The XI Leaders for Education Summit closed its program of panels and conversations with a flourish this September 26. Experts and business leaders evaluated the challenges and opportunities that Colombian students have during job placement.
The panel was moderated by Lilian Urueta, director of GOYN Barranquilla, and included the participation of Natalia Jaramillo, leader of Spanish-speaking South American Education at Microsoft; María Fernanda Díaz Trujillo, executive director of the Grupo Bancolombia Foundation; Alejandra Jaramillo González, director of Social Development at Comfandi, and María Fernanda Rozo Correa, director of Extension and Consulting at the EAN University.
From Microsoft they indicated that Vocational training is one of the main points to face the challenges of the current labor market and the discouragement of young people due to low insertion.
“The technology we have has great potential to personalize the education we are delivering: what are their vocations? Also accessibility with tutors adapted to our challenges and connectivity. The important thing is what type of offer we have, whether or not it is relevant to people’s vocation,” said Jaramillo.
On the other hand, regarding the needs of the productive sector, The panelists highlighted the importance of generating short courses that adapt to the dynamism of the sector and that promote technical education.
“Traditional training is delayed and the productive sector does not have that luxury. It must be dynamic. 70% of companies agree that if young people do not have the skills required, it is an obstacle to continuing their productivity. We do this transfer of knowledge through short courses that also integrate socio-emotional skills,” said Rozo.
“One of the challenges is a recent story we had with the call for access to education from our fund. We had 40 spots and we only got 10. Only 10 rural young people were able to access this benefit, which also has guaranteed maintenance. The main challenge is that technical training is underestimated in Colombia,” said Díaz, executive director of the Grupo Bancolombia Foundation.
From Comfandi, its director of Social Development said that to close the gaps in education, the educational spaces were transformed into Campus E, a space where entrepreneurs from Valle del Cauca meet with students, especially in secondary education.
“There we see a great opportunity to articulate the post-media and those transitions that we measure in life courses. “We are interested in measuring that these graduates have a direction towards education, employability or entrepreneurship,” commented Jaramillo González.
For her part, the leader of Spanish-speaking South American Education at Microsoft stated that the formula to lead young people to job success is the articulation of technology, supply and demand for talent. All this together will make it possible to encourage young people.
“Training for work is undervalued. First, it is not only for young people: it is the leverage for life. Nowadays, AI makes it possible to create vocational guidance models, to provide a greater offer to young people. All data is correlated. Another challenge is that companies are not aware that they have to capture junior talent. “Companies have to be more committed to talent that is not mature”he pointed out.
The last component that the panelists highlighted was the inclusion of alliances between educational institutions and organizations.
“Conversing is being open to listening to other perspectives that even challenge institutional beliefs. It also requires giving up the unique way: abandoning exclusive know-how and letting others add to it. And finally, experiment in alliances. It is the only way to expand,” added Jaramillo González.
Among them are ‘Art and memory: a connection that enhances the brain’, led by Comfama; ‘AI laboratories and their application in the classroom’, led by Fundación Telefónica, and ‘Rural education in Colombia: an effective way to face the challenges of the rural sector’, led by Fundación Bancolombia.
