Impact of Education Programs in Colombian Conflict Areas: Children Attend School More Frequently But Performance Has Barely Improved

Policy programs in developing countries aimed at supporting certain sectors of the population in individual areas play a crucial role in development cooperation. Examples include programs to improve access to education. But what impact do such programs really have? The present study by DIW Berlin examines the impact of a welfare program on the learning success and participation of children in Colombian conflict zones. It shows that although the program does increase the school enrollment rate, learning success has barely improved at all. One possible explanation for this could be that school attendance is one prerequisite for learning successbut is not sufficient in isolation. Since children in conflict areas often need to help secure a livelihood for their families, they have little time left at the end of the day for homework and for school-related activities as a whole.