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Programs targeted towards increasing the quality and reach of skill building programs that create opportunities for women and underprivileged youth.

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Education as the cornerstone to build the future of incoming generations
By María José García

The Opportunity

Colombia has traditionally faced profound deficiencies in its educational system regarding learning quality, gender disparities, inequality, and technological adoption. Consequently, education in Colombia is not universal, resulting in the worst rating among OECD countries1. These problems are reflected in:

  • Only 47.6% of children have access to middle school in urban areas while this number is reduced to 4% in rural areas2.
  • Only 14% of urban schools and 4% of rural schools are ranked as superior quality according to SABER tests2.
  • 52,4% and 6% of the children in urban and rural areas have no access to middle education3 .
  • Illiteracy rate for the population aged 15 years average of 8% by 2019, greater for men than women (5.0% vs. 4.5%) and greater for rural areas (10.9%) than urban areas (3.1%).
  • 4% of women who identify themselves as farmers do not have any educational level. And 44.4% reach only the basic elementary level.
  • 30% of the children living in rural areas drop primary school.
  • Only 38% of the country’s high school graduates continue with higher education.

However, Colombia can harness significant opportunities to overcome these deficits:

  • The government in 2021 plans to spend in construction, improvement, and adaptation of the educational services + USD$ 111 M and strengthening the conditions to achieve educational trajectories + USD$ 46 M. Also, the government aims to invest in quality education for a future with opportunities for all USD$ 60 Bn4 and has an additional +USD$ 5 Bn budgeted for the digital transformation pact4.
  • 0000 students were the total amount of students in virtual education in 2018, reflecting the sustained increase in a different education5.
  • The market for hybrid educational institutions that provide certified degrees for remote locations is a USD$ 1 Bn local market opportunity with an expected CAGR of 10.5% for the next 10 years6 – 7.

Vocational online learning platforms can contribute towards fixing poor technological adoption of education, that reflects a market opportunity worth in USD$ 1.2B which is growing over 14% annually8 – 9.

The Challenge

To improve the quality and close the gaps in access to education to  achieve better learning standards and improve educational reach, significant investments in coverage and acceptance must be implemented. But to achieve this the following is needed:

  • Reduce educational asymmetries: A quality education demands better learning programs for those traditionally unfavored groups (rural students, women, etc.), as well as an adequate infrastructure that allows students access to the same learning scheme and technological tools.
  • Increase services quality: Schools must train their teachers continuously. Also, the educational system must implement an incentive schemes for teachers to continue their professional development and ensure their commitment to staying in rural areas.
  • Amplify technological adoption: Keeping up with benchmark educational systems implies that students increase the adoption of technological tools. Evidence shows that the use of technology improves student’s work quality and attitude towards learning10. However, to achieve this, the government must improve rural connectivity and school infrastructure..

To reduce educational asymmetries, increase quality and improve technology adoption, Colombia needs to improve:

  • Educational coverage: The gap between urban-rural net coverage in preschool, primary and secondary education has been growing since 2014, reaching a 9% difference in 2017.
  • Gender equality: The gap in the employment rate between men and women has a positive trend since 2016. By 2019 it reached 37.2 percentage points11. The unemployment rate for any educational level is higher for women than for men.
  • Quality in teacher’s formation: Teachers and teaching directors are fundamental in transforming the socio-educative reality in the territories. Without them, quality educational programs cannot be implemented successfully. In rural areas only 40% of teachers have a degree beyond their high school diploma 12.

Technological access: Only 42.56% of households in Colombia have computers and/or tablets, reducing the population that can get internet access. In aggregate terms, 23.8M people have no internet presenting significant asymmetries between urban and rural, where 45.7% of people in rural head municipalities have connectivity vs. 6.2 % of people in scattered rural areas.

Expected development outcome

Overcoming the challenges that face Colombia’s educational system can bring significant socio-economic benefits:

  • Improve middle and higher educational inclusion for people living in remote areas or those that do not have the resources to be part of the traditional educational model.
  • Improve the quality of education for people who live in the rural areas, improving the probability of students being accepted in the labor market and improving their’ welfare.
  • Promote different educational models that offer greater coverage and quality without the need for mobilization so it can offer a lower education cost.
  • Introduce high-quality innovative learning tools like e-learning that can provide rural communities with access to remote
  • Motivate women to adjust their learning plans and improv their professional profile and advance in their professional growth to reduce gender gaps by using technological educational tools.
  • Improve social mobility through a more equitable educational system capable of creating opportunities and fostering self-development.
  • Improve regional growth foster by a wider group of well-educated people. The higher the number of individuals with outstanding skills in different knowledge spheres, the more innovative ideas to boost economic prosperity.

Enabling Factors

Colombia enjoys from the right environment in terms of policy, regulatory, and fiscal incentives jointly with financial availability to thrive in this educational transformation:

  • Political willingness: The Colombian government has encouraged several plans to foster the adoption of technology in the educational system such as:
    1. Ten-Year National Education Plan 2016-2026: Seeks that new information technologies and telecommunications are transversal in the educational system 13;
    2. Technologies to learn: Promotes innovation in educational practices through digital technologies to develop competencies in preschool, primary and secondary education14 .
  • Financial incentives: Financial institutions enjoy from the incentives to fund E-learning projects due to a significant market opportunity. The global e-learning market is growing over 14% annually, being LATAM the fourth largest market (USD$ 3 Bn opportunity in 2023) 7 .
  • Fiscal incentives: The government has set up fiscal incentives to promote virtual education initiatives that are exempt from the sales tax (VAT) for digital tool development15.
  • Public investment: Since 2019, the government and local authorities have announced an investment of COP 3.7 Bn in educational infrastructure to improve the quality of Colombia’s education. Under this plan, it is expected the construction of 541 schools, which means 12,600 classrooms; the improvement of rural infrastructure; and the strengthening of the school time schedule for 1.1 million students 16.
  • Awareness of gender inequality: Colombia’s government has recognized the deep disparities between men and women that enable gender inequality. In that sense, align with the recommendations of the OCDE, the country has set up 5 aims that would guide public policy in the gender matter. They are strengthening gender importance in public institutions, achieving quality education for Colombian women, promoting empowerment, and guaranteeing economic security for women, supporting female political empowerment, and easing access to justice and health for women17.

Obstacles to Scale

  • High capital requirements: Due to the poor physical and technological infrastructure of the educational system in remote areas of Colombia, projects on the matter demand an expensive investment in capital to solve the system deficiencies.
  • Accessibility and mobility: In Colombia rural schools are significantly dispersed as they must supply the low demand of students in every local territory. In 2016, there were 5,04 branch schools in rural areas compared to 3 in urban areas12.
  • Knowledge of technology: The significant inequality of the educational system has resulted, particularly in rural areas, in a lack of know-how when using technology on behalf of their learning process. This situation can halt technological adoption, and may hold back educational processes, as new technological tools cannot be introduced. This is especially important with the current situation that brought the pandemic.
  • Gender biased culture: Colombia is still owns cultural traditions that diminish the role of women. The stereotype that women must dedicate their lives to housework duties remains. These conceptions can impede families from encouraging girls to pursue a prosperous professional life.

What is Amplo Doing

  • Amplo has participated in projects that promote the financial education of beneficiaries. These aim to train different target audiences to manage their personal finances to enable them to start or improve their credit history (Alquería – Vaca Madrina).
  • Within Amplo, there is a culture of support for continuing academic education. The entire team has different opportunities to continue studying, within platforms for e-learning but also with the best universities in the country such as Universidad de los Andes.
  • Supporting entrepreneurship within the country, which are committed to training the population, especially supporting the rural population and rural women (EnCampo).
  1. Portafolio (2019). Colombia, con la peor nota de la OCDE en pruebas PISA. Accessed May 13th 2020.
  2. DNP (2017). Plan nacional de Desarrollo (2018-2022).
  3. DNP (n.d). Quality education for a future with opportunities for all. National Development Plan.
  4. DNP (2017). Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2018-2022. Accessed May 2, 2020.
  5. ElTiempo (2020). ¿Cómo está la educación virtual en Colombia frente a la región? Accessed May 23rd 2020.
  6. Edupol (2020). Aulas virtuales Accessed May 22nd 2020.
  7. The Insight Partners (2019). South America EdTech and Smart Classroom Market.
  8. Universidad de los Andes (2013). Desafíos del Elearning y del Blearning en educación Superior
  9. EADBOX (2019). E-learning en Latinoamérica, mercado en crecimiento. Accessed June 15th 2020.
  10. Saba (2009). Benefits of technology integration in education. Boise state university.
  11. DANE (2020). Rural Women.
  12. MinEducacion (2018). Plan especial para la educación rural: Hacia el Desarrollo rural y la construcción de paz. Accessed June 17th 2021.
  13. MinEducacion (2016). Ten-Year National Education Plan 2016-2026.
  14. DNP, MinEducacion and MinTIC (2020). Technologies to Learn: National Policy to promote innovation in educational practices through digital technologies.
  15. MinTic (2018). Law 1943 established as following.
  16. Portafolio (2019). Las apuestas para mejorar la educación en Colombia. Accessed June 17th 2021.
  17. Vicepresidency (n.d). Equidad para las mujeres.
  18. MinEducacion (2018). Special plan of rural education: towards rural development and peace construction. Accessed June 17th 2021.

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