complex web of online networks. As of 2019, there were approximately 4.13 billion internet users worldwide of whom 34 million reside in Colombia, giving the impression that the internet is a widely accessible resource.^[i] However, when analyzing accessibility, it is important to focus on what statisticians term ‘internet penetration’ which is the percentage of the population using the internet, rather than the total number of users. In the case of Colombia, the percentage of the population using the internet was about 64% by 2018.^[ii] Although this number is increasing, this means that currently about 36% of the population does not have access to the internet.

Lack of internet accessibility has led to a new wave of problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, mainly concerning the question of how to continue children’s and adults’ education during a time where people are restricted from leaving their homes. Experts in urban development like Ignacio Alcalde, a senior expert for UN-Habitat, have raised a new question of whether affordable and reliable internet connection should be treated by governments as a basic human right that is comparable to water accessibility.[iii] Since internet accessibility has become such an integral part of the modern education system especially during the pandemic, I believe that it should be treated as a human right. Colombia suffers from a growing digital gap that threatens the education of impoverished children, women, and ex-combatants in different ways during the nationwide lockdowns. In order for Colombia to reemerge from the pandemic, internet access must be given priority immediately. Every individual has the potential to not only benefit from the internet but to also be a part of the solution when it comes to solving other challenges Colombia faces.

The State of Colombia’s Education System Before Covid-19

Even before the pandemic, Colombia was plagued with a myriad of challenges, including corruption, failure to implement the 2016 peace agreement, inequality and more. To solve each of these issues, it is paramount for people, especially children, to have a quality education that will equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills to combat these pressing issues that have persisted for decades. At an international conference in 2015, hosted by the University of Cambridge which focused on the Colombian peace process, former Colombian Senator and now Mayor of Bogotá Claudia López stated that “education won’t stop a war, but it is crucial in building peace.”^[iv] She then emphasized how there were five million children under the age of five in Colombia of whom half came from the country’s poorest families with many having no access to elementary school, describing the situation as an “education apartheid.” The decades-long war in Colombia has had a significant negative impact on Colombian youth as between 1985-1999 approximately 1,100,000 children were displaced and suffered from long term psychological problems. By the start of the 21st century, 6,000 boys and girls were part of illegal armed groups on both the political left and the right, acting as spies, human shields, and soldiers.^[v] The destruction of the education system has long affected all children regardless of race, socioeconomic status, and gender, and has now led to adults, particularly women and ex-combatants, struggling to find educational or work opportunities during the pandemic.

The Colombian war alone can not be blamed for the failing education system as the government has also long neglected providing public funding for schools in poorer, rural areas. Colombia is one of 37 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and the OECD conducted a study on education in 2018 that illustrated how the quality of the Colombian education system is inadequate and poor. For example the average Colombian student's knowledge in math and science remains significantly lower that the average among OECD students in general. More public funding has not been enough to resolve the issues of students dropping out of school and that 26% of Colombian principals believe that their schools do not have sufficient educational resources. On top of this, Colombia continues to struggle with high levels of teacher absenteeism and a limited pool of qualified educators.^[vi] The issues in Colombia’s already failing education system have now been exacerbated by Covid-19 as children do not even have access to this already underfunded system.

Impact of Covid-19 on Children

Throughout the past several months, Covid-19 has severely impacted education systems in countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, leaving millions of kids with no opportunities to continue learning and parents struggling to make ends meet. Lack of widespread internet access is a prevalent problem in Latin American and Caribbean countries where approximately 95% of enrolled children are now out of school which is equal to more than 154 million kids.^[vii] Another consequence of being out of school is that now 80 million children in these regions are unable to access school meals, adding another layer of economic hardship to low-income families.⁸ Even after Covid-19 has passed, the long term psychological, physical, and social effects on children could be completely devastating to the future of these countries.

Among Latin American countries, Colombia had one of the longest lockdown periods that did not end until the start of September. There is a digital divide between rural and urban areas with the latter having a better internet infrastructure in place. But even within cities there are divisions between poor and rich sectors, as illustrated in the case of Luis Duarte, a street vendor who sells homemade masks in Bogota to sustain his family. He describes a common situation among Colombian families: “We don’t have a computer at home...The only internet connection we get is on my smartphone, and that’s only when I have data on it. My daughter is missing months of school.”^[viii] The World Bank released a world development report back in 2016 titled “Digital Dividends” that essentially focused on internet accessibility and how it should be treated as a public good regardless of socioeconomic status or regional location.^[ix] Since this past May, the EU Commission for International Cooperation and Development has been working with the Colombian Ministry of National Education and NGOs to make education an accessible public good in specifically Arauca, La Guajira, Nariño, and Valle del Cauca. They created a program called Save the Children Colombia’s Education in Emergency (EiE) that has been organizing communication networks to create Temporary Learning Spaces or in other words virtual classrooms. So far, the program has provided 173 math and reading learning-books to children, 2930 food kits, and “educational capsules” for 2007 children. These educational capsules are essentially audio recordings sent to families through mediums like a community radio, WhatsApp, and loudspeakers.^[x] However, despite these achievements, the success of programs like EiE remain limited due to a continued lack of accessibility. For example, Martha Gracia, an information technology teacher in Arbelaez, said that her students are sent homework assignments through WhatsApp despite the fact that WhatsApp is only accessible to 30% of students in the town.¹² Even though these programs have helped thousands of Colombian kids, there are still millions in the population that have yet to be reached, meaning that the government still has a long way to go in protecting their education.

For indigenous children specifically, the lack of education from the digital divide is even more prominent. On average, they have significantly less resources to sustain themselves during the pandemic. In 2010, the government hosted the First Continental Summit of Indigenous Communication in Cauca where over 200 Indigenous organizations across the Americas came together to discuss steps for establishing communication networks within indigenous communities such that they can be better connected with the world.^[xi] Although the summit seemed promising, Colombia’s indigenous communities still suffer from a lack of internet access, a lack of motivation within their communities to use the internet, as well as a lack of online material that is written in their native languages.^[xii] Currently, the Wayuu tribe in the Guajira province relies heavily on tablets donated from the El Origen Foundation which is funded by the World Vision charity and the Colombian bank Banco W. Each tablet has an app called O-Lab that allows the children to continue their education in both Spanish and wayuunaiki, their native language. A major advantage of these tablets is that they have the capability of operating without the internet. However, similar to the EiE program, the El Origen Foundation struggles when it comes to providing enough tablets and reaching rural, isolated communities.^[xiii] Besides just education, the Colombian Constitutional Court had said in 2017 that the government had failed to provide the Wayuu tribe with health, food, and water services. The government then guaranteed the Wayuu tribe these services would come, but local authorities in La Guajira now say there will be delays until 2022.^[xiv]

Impact of Covid-19 on Women

In terms of gender, education also plays a fundamental role for women as it opens up opportunities and provides them with the necessary skills to achieve financial independence from their husbands or other male family members. Covid-19 has affected about 743 million female students worldwide as they either do not have access to the internet at all or rely on their male family members. Kalpana, a student trying to earn her undergraduate degree in India, said that she uses her husband’s smartphone to attend classes which he has then used to monitor her life during the pandemic. According to Elina Lehtomäki, professor of global education at the University of Oulu in Finland, there are families where there are “three children, but only one device and the device goes to the son.” The digital divide in combination with gender inequities put women at severe disadvantages in education and dangers regardless of socioeconomic status.[xv] It is even more concerning that there is not significant data on the impact of Covid-19 on the education of Colombian girls and women considering how recent studies emphasize the importance of women in the Colombian peace process. Following the National Summit of Women and Peace that was held to increase participation in the peace process, as of 2015, 20% of the government’s negotiators and 43% of FARC’s negotiators were women. They are currently holding pivotal positions in the peace process such as in the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace and the Gender Subcommission. Women have been invaluable in expanding the peace process to protect women and indigenous rights, negotiating local cease-fires, increasing accountability of ex-combatants, and garnering support for the deal.[xvi]

Although specific data on female education in Colombia is limited, there is evidence of the digital divide damaging the well-being of women in terms of domestic violence. The patriarchal structure of Colombian society[xvii] has been particularly damaging for women as the World Bank notes that calls for domestic violence have increased by 91% ever since lockdowns began.[xviii] There has been a movement worldwide called #AntiDomesticViolenceDuringEpidemic that seeks to expand online services for women. The Colombian government has stated that they are trying to continue offering “virtual gender-based violence services” such as public hearings, legal assistance, and psychosocial assistance.^[xix] The Vive Digital Plan between 2010-2014 implemented by the Ministry of Communication was designed to expand information and communications technologies (ICTs) access for everyone and indirectly create more virtual safe spaces for women. However, the plan still had limited success when it came to particularly bringing ICT access to older and/or low-income women in rural areas, significantly reducing “the potential impact of ICTs on their work and educational and social opportunities.”^[xx]

Impact of Covid-19 on Ex-Combatants

Now turning to a smaller but still important demographic, Covid-19 poses a significant threat to ex-combatants who are struggling to get access to reintegration education and work opportunities from the 2016 peace deal. From 2017 to before the pandemic, Colombia was achieving substantial success through the implementation of 26 Territorial Areas for Training and Reintegration (TATR). These training zones were created as part of a program approved by the Colombian Ministry of Education called “Forging the Education” that was designed by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the National Open and Distance University (UNAD), and the Colombian Foundation of ex-combatants and Peace Promoters (FUCEPAZ). The goal of Forging the Education was to help ex-combatants reintegrate by providing them with a primary and secondary education. Throughout its creation, the program has affected the lives of 3,500 ex-combatants as well as the lives of 3,200 people who live in communities near the TATRs.^[xxi] Maria Muñoz, an ex-combatant who is pursuing a career in sewing and agriculture, stated that gaining a high school education was a “dream that [she] always wanted to come true.”

Access to TARTs has been extremely limited due to the pandemic. Ex-combatants living within these areas have blocked off anyone on the outside from entering and restricted educational campaigns. Many reintegration training programs and work projects available inside TARTs have thus been moved to online platforms or eliminated entirely, making it unclear as to how many individuals are still enrolled. For example, Forging the Education program classes have been cancelled indefinitely and, as ex-combatant Jeiner Arrieta notes, “many projects are completely stopped.” All agricultural projects have ended except for the World Food Program, and all tourism projects have been discontinued.²⁴ During the pandemic, the government has struggled to expand outreach, broadcast the availability of reintegration training, and make work projects safely available since most programs are now online or unable to be completed in-person safely. The United Nations Security Council had a meeting concerning the 2016 peace agreement during April of 2020 where Carlos Ruiz Massieu, Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Colombia, raised the concern of large numbers of ex-combatants living far away from training and reintegration areas with extremely limited clean water and sanitation.

Massieu called for members of the UN to provide assistance to Colombia’s National Reintegration Council to increase the number of projects available to low-income ex-combatants in vulnerable areas without internet access. The representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines stated that combatants face “significant challenges in accessing education and training programmes.” The representative of the Dominican Republic continued with how 9,500 ex-combatants currently live outside of TATR zones, fearing that they will not have access to opportunities to reintegrate into society and may instead return back to armed groups.^[xxii]

Possible Solutions

Although some of the solutions I discussed in this essay struggled to provide resources on a nationwide scale, they have still been invaluable. Colombia can still benefit from instituting similar programs or by following what other countries have done to increase internet accessibility. The Brazilian city Recife’s mayor recently pledged to invest in 2,500 smartphones that will be given out to children to continue their studies. Similarly, the Peruviain government has so far spent $165,000,000 towards buying 850,000 Wi-Fi tablets for children and is working with Telecom companies to expand the number of internet users. Medellin, Colombia has also taken a unique approach by investing millions into building community libraries in poor neighborhoods that offer free internet accessibility.^[xxiii] It is clear that several countries and areas are increasing investments in internet access which is why the Colombian government as well as wealthy individuals throughout Colombia are pivotal in reconstructing the country.

In addressing the problems of lack of online material in native languages and internet access faced by indigenous groups, Indonesia created the Bacabal Wiki program in 2019 that was created by members of government in tandem with the community to improve literacy learning through BASAbali, an online dictionary tool for local languages. The organizers of the program have recognized that during the pandemic access to BASAbali is limited, so with the help of the government and teachers nationwide they are currently investing in “new superhero” books that “teach creative writing and encourage the joy of reading among children,” focusing specifically on kids in impoverished areas.^[xxiv] The Colombian government should take a similar approach as the Bacabal Wiki program to give native children the opportunity to learn in their native language considering how there are 102 indigenous groups across the country.

The key to helping women is to increase the availability of virtual safe spaces to learn and be free from domestic-violence. The new arrival of 5G technology to Colombia could be the key for women to access online spaces. ICT Minister Karen Abudien stated that 5G has the capability of “generating new sources of social and economic development” as 34 million Colombians currently do not have the internet through mobile devices.^[xxv] 5G makes the internet faster and more reliable while increasing the size and reach of wireless networks such that more people can access them from isolated areas. Thus, 5G could be the solution for creating a large complex network for women across the country to communicate with each other safely and get the help they need even if they are in rural areas.

For the many ex-combatants currently unable to continue their education or access work projects, a possible solution is to expand the “Obras Escuela” program to ex-combatants. Obras Escuela was implemented by the Antioquia regional branch of Camacol, a non-profit based in

Colombia, with the purpose of increasing literacy learning at construction sites by offering classes at the workplace. The program has experienced difficulties during the pandemic as many of the workers are “digitally non-literate,” making online teaching difficult to implement. Instead, to continue their education the program coordinators successfully organized telephone contacts between the workers and a team of teachers as well as employed a combination of informative videos and audio samples that can be viewed at home. ^[xxvi] The Obras Escuela not only promotes construction work opportunities--though admittedly these are currently limited by the pandemic--it also gives ex-combatants, who tend to be adults with poor education, the chance to develop the necessary basic literacy skills to effectively reintegrate into society.

Conclusion

In some ways, the pandemic can be seen in a positive light as it forces the issue of the digital gap into the forefront of the public eye. The digital divide existed before the pandemic and more Colombians are now witnessing the consequences of the government neglecting this problem as children, women, and ex-combatants are left helpless to the pandemic, uncertain of how to continue their education. It is important to recognize, however, that there is still time to resolve this issue if steps are taken accordingly. Education should not be treated as a political issue and involves the cooperation of every individual ranging from the political left, the political right, NGOs, and international institutions. Accessibility of education for individuals of all ages must be the priority because having a new well-educated generation is the key to solving the many other problems Colombia faces concerning the economy, corruption, peace agreement, and more. Internet access is inextricably tied to education which is why the internet must be perceived as a basic human right as it is central in protecting the future of Colombia.

[i] J. Clement, “Internet Usage Worldwide - Statistics & Facts,” Statista, Statista, October 26, 2020, https://www.statista.com/topics/1145/internet-usage-worldwide/.

[ii] José Gabriel Navarro, “Colombia: Internet Penetration,” Statista, Statista, March 2, 2020, https://www.statista.com/statistics/209109/number-of-internet-users-per-100-inhabitants-in-colombia-since-2000/.

[iii] Anastasia Moloney, “Could Coronavirus Lockdowns Help Close Latin America's Digital Divide?,” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, May 12, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latam-tech-trfn/could-coronavirus-lockdowns-help-close-latin -americas-digital-divide-idUSKBN22O1L5.

[iv] University of Cambridge, “Cambridge Conference on Colombia Says Education Holds Key to Sustainable Peace,” University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge, 2015, Accessed December 1, 2020, https://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-conference-on-colombia-says-education-holds-key-to-sustainable-peace.

[v] OCHA Services, “Children and the Armed Conflict in Colombia - Colombia,” ReliefWeb, UNOCHA, October 30, 2001, https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/children-and-armed-conflict-colombia.

[vi] Laura Heras Recuero and Eduardo Olaberría, “Public Spending in Education and Student's Performance in Colombia,” OECD iLibrary, OECD, February 23, 2018, https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/public-spending-in-education-and-student-s-performance-in-colombia_28 2d9700-en;jsessionid=h_EXA-4Ec1gwuRHhC2Ic-H8N.ip-10-240-5-87.

[vii] UNICEF, “COVID-19: More than 95 per Cent of Children Are out of School in Latin America and the Caribbean,”UNICEF, March 23, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/covid-19-more-95-cent-children-are-out-school-latin-america-and-caribbean. ⁸ OCHA Services, “Children Are the Hidden Victims of Latin America's Corona Crisis - World,” ReliefWeb, UNOCHA, May 29, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/children-are-hidden-victims-latin-america-s-corona-crisis.

[viii] Moloney, “Latin America’s digital divide?”.

[ix] World Bank Group, “World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends,” World Bank, The World Bank, 2016, Accessed December 1, 2020, https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2016.

[x] European Commission, “Education for Children in Colombia Times of COVID-19,” International Cooperation and Development, European Commission, May 27, 2020, https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/stories/education-children-colombia-times-covid-19_en.

¹² Anggy Polanco, “Latin America Adjusts to Home Schooling as Coronavirus Halts Class,” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, April 2, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latam-education/latin-america-adjusts-to-home-schooling-ascoronavirus-halts-class-idUSKBN21K2UY.

[xi] John Ahni Schertow, “Time to Build a Continental Indigenous Communications Network,” Intercontinental Cry, Intercontinental Cry, November 18, 2010, https://intercontinentalcry.org/its-time-to-build-a-continental-indigenous communications-network/.

[xii] Hernan Galperin, “Why Are Half of Latin Americans Not Online? A Four-Country Study of Reasons for Internet Non-Adoption,” International Journal of Communication, University of Southern California, 2017, Accessed December 1, 2020, https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6287.

[xiii] Anastasia Moloney, “Colombia's Indigenous Children Switch to Remote Learning as COVID-19 Keeps Schools Shut,” Global Citizen, Thomas Reuters Foundation, November 6, 2020, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/colombia-indigenous-children-education-covid-19/.

[xiv] Human Rights Watch, “Colombia: Indigenous Kids at Risk of Malnutrition, Death,” Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch, August 13, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/08/13/colombia-indigenous-kids-risk-malnutrition-death.

[xv] Columbia Politics Collective, “Why COVID-19 School Closures Are Impacting Girls More,” Columbia Global Reports, Columbia University, October 9, 2020, https://globalreports.columbia.edu/blog/2020/10/school-closures-are-impacting-girls/.

[xvi] Jamille Bigio, Rachel B. Vogelstein, and Guest Blogger for Women Around the World, “Women's Participation in Peace Processes: Colombia,” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, December 15, 2017, https://www.cfr.org/blog/womens-participation-peace-processes-colombia.

[xvii] Alejandra Pineda, “Peace and Security in Colombia,” Humanitarian Advisory Group, Humanitarian Advisory Group, Accessed December 1, 2020, https://humanitarianadvisorygroup.org/peace-and-security-in-colombia/.

[xviii] The World Bank, “COVID-19 Could Worsen Gender Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean,” The World

Bank, The World Bank, May 15, 2020, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2020/05/15/covid-19-could-worsen-gender-inequality-in-latin-americaand-the-caribbean.

[xix] António Guterres, “Policy Brief: The Impact of COVID-19 on Women,” UN Women, United Nations, April 9

[xx] Olga Paz Martinez, “Women's Rights, Gender and ICTs,” Colombia | Global Information Society Watch, Colnodo, 2013, Accessed December 1, 2020, https://www.giswatch.org/en/country-report/womens-rights-gender/colombia.

[xxi] OCHA Services, “Former FARC-EP Members Are Transforming Their Lives with Education,” Reliefweb, UNOCHA, July 26, 2018, https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/former-farc-ep-members-are-transforming-their-lives-education.

²⁴ OCHA Services, “This Is How Quarantine Is Experienced in the Former Territorial Areas for Training and Reintegration - Colombia,” ReliefWeb, UNOCHA, May 8, 2020, https://reliefweb.int/report/colombia/how-quarantine-experienced-former-territorial-areas-training-and-reintegration.

[xxii] United Nations, “COVID-19 Pandemic Must Not Be Allowed to Derail Colombia Peace Agreement, Special Representative Tells Security Council | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases,” United Nations, United Nations, April 14, 2020, https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14160.doc.htm.

[xxiii]Anastasia Moloney, “Could Coronavirus Lockdowns Help Close Latin America's Digital Divide?,” Reuters, Thomson Reuters, May 12, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latam-tech-trfn/could-coronavirus-lockdowns-help-close-latin -americas-digital-divide-idUSKBN22O1L5.

[xxiv] UNESCO, “Disruptions of Literacy Learning in Indonesia and Colombia Due to COVID-19,” UNESCO, UNESCO, July 15, 2020, https://en.unesco.org/news/disruptions-literacy-learning-indonesia-and-colombia-due-covid-19.

[xxv] Loren Moss, “5 Firms To Begin 5G Network Trials In Colombia While 4G Deployment Continues,” Finance Colombia, Finance Colombia, June 29, 2020, https://www.financecolombia.com/5-firms-to-begin-5g-network-trials in-colombia-while-4g-deployment-continues/.

[xxvi] UNESCO, “Disruption of Literacy Learning”.

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Facing the Loss of the Next Generation

GW Peace StudiesFebruary 26, 2021June 17, 2021Leave a comment

by Sophie Williams

Colombia has faced a turbulent history since its founding, characterized by conflict and civil unrest. For the last fifty years, Colombia has been fighting an armed guerrilla insurgency. In 2016 the greatest hope for an end to the most recent half century of conflict came with a peace agreement, in which FARC – the most prominent guerrilla group – agreed to put down their arms and integrate into society. However, the progress Colombia has accomplished in the past decade is being threatened by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Both the pandemic itself and the response to it, have produced conditions that could lead to the end of Colombia’s peace process. To maintain and create a lasting peace, Colombia must socialize the next generation to ensure that they adopt the norms of a peaceful society and strive to make them a part of the country’s future. However, economic hardship, the unavailability of schooling, and a focused effort to recruit children into armed groups during the pandemic, have amplified existing impediments to peace and created a new one: the inability for children to participate in a healthy and functioning form of society. Understandably, Colombia’s greatest concern has been to manage the short term ramifications of COVID-19; however, if Colombia does not prioritize the civic education and safety of the next generation, the peace process is likely to revert to a state worse than when they began the fight for peace. The pandemic has created a world that separates the youth from society, which makes them vulnerable. It is critical that communities and the government adopt a focused effort to instill the importance of the peace process in the youth and create ways to keep them connected to society in the present.

Context

Colombia has survived 50 years of continuous armed conflict within its own borders. The majority of the fighting has taken place in rural areas between guerrilla groups, such as FARC and ELN, and paramilitary or government forces. However, this is only the most recent conflict the Colombian people and government have endured. Within the last century Colombia also survived La Violencia (1948-1958) a decades long civil war that saw military coups and attempted dictatorships.[i] In 1958 the Colombian government agreed to rotate the two main political parties until 2002 – Conservative and Liberal – for the presidency, with the intention of stabilizing and strengthening Colombia. Both Conservative and Liberal presidents have attempted to end the violence through different strategies. However, administrations have often been plagued with corruption, so their endeavors were fruitless. In addition, governments were confronted by the rise to prominence of powerful guerilla forces in the 1960s. Further, in the 1970s and 1980s organized drug cartels arose out of resentment over unequal income distribution and Mexico’s crackdown on illegal drug networks. Several presidents attempted to negotiate settlements and ceasefires to end the conflicts, but they failed to create any possibility for long lasting reconciliation or peace. For decades, civilians and government officials continued to be victims of organized crime and guerrilla warfare. In 2016 a historic Peace Agreement was signed between FARC, a prominent guerrilla group, and the Colombian government, under the Santos administration. In this deal, a large proportion of FARC combatants agreed to surrender their weapons and reintegrate into mainstream society, with a representative political party in the government.

In Colombia, status within society is largely based on a person’s geographic location. There is a large economic and educational gap between people living in rural and urban areas. Many armed groups, namely FARC, have taken advantage of this gap for recruitment in rural locations. During the pandemic, this divide has been amplified as guerrilla groups and drug traffickers impose their own lockdowns in rural areas when government forces pulled out. Studies show that Colombia is suffering a 55 percent increase in political violence, since the pandemic started, and more people have been restricted to the home. In addition, the majority of Colombia’s work force relies on informal labor, which has been made nearly impossible during the lockdown restrictions, as demonstrated by the rising unemployment levels.[ii] The Registry of victims, which counts the number of children forced into armed groups, estimates that 8,798 have been victims of child recruitment since lockdown began, due to the vulnerability of children during an economic crisis and their detachment from schools and communities.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Educating the Next Generation

Educating and socializing the next generation is crucial to the stability of Colombia's society in the long run, yet the pandemic and efforts to contain it have pushed education to the background. On March 15, the government took quick action to close borders, businesses, and schools, declaring it a “national coronavirus emergency;” the only component of this declaration yet to resume activities is schools. The policy response to COVID-19 will cause long lasting problems for children’s social and educational development and well-being. The short-term impact of children not attending school is already evident, with many stating that children have fallen behind in their schooling. A lack of access to adequate schooling does not just amount to a loss of education, but also the loss of a community that fosters child development and provides a “safe harbor.” A crucial component of socialization is an environment where children interact with others outside their nuclear family and come to learn social norms and proper behavior. Further, access to teachers and other students allows children to reach out to people they trust if they are suffering from domestic problems, especially for children in remote areas. Therefore, the greatest threat to the success of the peace process in Colombia is a lack of support for the next generation.

The effects of a lack of education are already beginning to show. Save the Children, an NGO conducting case studies on the impact of Covid-19, explains that “an entire generation's education has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic … the impact of this will last longer than the duration of the pandemic; nearly 8 in 10 (77%) parents or caregivers responding to the survey believe that their children have learned little to nothing since school closed, and millions face never returning once they reopen.”[iii] Without a sufficient education it will be harder for the rising generation to enter professions, become financially secure, and provide for their families. Colombia could be facing a future with an increasingly stratified society, an inadequately educated middle and lower class, and a smaller centralized educated elite in the urban areas. The World Bank estimates that learning loss over time could translate into 10 trillion dollars of lost earnings for the global economy.[iv]

The lack of educational services during the pandemic will disproportionately affect poor and rural children, who would have fewer chances to continue their participation with the learning process.[v] The Colombian school system moved online to continue student’s education while lockdown persists; however, it is estimated that less than 10 percent of students in rural areas have access to a computer or stable internet access to attend school.[vi] Without in-person learning many students will face disadvantages in their capabilities and education levels in the future. Several NGOs and other foundations, including COALICO, are attempting to use radio programs and mobile phones to reach “isolated children” to provide minimal educational services.[vii] Without an education and proper childhood development, rural children especially will have difficulty finding formal employment and advancing in society.

To fully participate in society as adults, children do not just need to receive an academic education, but they also need the benefit of socialization. During times of severe economic stress, it is not sufficient to rely on the home to teach children the norms and values of their society. Children develop dispositions, habits, social skills, a sense of duty, how to act in society, and even a sense of right and wrong from school. They learn the formative skills that allow them to participate appropriately and successfully within their society, so they can become law-abiding citizens who ultimately find jobs, raise families, and contribute to the political processes of their cities and state. Without schools open, it is difficult for children to receive a civic education. Especially in rural areas children are strongly influenced by the ideology and values of the guerrilla groups that control their region. Without school providing an alternative set of norms and values, children will become increasingly susceptible to misinformation (spread by violent groups) and will not possess the skills to combat this information.

Another important role schools play in Colombia, and in every country, is that they provide students with a safe space and a support system outside of the home to protect them from violence. Several NGOs including InSight Crime, who fight for children's welfare and protection against armed groups, have emphasized the immediate and violent impact that not being able to attend school has had on children, in both rural and urban areas.[viii] In a virtual setting, students do not have the same protections they are afforded during in-person learning, including the ability to spend time out of the home and away from situations that may put them in danger. Further, many students do not have adequate technological capabilities to stay in contact with their teachers, and if they do, they cannot have the private conversation they would have in school. Many students face dangerous home situations that have only been intensified by the pandemic and additional economic burden. Many children rely on their teachers as confidants because teachers care about their students’ wellbeing. A teacher’s support is especially needed during the pandemic when social work activities have largely been suspended. Without this form of protection many children suffering from domestic violence or threats to their families are falling through the cracks.

In summary, it is paramount to the success of future peace agreements and the continuation of a functioning society that the next generation is educated, socialized, and protected. There is already evidence that many children will lose years of their education, leaving Colombia with a society more divided by wealth and geography than before the pandemic began. Further, when students are not attending school they are not effectively prepared to participate in society’s shared norms, values, and behaviors. In addition, children who live in dangerous home environments are also falling through the cracks because they do not have school to provide a safe space. Schools are the cornerstone for developing full members of society, which is required of the next generation for Colombia to have a peaceful and prosperous future.

Schools are also a critical line of defense against child recruitment because they offer children connections to others in and outside their community and a safe space to reach out for help. A researcher at Coalición contra la vinculación de niñas, niños y jóvenes al conflicto armado en Colombia (COALICO), explained that “some families ignore or legitimize the recruitment of their children out of financial desperation,” a common occurrence during desperate economic crises.[ix] As mentioned above, schools aid in protecting children from domestic violence and criminal violence by providing a support system and a physical location where they are safe. InSight Crime argues that “[they] have noticed many violent acts against children during the lockdown. From the start of the lockdown until mid-May [they] had seen 133 violent acts, which overall affected 7,142 children (recruited, displaced, injured, or killed).”[x] During the pandemic many militant groups have taken advantage of online school to recruit increasingly high numbers of children whose families are suffering from unemployment. The most common threats to a child's education are financially motivated or fear based, both of which have drastically increased by children's containment inside the home. Virtual learning has fostered an environment that separates children from society, has left many lower income or rural students incapable of attending school at all, and has sacrificed one of the country’s most promising ways to protect children from armed groups and drug traffickers.

The Impact of the Pandemic on Child Recruitment

Child recruitment is likely the most immediate threat to the next generation's involvement in and support for the peace process. The socio-economic fallout from the pandemic has provided the ideal conditions for recruiters during a resurgence of conflict and violence.[xi] Children are especially vulnerable to financial incentives and recruitment tactics when their families are struggling and they are isolated from friends and their communities. In addition, the government and other organizations that aid in stopping child recruitment have been largely suspended to observe lockdown requirements, which allows the armed groups to gain more control and territory. If the next generation largely falls to armed groups or their mentality then the future of Colombia's government, the peace process, and Colombia as a united nation itself will be at risk.

Colombia’s citizens and government have been fighting to end child recruitment for decades, but sadly it remains a lucrative business for many armed groups to gain new members and foot soldiers. The Coronavirus Pandemic and subsequent lockdown have amplified the problem.[xii] The United Nations, just before the pandemic, “denounced the trend as it reported 293 children had been forced to join armed groups in the previous year, 73 percent more than in 2017.[xiii] Although this number may seem miniscule in the larger context, it is important to remember all of the unreported cases that grow this number drastically. COALICO has estimated that recent figures show a further spike it recruitment activity and success, with 190 minors recruited up until June of this year.[xiv] This data demonstrates an additional concern: there is a direct correlation between the large scale and continued increase in the success of child recruitment and the restrictions imposed by the lockdown.

Armed groups have taken full advantage of schools’, the government’s, and NGOs’ inability to protect children during these hard times. Armed groups, both guerillas and cartels, have utilized the pandemic to impose their own “lockdown” and expand their control. The Humanitarian interviewed teachers and NGOs who explained that “some children are forced into armed gangs, but most are seduced by the prospect of regular food on the table or false promises like riches or women.”[xv] The pandemic has given armed groups a chance to impose a further fear on the Colombian people: “economic control.” Colombia’s Inspector General asserted that “during the pandemic these groups have made a big effort to show their power, not only armed but economic, and they are concerning us in the way they are recruiting.”[xvi] The increase in child recruitment has been made possible for the majority of armed groups because of the socioeconomic struggles of families, reliant on informal work, during the pandemic. Julius Castellanos, a researcher at COALICO, emphasized that armed groups have “seized” on the opportunity to co-opt or threaten these children, who are home with their parents, to provide food or money in return for “joining up.”[xvii] These practices are further reinforced if parents give their consent, which has become increasingly more common as adults grow to appreciate the security, food, and or money they receive from the criminal group that recruited their children.[xviii] The impact of these recruitment tactics are most forceful in rural or poorer neighborhoods, where families are going hungry, since they are out of work. Maria Paula Martinez, the director of Save the Children of Colombia, said “many armed groups are targeting the poorest villages to offer kids work picking coca leaves or participating in other illicit activities.”[xix] The economic hardships imposed on families during the pandemic has made child recruitment an increasingly lucrative tactic for armed groups and drug traffickers.

In addition to the financial incentives of joining an armed group, increased by shrinking economic opportunity from the pandemic, the greatest advantage recruiters now have is the change to children's social lives because it makes them more vulnerable to recruitment. An Indigenous Governor, Nora Elena Taquinas, has seen firsthand how the pandemic restrictions on activities such as “studying, sports, family, and social recreation,” have led to the increase in disappearances in their territory.[xx] Given the evidence that the pandemic has compounded the already tragic levels of child recruitment in Colombia, it is clear that the continuation of this trend will threaten the next generation’s will to fight for peace in their country.

Closing

Governments around the world are facing a rising generation that will be less educated and unequipped with the necessary understanding of social norms to participate in functioning society – Colombia is no different in this regard. However, Colombia faces a complicating concern: maintaining a fragile peace. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have enabled militant groups to take advantage of children because they have been left without the safety network and community provided by their schools. This is compounded by economic pressure imposed on their families due to the lockdowns and rise in violence from militant groups. Children need school to provide not only an academic education, but also a sense of community, purpose, connection to people outside their family, protection from violence, and civic education. During the Pandemic, children have been isolated from their communities and kept from acquiring the social norms they will need to become productive citizens who value peace in their country. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, it might also present an opportunity – a rare moment where opposing political parties can come together over their differences, not for reconciliation, but to cooperate towards a unified goal: the continuation of a free and peaceful Colombian society. Colombia’s leaders have saved their country from ruin before with monumental policies, for instance when they amended their constitution to alternate the presidency between the Conservative and Liberal parties. Conflict has always presented the chance for people to come together. People may be dying in hospitals instead of on the battlefield, but Colombia is still fighting a war for its future. Uniting to save the future generation is the best path to maintaining peace in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

[i] “Colombia profile - Timeline,” BBC, August 8, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19390164.

[ii] OECD, "Participation rates and unemployment rates by age and sex: Colombia", in Country tables, OECD Publishing, Paris, September 2, 2020. https://doi-org.proxygw.wrlc.org/10.1787/b3c0cd39-en.

[iii] Jess Edwards, “Protect a Generation: The impact of Covid-19 on children’s lives,” resourcecentre.savethechildren.net, Save the Children International, 2020. https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/node/18218/pdf/vr59-01_protect_a_generation_report_en_0.pdf.

[iv] World Bank, COVID-19 Could Lead to Permanent Loss in Learning and Trillions of Dollars in Lost Earnings (Washington, DC: World Bank, June 18, 2020), https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/06/18/covid-19-could-lead-to-permanent-loss-in-learning-and-trillions-of-dollars-in-lost-earnings.

[v] World Bank

[vi] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children,” thenewhumanatarian.org, September 10, 2020. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/09/10/Colombia-conflict-armed-groups-child-recruitment.

[vii] OECD, "Participation rates and unemployment rates by age and sex: Colombia."

[viii] Lara Loaiza, “How Colombia’s Lockdown Created Ideal Conditions for Child Recruitment,” InSight Crime, August 28, 2020, https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/colombia-lockdown-child-recruitment/#.

[ix] Lara Loaiza, “How Colombia’s Lockdown Created Ideal Conditions for Child Recruitment.”

[x] Lara Loaiza, “How Colombia’s Lockdown Created Ideal Conditions for Child Recruitment.”

[xi] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

[xii] Mauricio Galindo Caballero, “Si situación de salud se estabiliza, Colombia lideraría la región: FMI,” ElTiempo.com, April 17, 2020. https://www.eltiempo.com/economia/sectores/coronavirus-hoy-en-vivo-asi-ve-el-fmi-a-colombia-en-medio-de-pandemia-485494.

[xiii] Mauricio Galindo Caballero, “Si situación de salud se estabiliza, Colombia lideraría la región: FMI.”

[xiv] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

[xv] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

[xvi] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

[xvii] Amnesty International. “COLOMBIA: WHY DO THEY WANT TO KILL US?: LACK OF SAFE SPACE TO DEFEND HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA.” Amnesty International Publications. October 8, 2020. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr23/3009/2020/en/.

[xviii] Lara Loaiza, “How Colombia’s Lockdown Created Ideal Conditions for Child Recruitment.”

[xix] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

[xx] Luke Taylor, “How Colombia’s armed groups are exploiting COVID-19 to recruit children.”

Bibliography

Amnesty International. “COLOMBIA: COMMUNITIES IN BOJAYÁ, CHOCÓ (WESTERN COLOMBIA) THREATENED BY ARMED GROUPS.” Amnesty International Publications, January 3, 2020. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr23/1634/2020/en/.

Amnesty International. “COLOMBIA: WHY DO THEY WANT TO KILL US?: LACK OF SAFE SPACE TO DEFEND HUMAN RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA.”Amnesty International Publications. October 8, 2020. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr23/3009/2020/en/.

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“Unos 400 mil universitarios tendrán descuento de 100 % en matrículas.” ElTiempo.com. August 11, 2020. https://www.eltiempo.com/politica/gobierno/coronavirus-11-de-agosto-estudiantes-de-universidades-publican-tendran-matricula-gratuita-528252.

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