13 May 2020 – New measures to support the education sector

Type of Intervention: Financial and Economic, Education
Sectors Involved: Education
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Lead People/Agency: Decision made By President and Ministry of Education.

The Colombian Institute of Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad ICETEX will administer the Solidarity Fund for Education.

Overview: New measures to support the education sector to provide financial support to private Educational Institutions (Gardens and Schools), parents, students, Higher Education Institutions and Educational Institutions for Work and Human Development.

1. Credits under special conditions
The specific destination of $ 2.5 billion was determined through the National Guarantee Fund (FNG) for lines of credit that leverage the payment of payroll for private Gardens and Schools and Institutions of Higher Education.

Additionally, a new line of credit with Findeter for $ 200,000 million is created in order to financially support Higher Education Institutions to define support schemes for undergraduate students in conditions of socioeconomic vulnerability through Higher Education Institutions.

2. Solidarity Fund for Education, in order to channel resources to meet the needs of the sector and mitigate the effects of COVID-19, which include:

A. A line of credit for parents or guardians for the payment of pensions for gardens and private schools.

B. Expansion of the Icetex Relief Plan, in students, time.

C. Support for the financing of a percentage of the enrollment value of students, primarily from strata 1 and 2 of public Education Institutions.

D. Line of credit to finance the enrollment of students with the most vulnerable condition of the Educational Institutions for Work and Human Development.
Full details here: http://www.regiones.gov.co/inicio/assets/files/297_DECRETO%20662%20DEL%2014%20DE%20MAYO%20DE%202020.pdf

Other links: 1
Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group
Source of Evidence or Justification: National – academic, National – government, National – other
Evidence/Justification: The Ministry of National Education has received 11 communications from unofficial educational establishments, directly or through their associations of schools, and from parents about the possible breach of the obligations of families by way of pensions agreed in the contracts of enrollment, a situation derived from the decrease in income of several families due to the reduction of economic activity as a result of the Coronavirus COVID-19 Health Emergency.

In the event of ceasing the payment of pensions in non-official schools, an impact would be generated on the financial sustainability of these educational establishments that would produce a risk for the continuity of the provision of the educational service and a potential increase in school dropout that would affect the right to education of children, adolescents and young people.