A report from the Colombian Caribbean Education Observatory (OECC), from the Universidad del Norte, found serious shortcomings among students from Barranquilla and the Atlantic time to learn english.
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According to the report, they found that more than 91 percent of the students of the District, Soledad, Malambo and the non-certified municipalities of the department do not reach an adequate level of English proficiency (B1 or higher).
A very significant proportion of students are not even reaching a beginner level
This was one of the conclusions reached by the Observatory, after analyzing the results obtained by students from the official schools of the Atlantic, in the tests Saber 11 2020 – 2021.
This time, he emphasized knowing the Average Global Score (PGP) and the performance in the Critical Reading and English competencies, as explained by the OECC coordinator, Jorge Valencia, to EL TIEMPO.
“From the point of view of the curriculum, given the hours invested in foreign language during basic and secondary education, it would be expected that students at the end of this study would reach at least an intermediate or adequate level. We have noticed that a very important proportion of the students is not even reaching a beginner level, that is, they would not be able to communicate at any level in English”, said Valencia.
The panorama for each territorial entity
Authorities seek to bring the program to 121 official schools in 2022.
Compared to 2019, the results have worsened. If we are talking about 90 percent levels, it is very likely that those levels will continue to hold.
According to the Observatory’s calculations, only in Barranquilla, 9 percent obtained a B1 level, 6 percent of students from Soledad also achieved it, in the non-certified municipalities of the Atlantic it was 2 percent and 1 percent in Malambo.
Valencia indicated that, in the face of these cases, the different public administrations have tried to intervene by carrying out specific projects, in which the workload of this area is complemented, but it would not be working.
“Compared to 2019, the results have worsened. If we are talking about levels of 90 percent, it is very likely that these levels will continue to be maintained as long as no interventions are made. If one compares the results before and after the pandemic in the private sector, those students were able to improve the indicator. On the contrary, students from public schools deteriorated, that is, that gap widened”, said the coordinator.
For this reason, he pointed out that the suspension of face-to-face classes The pandemic also considerably affected students in the official sector, who somehow saw these indicators decrease in terms of their learning.
The OECC recommendations
One of the measures that the Observatory recommends to execute, with positive experiences already verified, is make direct intervention of students starting at an early age.
“That implies then that the infrastructure is needed, the provisions that are required to give a good teaching-learning process in the language,” said Jorge Valencia.
To this action was added the teacher trainingfunded by the State, to ensure that teachers master the language and that schools commit to generating experiences within the curriculum that allow students to experience English naturally.
The actions of the Secretary of District Education
Precisely in the face of these low competencies in English, the District of Barranquilla proposes as a solution the ‘I’m Bilingual’ programwhich has been implemented by the Ministry of Education since 2020 in the city.
It has the purpose of strengthening the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language in teachers and students of the city’s district schools, as well as implementing strategies, according to a spokesperson.
In this 2022, ‘Soy Bilingüe’ will reach 121 official schools, taking on the challenge of providing opportunities for access and effective interaction with the English language to children and young people from the transition grade to secondary education.
Within the framework of this program, the Secretariat reported the delivery of more than 80,000 teaching resources for the 154 educational institutions, of which more than 18,400 correspond to readings.
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The strategy of the Government of the Atlantic
It has been implementing the Bilingualism Program ‘Atlántico, you got this!’
For its part, the Government of Atlántico, through the Ministry of Education, told this outlet that the results in English performance levels of the Saber 11 test for the department showed improvement from 2020 to 2021, achieving decrease the percentage of students ranked in the lowest A- level, from 73 percent to 69 percent.
“The Departmental Education Secretariat has been implementing the ‘Atlántico, you got this!’ Bilingualism Program, which has defined its strategic axes in line with those proposed by the Ministry of National Education,” said this agency.
One of these axes corresponds to accompaniment of teachers in strategies for teaching English, the other axis is the development of the ‘Tico Travels Atlántico’ strategy, which consists of the design of digital educational material and a series of live meetings, promoting learning and active participation.
While the last axis is the identification, promotion, visibility and encouragement of leading teachers and/or schools in significant experiences in the teaching and learning processes, with
the participation of expert guests. In addition, they have created spaces, such as bilingual weeks.
This is how the academic authorities bet on the adoption of English as a second language in the classroom and that these strategies are reflected in the future in the indicators that today ‘crack’ young people.
Deivis Lopez Ortega
Correspondent of EL TIEMPO Barranquilla
On twitter: @dejholopez
Write me at deilop@eltiempo.com
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