On the afternoon of March 6, 2023, the designated Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara Figueroa, confirmed that she had met with President Gustavo Petro and the President of Fecode, Carlos Enrique Rivas Segura, among others, to discuss the transforming public education in Colombia.
According to the designated minister, during the meeting, chaired by President Gustavo Petro, topics such as the strengthening of access and quality of public education, the protection of teachers, territorial equity, the reform of there General system of participation in the GSP and the improvement of specific subjects in the educational basket.
From the national government and Fecode, it is expected that after the meeting, spaces for dialogue can be strengthened and thus, work together to advance in the transformation of public education in Colombia.
And it is that thanks to the meeting, according to Aurora Vergara Figueroa, “we have reflected on the importance of ensuring that the greatest number of students enter the education system in quality conditions. We listen to their concerns, we listen to the support they show for the work that is being done and the importance of creating spaces for dialogue and joint work”.
In statements she shared at a press conference after the meeting, the appointed minister said that one of the main problems of the national government is to protect the lives of teachers in the different territories of the country and added that “we also heard the importance of taking stock and moving forward on the multiple issues that correspond to the school basket and the reform of the General Participation System (SGP)”.
Regarding the changes in the educational basket and the reform of the general system of participation, Vergara Figueroa assured that, from the national government, the commitment to address reform and thus establish the spaces for dialogue necessary to reach the necessary agreements.
In the middle of the press conference after the meeting, the president of the Colombian Federation of Educators Fecode, Carlos Enrique Rivas, described the meeting as a “cordial meeting” and assured that the workers who make up the education sector in the country “we are happy that a woman of the qualities of Dr. Aurora Vergara Figueroa has arrived at the ministry.”
Carlos Rivas also pointed out that the meeting discussed important issues for members of the education sector in the country, such as the reform of the general system of participation, the regime of teachers in the health reform, the points of the claims raised by Fecode, the work securitythe protection of union leaders and the strengthening of the three years of preschool education in Colombian education.
On August 30, 2022, the former Minister of Education Alexandre Gaviria He presented to Committee VI of the House of Representatives the priorities that the national government would have in an education reform in the country.
According to what Gaviria explained, once Gustavo Petro was elected president, he told him: “for this, for the progress of education, they will remember us”.
Among the priorities are the reduction of the educational gaps that have widened after the covid-19 pandemic, which require a territorial approach, the question of infrastructure is also a priority, and finally, it is planned to continue the policy of Higher Education pleasant and thus, move on to 500,000 new young people who can enter higher education.