Bogotá, Colombia – A stark warning about the critical state of education in Latin America was issued by Vicky Colbert, founder of the fundación Escuela Nueva, highlighting a systemic failure to deliver quality education to vulnerable populations and the profound consequences for societal development.
Colbert, a former UNICEF education advisor for the Latin American region, emphasized that foundational education is “everything” – essential for social, economic, and ecological progress, fostering responsible citizenship, and building peaceful coexistence. She noted that these principles, championed by educational pioneers like Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, and John Dewey in the early 20th century, have largely remained confined to elite institutions, failing to reach the children who need them most.
“My goal was, we must improve the quality of education.Deepen and get to the base, get to quality, improve results in children,” colbert stated. She underscored the critical importance of early childhood development, asserting that a person’s trajectory is largely defined within the first five years of life. During this period, she explained, the potential exists to dismantle harmful stereotypes related to race, social class, and gender.
Colbert’s work with UNICEF over a decade focused on the significance of early childhood education across Latin America. Fundación Escuela Nueva, established in 1986, has impacted over two million students in Colombia through its innovative, student-centered learning model. The institution’s approach emphasizes active learning, collaboration, and personalized attention, aiming to address the educational disparities prevalent in rural and marginalized communities.
The foundation’s model, initially piloted in rural Boyacá, Colombia, has been replicated in other Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. it focuses on empowering teachers to become facilitators of learning, rather than simply lecturers, and on creating a classroom surroundings that fosters creativity, critical thinking, and a love of learning.
The crisis Colbert describes extends beyond Colombia, reflecting a broader regional challenge. According to UNESCO data, approximately 17 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean are out of school, and millions more attend schools with inadequate resources and poorly trained teachers. This educational deficit perpetuates cycles of poverty and inequality,hindering the region’s overall development.
