ABSTRACT
Education systems have been considered cause, victims, and solutions of protracted, violent conflicts. Yet, little attention has been paid to the political challenges of the transition of schools from causes to solutions to conflict. This chapter argues that issues of weak state capacity to govern the school system and provide quality education are often intertwined with power dynamics of dominant groups. With post-conflict education reforms, such groups may lose existing political gains. This loss decreases their political commitment to policy changes, ultimately compromising the chances of providing fair, quality, and peacebuilding education. The analysis of the past education reforms in Colombia, along with the current post-conflict proposals, suggest that when policy initiatives affect vested interests, and budgets are limited, advocacy for the excluded population’s education decreases, and education reforms can fail or remain incomplete, again compromising a durable peace. Ultimately, this analysis goes beyond the understanding of the technical challenges of education reforms in post-conflict societies, and unravels the politics of breaking the vicious cycle between education inequality and violent conflict.
