Publication: Education Reform in Antioquia : A Relevant Experience for Colombia
Date
2004-03
ISSN
Published
2004-03
Author(s)
Laverde, Marha
Abstract
Faced with alarming results, the
Government of Antioquia, oversaw the preparation of the
Quality Improvement for Basic Education Project by the
Secretariat of Education and Culture, which together with
the Pasto Project, this Bank operation covered the neediest
municipalities, and, was among the first decentralized
education loans in the country and, indeed, in the Latin
America region. This note examines the project that
encouraged the decentralization of educational services, and
closer coordination between the Department of Antioquia, the
mayors, and members of the municipal councils. This is
particularly impressive considering that these changes were
introduced prior to the enactment of the new
decentralization law (Law 715 of 2001). Its positive results
allowed Antioquia to share some useful lessons with the rest
of the country, notably that decentralization can work when
there is sufficient support facilitate the management of the
education system investment, in its development at the level
of the department, and municipalities. To facilitate the
replication of this experience, the project team designed,
and applied a Participative-Collaborative Technical
Assistance model. Some innovative approaches were also
adopted to address the prevailing, low coverage rates, which
included "hiring" school places from private,
non-profit schools run by nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), and rationalizing teacher deployment and
student-teacher ratios. The evaluation of the project
revealed that the private sector schools, contracted by the
Department were able to continue offering quality
educational services, and, the project was instrumental in
empowering all actors in the education community, and in
ensuring the smooth implementation of the quality
improvement actions. The education culture has been affected
positively in Antioquia; society has become aware that
investment, and public attention in this area is the best
way to achieve social and economic progress, and thus face
the challenges of a changing and globally competitive world.
Citation
“Laverde, Marha. 2004. Education Reform in Antioquia : A Relevant Experience for Colombia. en breve; No. 43. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/4bbfbdce-c83b-53a0-8e3c-024f78f5af27 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”