In terms of education and with the purpose of making the Guajiro high school students and professionals more competitive, during the last three years the program “Improvement Plan for Quality Education” has been implemented. Its goals are to raise the quality of education in the municipalities of our area of influence by means of the following strategic lines:
Updating and training of teachers.
Improvement of school environments(infrastructure and endowment of educational establishments).
Strengthening of educational institutions and support of pedagogic experiences.
Promotion of science and technology with the purpose of training young people as potential qualified personnel.
During the last three years, over $ 4 billion pesos have been invested in the following programs.
Centre of Municipal Educational Resources (CREM according to the acronym in Spanish) in the city of Fonseca.
School management process in 12 educational institutions in the towns of Fonseca and Distracción.
Process of improvement plans in 5 educational institutions in the towns of Albania, Barrancas (Papayal) and Hatonuevo.
New School Program: Strengthening of educational institutions, training and updating of teachers.
Enhancement of the infrastructure for the ethno educational program Kamusuchiwo'u.
Enhancement of the infrastructure of the Albania School.
Preparation Program for the ICFES state exams for young people in their last school year.
Support given to pedagogic events and exchange of educational experiences at national and department levels; support given to research in science and technology and regional educational forums.
Other programs: Currently the program on Work Competencies and Articulation of Secondary Education for technical training and the productive sector is being developed; it is aimed at developing work skills in young people which will afford them opportunities in the productive sector.
Kamusuchiwo’u Rural Educational Centre
This educational program has over 1,500 students in over 30 class rooms; its main headquarters, the pilot school in Media Luna -Kamüsüchiwou-, located near Puerto Bolivar, was built in 1984 as a pioneer program in cross cultural Wayunnaiki - Spanish bilingual education, where 450 native children attend primary school with an academic program that emphasizes the language, culture and values of the Wayúu. At present, the school in Media Luna undergoes an extension process which includes secondary school and now has sixth and seventh grades.
The Project for the Fortification of the Bilingual Cross Cultural Program is the result of a study plan which in turn is the result of work carried out with the community through the extension of the infrastructure of the main headquarters of the Kamusuchiwo’u Rural Educational Centre. The purpose is to offer, in addition to the basic primary school level, secondary education thus increasing student coverage and improving quality.
This project offers training facilities for the students through research processes and work competencies, as well as the permanent integration of theory and practice; it rescues the true value of the school, with the community as the central axis of their Life Plan, since it is there that the comprehensive formation of the individual and his role in society begins.
This project has facilitated the preservation of the culture of the Wayúu natives which had manifested their customs, myths, legends, experiences and cosmic vision through oral tradition, transmitted from generation to generation. At present, the process of transmission of knowledge is carried out not only orally but in writing, thus leaving a cultural legacy which will remain tangible in time.
In October 2006, the extension of the Kamusuchiwo’u Educational Centre was inaugurated. It benefited from a donation by Cerrejón of $280 million pesos.
Kamusuchiwo’u becomes the first of the Rural Ethnic Cultural Centres which began its process with sixth grade and currently offers seventh grade as well. This initiates the phase of basic secondary education and progressively will add one grade per year until the total grades required is achieved, and student coverage is increased in the area.
In 2006, the British Colombian Chamber of Commerce in London and the Colombian British Chamber of Commerce in Bogotá, gave Cerrejón the award "The British & Colombian Business and Social Awards, BSA". The award was bestowed in the category of “Outstanding Achievements in the Development of Social Programs in Colombia”, and was based on the acknowledgment of the work done in the Ethnic Education Program, and especially in the Kamusuchiwo’u Educational Centre.
Wayuunaiki-Spanish Bilingual Dictionary
In 2006 during the II Bi-national Wayúu Ethnic Educational and Cultural Summit that took place in Uribia, the Ethno Educational Committee of that municipality with Cerrejón’s support, launched the first Wayuunaiki-Spanish Bilingual Dictionary.
This 47 page teaching tool was prepared by Wayúu teachers and students, who work in the cultural and linguistic areas of the ethnic educational institutions of the department, through various investigations that were finally published in the dictionary. The compilation of the words with their respective illustration will strengthen the link of the non indigenous people with this traditional dialect of the natives of La Guajira.
|
|
|
English Home/
Our community/
Education
