Connecting Colombian schools: the Bilinguist and Informatic national program

Author : Marco Fidel Zambrano Murillo
Date added : 1999-12-02

Brief Project Background

During 1997 and 1998 the Colombian National Education Ministry designed and carry out the Bilinguist and informatic national program with following objetives:

1. create a informatic infraestructure (one informatic classroom per school) in 765 official secundary technical school distribuited throughout whole country.
2. To guarantee different types od software, specially english learning software and suites office.
3. To connect the schools to Internet

Results

Strategic Consideration: Is very important that we assume that the projects of ICTs for development are conform them for good process and process relatively unfortunate. The both realities form the truth of the projects of ICTs in Latin America.

The Project

During 1997 and 1998 the Colombian National Education Ministry designed and carry out the bilingual and computer program with following objectives:

1. Create a computer infrastructure (one computer classroom per school) in 765 official secondary technical school distribute throughout the whole country.
2. To guarantee different type of software , specially English learning software and suites office.
3. To connect the schools to Internet.

Target

The project would attend to 1.000.000 students belongs to 1.564 technical school.

Inversion

More of 30 Millions Dollars.

Where Started The Problems

1. In the ministry team. They didn`t have the conceptual tools. However, They didn`t were aware of it. Every people team believed that having the tools necessary.
2. In the pedagogues. Later of many years not much functionaries had development the criterions for assume a complex problem. For They was a program more of a government more.
3. In the engineers. They didn`t distinguished a school of a hospital or a prison. From technology point view all the institutions were same.
4. In the interest groups. They believed that were them whom had the rights for think and execute the program.
5. In the technology provider enterprise. The principal worry them were whom wining the sell bid .
6. In the government, whom did has short time for execute a big program.
7. In the teaching establishment, whom didn`t knew the objectives of program.

The final result in this stage was that anyone had the control of program. Each one believed which complied their task. However, the global vision of program, her impact and the necessary corrections for guarantee that the objectives would be comply, does loss.

Someone Additional Problems

1. Legal problems with the technology provider enterprise, whom shaped a syndicate for lower the ministry technology requirements, since the benefits for the equipment sale was reduced.
2. The Colombian company of telecommunication (Telecom) disputing because of the call cost in the Internet connection. The company distrusted of the financial capacity school.
3. The ministry team changed.
4. The government bring near to end.

The additional result was that the strategic vision and the responsibilities was more dilutes.

The Accomplishment

1. A lot of build a computer infraestructure in 765 schools.
2. A lot of bought a national software license for teaching English.
3. A lot of subscribed a agreement with Microsoft for software licenses.

Another Changes

In 1999 the government changed. This event originated:

1. New team (mixture of unskilled people and interest groups).
2. Suspect forehead of program.
3. New ideas (generally not design them).

The Final Result

1. The hardware has been showed "problems". The hard disks have been lost capacity and not run the English software.
2. The English software not has been distributed in the schools.
3. Even not start the teacher`s training (two years later)
4. The new government has new ideas and projects.
5. The time pass and arise another educational subjects:

a. Teacher`s evaluation.
b. Near 50.000 students has been shut out of educational system (in all levels) because of the economic crisis.
c. Near 6 big teacher´s strikes was paralyze the public education system in less of 12 months.

6. At last the technological subject move away of educational priority. The words replace the facts and the initial inversion progressively lose their potential impact.

Lessons

Several important lesson result of this experience:

1. Is not possible improvise with the teams.
2. In the design a lot of find success hidden keys.
3. To be different visions between the principals actors that are failure risk.
4. To be interest that is necessary articulate in a common purpose.
5. The unstable educational policy and unstable criterions techniques are a important factor in long term projects.
6. The knowledge about of the new technology integrate in the educational system not has been appropriate in the Latin American nations.
7. The pilot experiences that nowadays a lot of carry out, evidence worries levels of improvise and business, more that benefits concretes for the educational system.
8. To be lacking categories appropriates for think the requirements for this type of projects. The Know-How, plentiful (relatively) in the development world, are still distant of the think-tank`s Latin American countries.

All these factors (and another that I will be explanation or deepen) are the real dares of the integration of technologies in countries as Colombia.

Lessons

For more information please contact marcofza@latino.net.co and marcofza@starmedia.com

Project Information

Total budget in US$ : -

Contact Information

Marco Fidel Zambrano Murillo

Disclaimer: No stories on this website shall be reproduced or stored in any other retrieval system without the written permission of the infoDev/IICD. Although every precaution will be taken in the preperation and maintenance of this collection of stories, neither infoDev, IICD or the submitting parties assume any responsibilities for errors or omissions. In addition, no liability is assumed fordamages resulting from the use of the information supplied in the stories.