Back to school: internally displaced and demobilized childrens right to quality education in Colombia

Abstract

This thesis focuses on internally displaced and demobilised children’s right to quality education in Colombia. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that in contempt of the widespread international and national legal framework that guarantee the right to quality education, in Colombia these two groups of children face various difficulties that deprive them from going to school. I chose these children as subjects of this thesis because both of these groups are severely affected by the armed conflict. Internally displaced children are obliged to leave their home and to settle down in a new community. Children who were formally associated with an armed group, on the other hand, need to be reintegrated in the society after serving in the military. Education may play a crucial role in both situations providing protection, survival and cognitive skills, and psychosocial help for children who have lost security and have to find their new place. This paper offers a deep analysis of the related legal background, the problems these children have to face, the national and international response, and educational programmes offered for internally displaced and demobilised children.