In recent years, the education system in Colombia has undergone a fundamental change, leaving particular problems for teachers and students. Even though...

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TOPIC: Problems and Solutions for the Education System
THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA
In recent years, the education system in Colombia has undergone a
fundamental change, leaving particular problems for teachers and students.
Even though the teaching process has been fulfilled in almost all the Colombian
territories and has led to improved reforms due to the problems present in the
institutions. The problems consist of the instability and the salary inequality of
the teachers and the lack of attention in young people who suffer from mental
pressure due to the stress presented by the Pisa tests. The main objective is to
give way to reform ideas in which the current problem is explained and the best
solutions are found to fit the needs. With this, additional efforts and measures
are required for the improvement including tackling the income inequality in
teachers, setting up programs for academic counselling in schools, better
investment and shifting the focus to students rather than the traditional tests in
the country. All of these have become essential for Colombia to reach the goal
of being the "most educated" country in Latin America by 2025 according to ex-
president Juan Manuel Santos. With this process, the strategic structure of the
Ministry of Education for the period 2015-2025 establishes the structure that will
allow progress towards the transformation of Colombia into the most educated
country in Latin America and achieve the strategic objectives of the four-year
period in education established in National Development.
Education is the capacity acquired by educators for the purpose of sharing
information and training students in a society. They are primarily responsible for
sharing knowledge and guiding students during the academic process.
Education is a right of each person and an obligation of the State of Colombia in
accordance with the Constitutional Political Charter, in which the government
must promote the necessary conditions for the right of the Colombian people;
However, the government has understood that the educational obligation has
the simple fact of covering the entire national population at the basic and middle
levels, without taking into account the quality of teachers as an essential
element in the educational process. Colombia is going through difficult times
economically after prices of raw materials, Colombia's main export sector, fell in
2014 and the government approximately spend an irrational amount of dollars in

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royalty revenue annually. Since then, he has had a significant problem
maintaining a stable budget, while teachers have been promised a substantial
investment in public studies in Colombia, which worldwide are among the worst
results. The subsequent austerity measures the beacon of the Neoliberalism
policy of the Santos administration, has declared public education and
degraded the fundamental rights of teachers" Federation of Education Workers"
(Fecode).
The payment, working conditions, health security and inequality in teacher
quality have generated disputes between Fecode, the Government, and
Educators. As a result of these controversies, teachers have generated strikes
of up to 30 days, which affects the learning process of students, although the
dramatized measures taken by educators disorient and paralyse teaching. The
demand of those interested in the investment of educational payments is
understandable as a stimulus of motivation in educators.
Another problem in the learning system is the pressure and anxiety aspects of
government exams. The current organization has been obsessed with success,
positioning itself as the first priority of teachers and parents instead of the
student's attention and priority. "The tests in Pisa are carried out for the purpose
of analysing and comparing different disciplines and ways of teaching
internationally" (Jenny 2017), although this leads to high levels of stress and
depression in the students. According to the results of the University of
Pennsylvania, the results are illustrated in outstanding students and averages
that suffer the same symptoms in school, which could be a cause of mental
problems in young people. For many, the tests in Pisa are a reference for the
educational quality of a country, but critics say that this type of standardized test
speaks a slight of the particularities of each region and the needs of its
inhabitants. The Colombian educational structure is described as too basic a
system according to the latest refusals from Pisa, although nobody makes
statistics on the improvement of the country in the short time it has participated
in these tests. With this, there is more pressure and frustration on the part of the
students, since when they compare internationally they feel frustrated when
they do not achieve the required objectives.

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The government must prioritize the motivation of educators and comply with the
demands proposed by education officials since each official must have the
necessary backups required by the Colombian constitution. With this,
individuals refer to the bets and the question of support for health. This also
leads to an educational management under the supervision of the budget and
the evaluators according to the experience and qualification of the teacher.
However, educators must meet certain government requirements because the
current entity does not have the best evaluation in teachers according to the
Ministry of Education (MEN). Another educational problem is that of mental
problems caused by parents and teachers in children, in which it is suggested
that children be directed by a purpose of the human intellectual development of
learning. An alternative is to promote mental health services through
counselling in schools and colleges where students have the opportunity to
express their concerns and insecurities with psychological professionals.
As it was demonstrated when observing the problems of the Colombian
educational system, it can be clarified that there are difficulties in the sectors of
economic and social control in which the teachers and students are the most
affected. On the one hand, there are current economic problems in the country
that prevent the normalization of teaching work, creating disadvantages for
teachers. It has caused that these aspects have generated solutions with
different criticisms to both parties, in which the teachers and the government
must comply with the demands imposed by the two to reach an agreement.
While, the other standard is in the mental problems in students generated by
the pressure of state exams, which leads to problems of depression and
anxiety. With this result, a hospital service was suggested where students can
seek help and express their frustration. In almost all educational systems there
are flaws, which can be corrected and renewed because they are all part of the
learning and teaching process.

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