Visit to the Ministry of Education

We all had a great day today. It was a wonderful experience to visit the Ministry of Education – for many reasons. First, we were impressed by the warmth and enthusiasm of all the people we met with. Not only were they gracious and welcoming to all of us, but it was clear how dedicated they are to the challenging work that they do.

After a greeting and welcome by our Harvard professor and former Minister of Education, Cecilia Maria Velez, three staff members gave us presentations. First, Jacqueline Triana Roa, spoke about the strategic planning process in place at the MOE. She explained the MOE’s Institutional Integration Model and the six strategic objectives: education quality, early childhood education, coverage, pertinence and innovation, management model (transparent, efficient) and emergency intervention. Next Juan Carlos Bolivar from the Planning Office presented the National Development Plan for 2011-2014. This plan is focused on prosperity for all and it has three major goals: more employment, less poverty, greater security. With goals focused on growth and competitiveness, equality of opportunity, and consolidation of peace, the MOE has five specific educational goals. These are 1) to provide quality education, with special attention being paid to early childhood education, 2) improve quality at all levels, preschool through higher education, 3) close access and permanence gaps, 4) educate with pertinence and incorporate innovation, and 5) strengthen the management of the education sector, with specific reference to efficiency and transparency.

Next we heard from the Vice Minister of Pre-school, Basic and High-school education, Mauricio Perfetti del Corral. He gave us an introduction to new policies in education that the Ministry wants to emphasize. Their focus is on continuing to improve the quality of education. The MOE is continuing to try to close the achievement gaps on standardized tests; the gaps exist between private and public schools and between higher and lower income, and urban and rural areas. One thing they are doing is evaluating the indicators of the schools and regional education secretariats. For those in need of improvement, the MOE will work with them to improve performance, either at the secretary level or the school level.

An afternoon tour gave us more of a feeling of the MOE. We saw the interesting workspaces at the Ministry – open spaces that foster communication among colleagues and offices that are open to welcome the public. We met a few different employees who spoke to us about their work and we all were impressed by the values of the Ministry including their focus on valuing people and culture; this includes the work they do to support people in their country and the work the MOE does to support its staff.

Remaining questions that I personally have at the end of the day are about the situation for education for children with disabilities. We did some reading before the trip about this and it seems that Colombia, like many other countries, has not yet reached a point where they are providing education for all children with disabilities. Although a couple of us asked about this today, there wasn’t time to get information. I did learn that there is someone at the Ministry who works on special education and I plan to explore their website further and maybe be able to get some information later this week, too.

It is great being with 12 students who all have somewhat different interests, yet share the same goal of supporting education internationally. Everyone has been able to share a little more of their experiences and goals. Also, this afternoon we were able to break into groups to meet with MOE representatives about early childhood education, higher education, education for indigenous people, and public private partnerships.

All in all it was a very good day!

Karen McCabe