30. A balance on compliance with agreements for public higher education October 11, 2019
Yesterday, October 10, was the first anniversary of the start of the massive mobilizations to defend the public higher education. These achieved the recognition of the whole society and the support of…
29. The life of the planet, in danger
September 27, 2019
Worldwide reports of rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are becoming increasingly alarming, with 2018 being the year when the highest levels of…
28. Peace, an inalienable right
September 13, 2019
Colombia has not been the only country that through a process of negotiation and establishment of a peace agreement has sought to end an internal conflict that has lasted many years and has…
27. The Amazon, endangered
August 30, 2019
The largest tropical forest on the planet, the Amazon, which extends across nine Latin American countries, is burning, and despite the struggle some decades ago for its conservation and defense …
26. Let´s protect the lives of indigenous peoples August 16, 2019
On August 9, 1992, the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities was established …
25. Why persist in the implementation of the demand-side subsidy as a mechanism to finance higher education
August 2, 2019
In countless scenarios, our country has put forward well-founded reasons why the implementation of higher education financing programs such as “Ser Pilo Paga” is not advisable…
24. Royalties—Who gets what?
July 19, 2019
In the last 20 years, the country’s economic growth has been directly related to the implementation and development of an economic model focused on the natural resource exploitation…
23. The Educator of Educators strengthens its commitment to academic quality
July 5, 2019
On the eve of six decades devoted to teacher training in Colombia, the UPN has undertaken…
22. The new UPN’s commitment to teacher training
June 21, 2019
The Universidad Pedagógica Nacional has played an important role in defending the public higher education as a fundamental right, not only accompanying the social mobilization that has…
21. An uncertain scenario for teacher training in the new National Development Plan June 7, 2019
The National Pedagogical University (UPN) has played an important role in the analysis of Colombian policies and standards in education. It has especially made studies and recommendations…
20. Let`s protect life and peace
May 24, 2019
In my column of the last February 1st, I wrote about peace as the horizon of meaning for the construction of a better country for everybody. I explained the important advances we have made…
19. Teacher’s Day and Bicentennial: essential convergences May 10, 2019
Talking about Teacher’s Day involves recognizing a wide range of historical and cultural contexts through which different countries have praised the work they have…
18. UPN, committed to building an inclusive society
April 26, 2019
In recent years, inclusion has become a topic of national interest, the cornerstone of debate in several scenarios of the country to create, develop and keep on policies that…
17. World Earth Day and indigenous minga
April 12, 2019
From the beginning of March, an important indigenous mobilization began to demand the right to life and peace and to defend the territory and social rights…
16. The Educator of Educators, committed to prevention and abatement of psychoactive consumption
March 29, 2019
The use of psychoactive substances (PAS) represents a social and educational issue that we must tackle with priority and social responsibility. The effects on health, the quality of…
15. Glyphosate, a threat to communities and nature
March 15, 2019
Once again, the controversy about the activation of the Program for the Eradication of Illicit Crops with Glyphosate is opened, following the public hearing on March 7 of this year, held by the…
14. Restricting the professorship, a contradiction in terms of Education March 1, 2019
The social mobilization in defense of public education, carried out by wider sectors of Colombian society and especially led by university students in the recent…
13. Hidroituango, against the environmental sustainability February 15, 2019
In the last 4 years, the National Pedagogical University besides including in its Institutional Development Plan –PDI– the commitment to train teachers for a Colombia in Peace, has structured…
12. Peace must be the prospect for a better country February 1, 2019
In the last four years, the National Pedagogical University has faced with commitment and determination the challenge to training educators for a Colombia in Peace, in our plan of…
11. Challenges for public higher education from the agreement January 18, 2019
The year 2019 will be crucial for public higher education. The historic agreement established between students, professors and the National Government points to a new horizon and great challenges for…
10. Historical achievement of the university movement – Let the students live!
December 21, 2018
Unlike other historical times, where the mobilization of students disrupted day-to-day social life with justified demands, but a little isolated from others…
9. Counteracting violence against women, a key priority December 7, 2018
On November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was commemorated, an ethical act committed to the defense of women’s rights and the…
8. The teacher training should be taken carefully in the new National Development Plan
November 23, 2018
On November 14, a great event was held in the Red Room of the Tequendama Hotel in Bogota, during which the President of the Republic, Ivan Duque, outlined and handed over the bases of the…
7. Let’s rescue the Paulo Freire’s thought
November 9, 2018
Last October 26, as a consequence of a wider social mobilization for a dignified financing of quality public higher education, a meeting was held between the…
6. No solution to structural funding crisis of public universities October 27, 2018
On October 20, President Ivan Duque and the Minister of Education, Maria Victoria Angulo, in the session of a workshop called Construyendo País in Malambo town, Atlántico department, presented the…
5. A wider national mobilization defending the public higher education October 12, 2018
Since 2011, as a massive mobilization led by Mesa Amplia Nacional Estudiantil (MANE) took place, the country had not experienced such a strong expression in the streets as the one that…
4. Turn the page of “Ser Pilo Paga” and advance to the inclusion with quality to higher education September 28, 2018
The statements by Maria Victoria Angulo, the Minister of Education, on development of a new government program that would replace “Ser Pilo Paga” (SPP) were received from…
3. Dismantling «Ser Pilo Paga» program means a responsible and compulsory decision
September 14, 2018
Ser Pilo Paga (SPP) program was launched at the end of 2014 from a study carried out by University of Los Andes, since it was made clear that a large part of the youth of…
2. Quality gap could be filled by President Duque’s Development Plan August 31, 2018
Our country seems to forget that the quality of our teachers’ training depends largely on the quality offered to students.
1. The challenge of forming for peace with dignity
August 17, 2018
I undertake this column as the new Rector of the UPN to continue the academic and public duty that my predecessor, Professor Adolfo Leon Atehortua Cruz, performed…