Education

The expansion of enrolment at all levels achieved by Colombia since 2002 is noteworthy. Increasing the quality of the educational system has also become a priority, though improvements in this area have been difficult to implement. While recent international and national evaluations show small improvements, they also reflect substantial inequalities between urban and rural areas, socio-economic backgrounds, and public and private sectors. At the tertiary level, even though enrolment has risen significantly in the past decade, it remains below 50%, the target established in the government’s National Policy for Education 2011-14. The government attempted to introduce an ambitious reform in early 2011 designed to address some of the most pressing issues at the tertiary level but wide-scale opposition led to the withdrawal of the proposal in late 2011. Nonetheless, the national debate on education reform continues, and the sector is likely to remain a priority for the re-elected government. This chapter features an interview with María Fernanda Campo Saavedra, former Minister of National Education.