Publication:
Tertiary Education in Colombia : Paving the Way for Reform

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (13.7 MB)
416 downloads
English Text (703.47 KB)
439 downloads
Date
2003-04
ISSN
Published
2003-04
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Education is a major instrument for economic growth and poverty reduction. Rapid changes in technology, globalization and economic reforms are creating dramatic shifts in the structure of economies and labor markets throughout the world. The challenges of the future lie with confronting traditional limitations within a rapidly changing environment. This transformation has already occurred in advanced economies and increasingly so in Latin America. Colombia's great challenge is how to become an active member of this new global society, the information and knowledge society. These changes imply that the role of tertiary education must also shift. While tertiary education's traditional role has been to train students for employment through the transmission of knowledge and by providing basic research, it must add to these tasks the training of adaptable workers and supporting the continued expansion of knowledge. An enhanced tertiary education sub-sector enabled to respond to society's increasing needs for high quality human capital must count on dynamic capacity for monitoring and evaluation, and disseminate to all stakeholders information about tertiary education its opportunities and costs, and include information about labor market perspectives; it must cater for students from all groups of the society by promoting greater equity in access to university and technical tertiary education and training.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2003. Tertiary Education in Colombia : Paving the Way for Reform. World Bank Country Study;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/15135 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Citations

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Romania - Functional Review : Higher Education Sector
    (Washington, DC, 2011-05-11) World Bank
    This review provides a discussion of challenges faced by Romania as a results of reforms, policy changes, growth in enrollment, among others, and provides policy options on how to tackle them. The review focuses on the higher education sector as a whole and how it is managed as a system by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport (MERYS). The team assessed how the system is structured, led and managed by MERYS and not how each and every university is structured, led and managed internally. Some internal issues that confront higher education institutions were, however, reviewed since they are common to so many institutions that, by reason of commonality, they deserve to be addressed so that the Ministry can develop appropriate responses. The report includes a large number of findings, conclusions and recommendations. Some of the findings and conclusions require no recommendations. They indicate that the review team is happy with what it found in specific areas and they are included in the report since the team was required to cover these areas and since the team wants to give credit where credit is due. There are other findings and conclusions, indicating areas where improvement is necessary and possible and the team is providing recommendations, but on their own, are not likely to bring about major improvement; then, there are findings and conclusions in areas where the team believes that the potential for the greatest impact lies.
  • Publication
    Tertiary Education in Colombia
    (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2012) OECD; World Bank
    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.
  • Publication
    Governance of Technical Education in India : Key Issues, Principles, and Case Studies
    (World Bank, 2010-03-01) Blom, Andreas; Cheong, Jannette
    Tertiary education, and in particular technical and engineering education, is critical to India's aspirations of strengthening its reputation as a major competitive player in the Global knowledge economy. The system is huge and complex, and there is a consensus that reforms are imperative. Issues of fair access and affordable participation in higher education are critical if India is to empower its people with educational opportunities that allow individual potential to be fulfilled, and allow more Indian graduates opportunities for employment and to compete in an international arena. There are approximately 2,400 technical and engineering institutions across India's 30 states, of which less than 8 percent of public institutions are autonomous. The demand for tertiary education continues. There has been a phenomenal growth in the number of private colleges across India in the last 20 years. Private colleges now deliver 85 percent of all technical and engineering education. The significant changes in supply and demand make it increasingly important to ensure that tertiary education systems and institutions are effectively and efficiently governed and managed to meet the needs of industry and society. As key national changes are imminent, stakeholder groups represented at the Learning Forum emphasized the importance of working in partnership, so that overlapping interests can support a more effective delivery of education to meet the needs of society and industry. Good governance is an area where effective partnerships are crucial. Strengthening links with industry and local communities could also support a range of development opportunities for courses, faculty and most importantly the student experience and education and research outcomes. These priorities are in line with the Second Phase of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project and the need for ongoing capacity building. Developing effective governance will underpin long term developments.
  • Publication
    Republic of Sierra Leone : Higher and Tertiary Education Sector Policy Note
    (Washington, DC, 2013-07-15) World Bank
    Chapter one provides background and context for these policy notes. It includes information on the history of Higher and Tertiary Education (HTEs), learning structures, the economy, relevant legal frameworks, and the general education sector. Chapter two deals with quality assurance: the structures of administration, legal framework, monitoring Commissions, internal and external quality assurance, policies, accreditation and participants. Chapter three highlights issues of academic Relevance to economic, social and national development. It reviews the Government of Sierra Leone (GOSL) priorities, the labor market, skills and competencies and employment status and opportunities for Higher and Tertiary Education Institution, or HTI graduates. The chapter further explores the supply of programs and courses while identifying gaps in offerings. Recommendations are provided. Chapter Four provides insight into the Cost and Financing of HTIs. The report highlights the financing of institutions, public financing, subventions, scholarships and projected demand for HTE and associated costs. Policy recommendations are provided in each chapter, and summarized here.
  • Publication
    Internationalization of Higher Education in MENA : Policy Issues Associated with Skills Formation and Mobility
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011-01) Jaramillo, Adriana; Ruby, Alan; Henard, Fabrice; Zaafrane, Hafedh
    This policy issues note is focused on internationalization of higher education and the linkages and implications that internationalization has for skills mobility. Internationalization is one of the most important developments that globalization has brought to higher education worldwide. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it has turned into quite a complex undertaking. The Arab Spring has made it clear that young people in MENA are asking for more and better opportunities: to study and work; to move about the world; and to learn and to create new knowledge and enterprises. Higher education, migration, and labor mobility are key policy areas as MENA nations address the need for a strong skills base to underpin the economic and social development of the regions disparate economies. All three policy areas share an interest in the development, recognition, and application of educational qualifications, in the quality of education and training, and in the ability of people to acquire, provide, and use education for their own well-being and for their nation's benefit. This note is intended to be the base document for a policy dialogue integrating the three issues associated with the development of human capital: higher education, migration, and labor mobility. This note seeks to introduce a systematic policy discussion about the internationalization of higher education to help MENA countries improve the quality and relevance of their higher education systems, open opportunities for better skills development, and improve high-skilled labor migration. There are important interactions among the formation of skills and competencies, the acquisition of credentials and qualifications, and where and how those skills are applied. These include the quality of education, the ease with which credentials are recognized in different countries, the role of international partners, and the incentives to study and work in the region and elsewhere. This note will explore how a regional approach to accreditation and recognition of qualifications could bring benefits and understanding of the complex interactions among student mobility, domestic higher education, and the economic and social development priorities of MENA countries. It will also provide evidence on the importance of setting goals for intra-regional student mobility and for student and faculty flows into the region through accreditation, student and faculty exchange, hiring incentives, and research infrastructure including competitive research grants. Finally, the note will demonstrate the need for a clear policy on the 'export of educational services.'

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects
    (World Bank : Washington, DC, 2024-02-01) Kose, M. Ayhan; Ohnsorge, Franziska
    A structural growth slowdown is underway across the world: at current trends, the global potential growth rate is expected to fall to a three-decade low over the remainder of the 2020s. Nearly all the forces that have powered growth and prosperity since the early 1990s have weakened, not only because of a series of shocks to the global economy over the past three years. A persistent and broad-based decline in long-term growth prospects imperils the ability of emerging market and developing economies to combat poverty, tackle climate change, and meet other key development objectives. These challenges call for an ambitious policy response at the national and global levels. This book presents the first detailed analysis of the growth slowdown and a rich menu of policy options to deliver better growth outcomes.
  • Publication
    Remarks at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-10-12) Malpass, David
    World Bank Group President David Malpass discussed biodiversity and climate change being closely interlinked, with terrestrial and marine ecosystems serving as critically important carbon sinks. At the same time climate change acts as a direct driver of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss. The World Bank has financed biodiversity conservation around the world, including over 116 million hectares of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas, 10 million hectares of Terrestrial Protected Areas, and over 300 protected habitats, biological buffer zones and reserves. The COVID pandemic, biodiversity loss, climate change are all reminders of how connected we are. The recovery from this pandemic is an opportunity to put in place more effective policies, institutions, and resources to address biodiversity loss.
  • Publication
    The Impact of Climate Change on Education and What to Do about It
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-02) Venegas Marin, Sergio; Schwarz, Lara; Sabarwal, Shwetlena
    Education can be the key to ending poverty in a livable planet, but governments must act now to protect it. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as cyclones, floods, droughts, heatwaves and wildfires. These extreme weather events are in turn disrupting schooling; precipitating learning losses, dropouts, and long-term impacts. Even if the most drastic climate mitigation strategies were implemented, extreme weather events will continue to have detrimental impacts on education outcomes.
  • Publication
    Media and Messages for Nutrition and Health
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06) Calleja, Ramon V., Jr.; Mbuya, Nkosinathi V.N.; Morimoto, Tomo; Thitsy, Sophavanh
    The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has experienced rapid and significant economic growth over the past decade. However, poor nutritional outcomes remain a concern. Rates of childhood undernutrition are particularly high in remote, rural, and upland areas. Media have the potential to play an important role in shaping health and nutrition–related behaviors and practices as well as in promoting sociocultural and economic development that might contribute to improved nutritional outcomes. This report presents the results of a media audit (MA) that was conducted to inform the development and production of mass media advocacy and communication strategies and materials with a focus on maternal and child health and nutrition that would reach the most people from the poorest communities in northern Lao PDR. Making more people aware of useful information, essential services and products and influencing them to use these effectively is the ultimate goal of mass media campaigns, and the MA measures the potential effectiveness of media efforts to reach this goal. The effectiveness of communication channels to deliver health and nutrition messages to target beneficiaries to ensure maximum reach and uptake can be viewed in terms of preferences, satisfaction, and trust. Overall, the four most accessed media channels for receiving information among communities in the study areas were village announcements, mobile phones, television, and out-of-home (OOH) media. Of the accessed media channels, the top three most preferred channels were village announcements (40 percent), television (26 percent), and mobile phones (19 percent). In terms of trust, village announcements were the most trusted source of information (64 percent), followed by mobile phones (14 percent) and television (11 percent). Hence of all the media channels, village announcements are the most preferred, have the most satisfied users, and are the most trusted source of information in study communities from four provinces in Lao PDR with some of the highest burden of childhood undernutrition.
  • Publication
    Economic Recovery
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-06) Malpass, David; Georgieva, Kristalina; Yellen, Janet
    World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the world facing major challenges, including COVID, climate change, rising poverty and inequality and growing fragility and violence in many countries. He highlighted vaccines, working closely with Gavi, WHO, and UNICEF, the World Bank has conducted over one hundred capacity assessments, many even more before vaccines were available. The World Bank Group worked to achieve a debt service suspension initiative and increased transparency in debt contracts at developing countries. The World Bank Group is finalizing a new climate change action plan, which includes a big step up in financing, building on their record climate financing over the past two years. He noted big challenges to bring all together to achieve GRID: green, resilient, and inclusive development. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, mentioned focusing on vulnerable people during the pandemic. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, focused on giving everyone a fair shot during a sustainable recovery. All three commented on the importance of tackling climate change.