Education

2 children in a school
uniform in Colombia.

The educational model of Colombia resembles that of the Netherlands. Colombia works with a primary and a secondary school. In 1886 in the law is included that education is regulated by the Ministry of Education. There is also a law that 10% of the budget of the government must be spent on education. The language of instruction is Spanish. There are schools in which instruction is in English, German or French, but these are private schools and must be paid for. Most Colombians can't pay that much.

Textbooks are not issued by the school or put on loan by the school. People must buy their own books. At the time a school has a particular method (book) it is used for about 3 years. Books are available in local bookstores.

In Colombia the primary and secondary education use a uniform. This is so that all children have the same clothes. So you cannot identify if someone is from a family wich is rich or poor.

Primary school (Educación básica primaria) 6-12

Children between 6 and 12 years go to primary school. This school is free. In 2001, 86.7% of children attending this school. 89% of these children succeed. In 2002 a rule changed that up to 5% of students at a school may sit a year. Because of this people automatically go to the next year. As regards the delay whatsoever so. This rule tries to push de costs down for the goverment.

Look in a classroom in an ele-
mentary school in Colombia

Secondary education (Educación secundaria) 12-16

After primary school children go to secondary school. This takes just as in the Netherlands four years. The first two years is generally, the last 2 years attempting to form a career. The problem is that only people with a reasonable income are able to move their children to the university for further study.

University (Educación universitaria)

The University has two types of courses. For those with a certificate or people still need to get a certificate.
A graduate in Colombia takes 5 years. Have you finished university you get a master's or doctoral title. Also you can go to the university for refresher courses, but you must already have a diploma. You are then a few weeks or months in university to learn new things or to keep up with your profession.

Look in a classroom in an ele-
mentary school in Colombia

Technical training

After the secundary education you can do a technical training. This is between 2 to 3 years.