A ruling was issued 280 days ago declaring that two of Ecuador’s education ministries had violated A’i Cofán children’s right to education in the Sinangoe community. These two ministries, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education and the Secretariat of Intercultural Bilingual Education and Ethnoeducation (SEIBE), were also found to have violated the right to non-discrimination, the right to dignity and diversity of cultures, traditions, and aspirations, and the right to free self-determination.
The Lumbaqui Judge who issued the ruling in July 2024 also issued measures to remedy the violations, but none of them have been implemented. The violation of the Sinangoe children’s rights continues; once again, they will begin a new school year without the facilities they need to attend class.
Despite facing abandonment by the national government, the children are not giving up. They have crossed rivers to stand in front of the Provincial Court of Sucumbios, demanding to be heard. They have sent letters to judges and to the international community. They have presented proposals for how to create environments conducive to learning. The government refuses to help construct those environments, so they seek justice from their homes and a ruined school in A’i Cofán territory.
“Six years ago, our school building collapsed, and we could no longer use it. The parents and the community brought us to study in a sports pavilion. It’s open-air, and when it rained, it was very cold. The blackboard and our notebook paper got wet, and we couldn’t study. After that, they let us use a house where students of all grade levels attended class. When the sun was shining, it was very hot. Water came in through the holes in the zinc roof, and our papers were damaged. We have the right to a space in which to learn.”
– Melany Mayli Guaramag Hernández, 12, child plaintiff.
In July 2024, Lumbaqui judge José Sacancela received a lawsuit for protective measures filed by children, parents, and community members. This lawsuit demanded that the Ministry of Education and SEIBE respect, protect, and fulfill the right to education of 59 children who lost access to the Río Cofanes Educational Center in 2019 when the Aguarico River damaged the structure They have been attending classes in makeshift classrooms, a communal area, and in storage rooms, enduring undignified conditions and adverse weather without adequate shelter.
In the Court’s ruling, both the Ministry of Education and SEIBE were ordered to comply with certain remedial measures, within a period of sixty days, including:
- To take the necessary administrative actions to address the community’s request regarding the construction of their school;
- To facilitate a process of intercultural consultation to define the technical, pedagogical, linguistic, and architectural elements of the new school, respecting the right to autonomous education and the right to self-determination;
- To make pedagogical adjustments and adapt the curriculum with the involvement of teachers, the community, and elders and community authorities, to ensure culturally relevant education;
- To issue public apologies in Spanish and A’ingae (the A’i Cofán language) at a community event in Sinangoe;
- To place a plaque at the main entrance of the school recognizing the children, reading: “To the struggle of the children of the A’i Cofán Sinangoe Community.”
- Moreover, during the construction of the school, the Ministry was ordered to:
- Enable and adapt community spaces (such as the Court or the community center) so that they will meet adequate conditions for health, safety, and dignity.
Instead of working to comply with the ruling within the allotted sixty days, the Ministry of Education filed an appeal within a month, arguing that it did not agree with the court’s ruling. The Ministry’s appeal stated that “the violation of rights described in the ruling is completely false (…)” and maintained that “the Ministry has sent teachers, and delivered uniforms and books.” The Ministry further attempted to discredit the lawsuit for protective measures by charging that “public works (such as schools or roads) cannot be requested by way of lawsuits. That is not the purpose of this constitutional guarantee.” Likewise, the Ministry decided to presume that the filing of an appeal suspended its obligations as established in the ruling, when in fact these obligations on the part of the State remain in force.
In response to the Ministry’s arguments, Francis Andrade, a lawyer for the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe and a human rights defender from Amazon Frontlines, states:
“The purpose of a constitutional guarantee is to protect and guarantee human rights, and the present situation of the A’i Cofán children requires the state to fulfill its obligation to directly and effectively protect their rights by fulfilling the constitutional obligation to guarantee the best interests of children, as indicated in Article 44 of the Constitution; also considering that they deserve SPECIAL and REINFORCED PROTECTION because, in addition to being children, they are part of the A’i Cofán Indigenous Community of Sinangoe, a population that faces structural discrimination.”
In September 2024, the District Directorate for Education committed to providing materials, such as desks and school supplies, to the Río Cofanes Educational Center. However, the community was told that they would have to arrive with a truck to get the supplies from District facilities, because the District did not have transportation. The community rejected the condition; delivery is a state responsibility that cannot be transferred to families. And limiting conditions cannot be placed on the right to education. District representatives later indicated that “the materials that the Directorate provides” would be sent to the teacher in charge, thus transferring responsibility for the management and coordination of the delivery to her.
This is just one more example in a string of non-compliance. Weeks earlier, the Sucumbíos Ombudsman’s Office had conducted an inspection in which it found a lack of dignified conditions for the development of community-led education in Sinangoe. Through a letter, the Ombudsman’s Office suggested a meeting between the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe and the District Directorate. They committed to providing school supplies, arranging access to electricity and water for the school, and convening an inter-institutional working group in Sinangoe. However, the District Directorate decided to unilaterally change the meeting location, ignoring the previous agreement with the community and the commitment to intercultural dialogue that it had made.
None of the agreements were honored.
Five months passed after the Ministry appealed, with no response. Finally, in April 2025, the Provincial Court of Sucumbíos resoundingly rejected the Ministry’s arguments, upholding the lower court’s decision and once again ruling in favor of the A’i Cofán children.
“The Ministry of Education’s arguments do not disprove the existence of a violation of constitutional rights. Administrative excuses, lack of funding, contradictory reports, excessive delays, and the absence of inter-institutional coordination do not justify the state’s inaction (…) This is structural discrimination. Children from an Indigenous community have been left to study for years in an open field and a communal house without drinking water, electricity, teaching materials, or adequate furniture.”
August 14, 2025, will mark one year since the ruling against the Ministry of Education and SEIBE was issued. It is the deadline for the construction of the mandated educational infrastructure. Such infrastructure should include five classrooms, a covered playground, a facility for traditional medicine, a dining room, a kitchen, bathrooms, a computer lab, electrical infrastructure, a traditional garden, a fence, and workshops for carpentry, ceramics, and weaving.
As of the date of this article’s publication, construction has not begun.
Amazon Frontlines continues to work side by side with the A’i Cofán community of Sinangoe and other nations of the Ecuadorian Amazon to strengthen their community-led education and to demand their rights.
