Tertiary Education in Colombia: Paving the Way for Reform (World Bank Country Study)

'Tertiary Education in Colombia: Paving the Way for Reform' discusses the ways in which Colombia could address the main issues confronting its tertiary education system. The first section of the education sector work details the current tertiary system in Colombia. The second section offers an economic perspective and argues that the country faces two main obstacles to expansion: rationed number of available places and stifled demand in private higher education. The third and final section contains strategies and policy recommendations which would enable Colombia's tertiary sector to respond to the needs of the country with increased equitable access to more relevant education of good quality. The last two sections focus upon four core issues: (i) ensuring clear and progressive governance (ii) inducing and assuring quality (iii) promoting strategic levels of education and fields of study, and (iv) providing finance for equitable and expanded access. 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. 1. The Current Status Of The Tertiary Education System In Colombia -- The Students -- The Providers -- System Governance And Management -- Quality Assurance -- Academic Personnel -- Enrollment: Unprecedented Expansion In The Mid 1990s -- Disciplines: Under-investment In Technical Education -- Programs: Biased Towards Undergraduate -- A Struggling Science And Technology Sector -- A Nascent Internationalization Of Colombian Tertiary Education -- 2. Economic Issues And Perspectives -- Increasing External Efficiency -- A Segmented Market For Tertiary Education -- Funding A Selective And Efficient Public Sector -- Filling The Vacancies In The Private Sector -- Inadequate Student Aid -- 3. Strategies And Recommendations For Tertiary Education In Colombia -- Annex I. The Colombian Tertiary Education System: Problems And Challenges -- Annex Ii. Institutional Analysis Of The Tertiary Education Sector -- Annex Iii. Quality Assurance In Colombia -- Annex Iv. Science And Technology: Status And Perspective -- Annex V. Colombian Higher Education In The Global Market -- Annex Vi. Economic Perspectives Of Tertiary Education -- Annex Vii. Reforming Student Financial Aid: Issues And Alternatives. Includes Bibliographical References. Annotation The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, a major innovation in development finance, was designed to relieve the high external debt of some of the worldA'-s poorest nations. The Initiative was put in place by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1996 and enhanced in 1999. The HIPC Debt Initiative addresses a key obstacle to economic growth and poverty reduction, but it also contains multiple and overly-ambitious objectives. Debt Relief for the Poorest is an independent evaluation which assesses the progress and prospects of the HIPC Debt Initiative achieving its objectives. This review makes recommendations which address the strategic issues confronting the Initiative Annotation Tertiary Education in Colombia: Paving the Way for Reform discusses the ways in which Colombia could address the main issues confronting its tertiary education system