Tertiary Education in Colombia
In Colombia, the beginning of a new century has brought with it a palpable feeling of optimism. Colombians will need new and better skills to apply to new challenges and prospects. The past underperformance of Colombia's education system is bo...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Paris: OECD Publishing
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/571691468018591760/Tertiary-education-in-Colombia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/27434 |
| Summary: | In Colombia, the beginning of a new
century has brought with it a palpable feeling of optimism.
Colombians will need new and better skills to apply to new
challenges and prospects. The past underperformance of
Colombia's education system is both a cause and an
effect of a system unable to provide high quality education
to all. An "education revolution" has begun and
progress is being made. Basic and secondary enrolment,
quality and learning outcomes are trending upward. The
government's main policy goals at the tertiary level
focus on the key challenges: expanding enrolment and
improving equity, increasing quality and relevance, and
making governance and finance more responsive. To achieve
these goals, policy makers and stakeholders must find ways
to reach consensus, work together and overcome inertia.
Colombia has drifted away from focusing exclusively on the
needs of students, the graduates they become, and the
society in which they live and work. Restoring the focus on
how tertiary education can serve these needs is a good
organizing principle for reform. The government developed a
proposed reform of Law 30 - the main statute governing
tertiary education - and vigorous national debate
accompanied its dissemination. Opposition to for-profit
education dominated the headlines, but, in the review
team's view, other aspects of the proposed reform were
and are more important. The dramatic increase in tertiary
enrolment witnessed during the last decade has also resulted
in a more equitable distribution of access to tertiary
education. The goal of enrolling 50% of the age cohort is
appropriate and achievable, but it implies new challenges
for access and student finance policies. The tertiary system
covers the full range of the Colombian economy's needs
for skilled manpower, if not necessarily to an equal extent.
The government has clear and well-founded plans and
aspirations for future tertiary growth and development. The
Colombian government and people are well aware that they
need not only more, but also better and fairer, tertiary
provision - growth in coverage must be accompanied by
quality, relevance and equitable access. The Colombian
system of propaedeutic cycles is a good step towards
allowing students to progress up through the tertiary
levels. Colombian tertiary institutions have considerable
autonomy, which is valuable in many ways though limiting in others. |
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