The Prodeco Group and the Family Compensation Fund of Cesar, Comfacesar, presented on December 6, in the auditorium of the Rodolfo Campo Soto School in Valledupar, the second year balance of the Educational Quality Improvement Program, which seeks to raise the level of quality of public education in the schools of the mining and port corridor in the Department of Cesar and Magdalena.

Delegates of the Office of the Secretary of Education and Comfacesar, together with Karen Candanoza, coordinator of the Calenturitas Foundation of the Prodeco Group, were in charge of presiding over the event.

The program that is implemented in 11 official schools (37 educational centers) in the Municipalities of Becerril, La Jagua de Ibirico and El Paso, in Cesar, and Cienaga, in Magdalena, and that benefits nearly 20,000 children and adolescents, began with a diagnosis phase in 2015 that served to determine the academic, administrative and physical status of each educational center benefiting from the program. From there, a project was formulated that seeks to address three dimensions: the academia, the community and the administrative-directive. The intervention includes the formation of directors and teachers and support in the performance of their work as leaders and teachers, youth intervention programs, adaptation of facilities, training in community issues such as coexistence and participation, and inclusion of new pedagogical methodologies.

The program began in 2016, with the authorization of the Secretary of Education of Cesar and the support of the Ministry of National Education, while Comfacesar is the operator hired to execute the project.

The balance at the end of 2017 shows that 9 out of 11 participating schools have improved the quality of their education, according to the national indicator ISCE (Synthetic Index of Educational Quality). The achievements of the Program include:

• High school students have participated in academic workshops to improve their performance on the Government’s standardized test, Saber 11 Tests, in Math, English Language and Science.
• 250 students with low academic performance attended training workshops to level critical reading skills.
• 400 students participate in a program to create study habits.
• 11 school principals are being trained to improve their leadership in administrative management.
• Additionally, programs were launched to involve the families of the students and to encourage youth talent in reading and writing.
• In 2018, the program proposes the continuity of the training processes, administrative consultancies and other initiatives that strengthen the practices in classrooms.
• This way, the Prodeco Group ratifies its commitment to education as the best tool for the transformation of society and the establishment of public-private partnerships as the most efficient way to achieve positive results of greater scope.