He Education Economics Laboratory (Lee) of the Pontifical Javeriana University warned of the impact of the armed conflict on the Colombian education system, based on the analysis of data from the early alert system (SAT) of the Ombudsman’s Office, the Integrated Registration System (SIMAT), the C600 Census of the Ministry of Education, and the Victims Unit.
According to the cloister, the Emprares Alerts System (SAT) of the Ombudsman plays a crucial role as a mechanism for the prevention of human rights violations and international humanitarian law (DMH). “Through this system they identify and warn of imminent risk situations that affect communities, social leaders and the general population, allowing state institutions to activate appropriate responses for protection,” reads the report.
It is worth mentioning that the analysis excluded capital cities to avoid overrepresentation and focused solely on alerts classified as “imminent”, which reflect urgent threats. By 2024 and 2025 the Simat 2023 projections were used, given the absence of updated publications. In their report they insist on how violence continues to seriously affect access, quality and safety in education, especially in rural and peripheral areas.
The main findings of the analysis indicate that in 2024 the largest number of educational venues in areas with early alerts of the Ombudsman’s Office were recorded: 6,745 institutions, which represents an increase of 69.2% compared to 2023. And as of March 2025, there are already early alerts about risk of violence and armed conflict in 1,487 educational venues, which are equivalent to 22 % of all those affected in 2024 and 37.3 % of those of 2023.
Analyzing the affected actors of the educational community, in 2024, 17,618 teachers worked in territories with early alerts, and already in the first months of 20255,796 are exposed to imminent risk dynamics. The National Protection Unit (UNP) reported to teachers as the fifth group with the most protection requests in the country, and the number of cases attended by CERREM (Risk Assessment Committee and recommendation of individual measures) increased from 233 to 2022 to 402 in 2024.
As for students, to The year 2024 were recorded 653,146 students in areas with early alerts. And between January and mid -March 2025, the figure already reached 204,435, which represents 31% of the total reported throughout 2024. This trend reflects a worrying continuity of violence, which affects children and adolescents.
The report identifies the Disidents of the FARC as the main risk generators in school environments (26%), followed by the ELN (20%) and armed organized crime groups (16%). Other armed actors include AGC, Border commands and transnational networkswhich reveals the complexity of the phenomenon in the educational field.
The Lee of the Javeriana University insisted on urgent intervention and differentiated policies. “The armed conflict remains a direct threat to the right to education in many regions of the country. The school should be a refuge, not a risk field,” said Lee de la Javeriana analysts.
The report recommends strengthening the institutional presence in alert territories, guaranteeing protection measures for teachers and students, and adapting the school curriculum to conflict contexts through resilience and peace education programs. Omar Garzón, researcher at the Lee de la Javeriana argues that “the school is central to the social fabric and the protection of children and adolescents.”
