PUBLIC POLICIES OF EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA: CRITICAL ANALYSIS FROM THE TEACHING EXPERIENCE OF THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY OF CESAR

Abstract

Recent Colombian education policies have been evaluated according to criteria of relevance, effectiveness, and equity, based on an analytical framework that articulates the tension between the centrality of education and the principle of autonomy, and that explores the meaning of equity in a context of poverty and inequality. The supply of basic education has increased in coverage and quality, although there are still significant shortcomings in rural areas and in the care of the Afro-Colombian and indigenous population. These achievements, which have allowed a greater number of young people to access secondary and higher education, have not been sufficient to guarantee educational equity. The opportunity for better and greater access for vulnerable groups has been frustrated at various levels by the inadequacy of the educational offer to their conditions and requirements. Along these lines, alternative interpretations are proposed, which do not circumvent the criterion of relevance, and which emerge from careful observation and the experiences of the team.