Tertiary Education in Colombia

OECD ; World Bank

Paris: OECD Publishing

关键词: ACADEMIC EDUCATION;    ACADEMIC STAFF;    ACCESS TO TERTIARY EDUCATION;    ACCREDITATION;    ACCREDITATION SYSTEM;   

DOI  :  10.1787/9789264180697-en
RP-ID  :  75472

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In Colombia, the beginning of a newcentury has brought with it a palpable feeling of optimism.Colombians will need new and better skills to apply to newchallenges and prospects. The past underperformance ofColombia's education system is both a cause and aneffect of a system unable to provide high quality educationto all. An "education revolution" has begun andprogress is being made. Basic and secondary enrolment,quality and learning outcomes are trending upward. Thegovernment's main policy goals at the tertiary levelfocus on the key challenges: expanding enrolment andimproving equity, increasing quality and relevance, andmaking governance and finance more responsive. To achievethese goals, policy makers and stakeholders must find waysto reach consensus, work together and overcome inertia.Colombia has drifted away from focusing exclusively on theneeds of students, the graduates they become, and thesociety in which they live and work. Restoring the focus onhow tertiary education can serve these needs is a goodorganizing principle for reform. The government developed aproposed reform of Law 30 - the main statute governingtertiary education - and vigorous national debateaccompanied its dissemination. Opposition to for-profiteducation dominated the headlines, but, in the reviewteam's view, other aspects of the proposed reform wereand are more important. The dramatic increase in tertiaryenrolment witnessed during the last decade has also resultedin a more equitable distribution of access to tertiaryeducation. The goal of enrolling 50% of the age cohort isappropriate and achievable, but it implies new challengesfor access and student finance policies. The tertiary systemcovers the full range of the Colombian economy's needsfor skilled manpower, if not necessarily to an equal extent.The government has clear and well-founded plans andaspirations for future tertiary growth and development. TheColombian government and people are well aware that theyneed not only more, but also better and fairer, tertiaryprovision - growth in coverage must be accompanied byquality, relevance and equitable access. The Colombiansystem of propaedeutic cycles is a good step towardsallowing students to progress up through the tertiarylevels. Colombian tertiary institutions have considerableautonomy, which is valuable in many ways though limiting in others.