[EDLING:2066] EducationGuardian.co.uk: Ambitious reforms held back by budget

[fmhult at DOLPHIN.UPENN.EDU]

Francis Hult spotted this on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site and thought you should see it.

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Note from Francis Hult:

"Final-year school exams in Colombia will soon include an obligatory English language test in a bid to improve poor English standards among school leavers as part of the government's ambitious 14-year National Bilingual Programme." 

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To see this story with its related links on the EducationGuardian.co.uk site, go to http://education.guardian.co.uk

Ambitious reforms held back by budget
Colombia struggles to reach its English targets, reports Anastasia Moloney 
Friday November 17 2006
The Guardian


Final-year school exams in Colombia will soon include an obligatory English language test in a bid to improve poor English standards among school leavers as part of the government's ambitious 14-year National Bilingual Programme. 
The results of extensive research carried out by the British Council in Bogotá has revealed for the first time the state of English proficiency and provision in Colombia. 
"The standard of English is appalling," says Jan Van De Putte, ELT manager at the British Council. "Ninety per cent of school leavers do not have a basic level of English and 63% of English teachers are not at intermediate level." 
To measure English language standards and progress, the ministry of education recently adopted the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The ministry wants all English tests in school and universities to be aligned to the CEFR in the future. 
"Adopting the CEFR is an important first step in raising English proficiency," says Van de Putte. 
But the ministry of education has also identified the need to raise teachers' standards of English and it has funded various ELT workshops across the country to improve their language skills and brush up on their classroom teaching methods. 
One of the most successful government-run ELT immersion courses took place last year on the Colombian island of San Andres, located 500km from the mainland and where English is widely spoken. 
"Around 175 teachers participated in the free course which involved staying with native English speaking families and over 100 hours of English classes," says Juan Carlos Grimaldo, director of the ministry's National Bilingual Programme. 
The ministry of education is also working in partnership with private universities to provide free in-service Certificate in English Language Teaching (Icelt) courses for state school English teachers. 
Pedro Maldonado, an experienced ELT teacher at the Sabana University in Bogotá, one of several universities selected to provide Icelt courses, says workshops raise confidence. 
"The feedback from teachers was positive. They learnt new ways of teaching and went back speaking more English in class," says Maldonado. 
But the lack of government funding is a major problem, with the onus placed on schools and universities to fund ELT training, teachers and resources. 
"The ministry of education gave us a small grant to set up the course while the university funded the rest. But it's no way enough," says Maldonado. 
Without additional funds being allocated for ELT, schools and universities face an uphill struggle to improve English standards. 
"There's no additional funding being made available. Universities, like schools, have to allocate funding for ELT as they see fit from their existing budgets and tuition fees," says Javier Botero, the deputy -minister of higher education. 
The majority of local education authorities are autonomous and they decide how best to spend their budgets. The challenging task of encouraging local education authorities to spend more on ELT provision is left to Grimaldo and his team of three staff at the ministry of education. 
"We've spent the last year touring the country visiting local education authorities. Now we've got around 20% of them on board who've pledged to allocate more money to ELT next year," says Grimaldo. 
He added that it has been difficult to persuade poor schools with more urgent priorities, such as employing other subject teachers, to allocate a portion of their already overstretched budget to ELT. 
The ministry of education is sending a new booklet outlining the CEFR system to all state school teachers. 
"The booklet allows teachers to know what levels pupils are expected to reach in English and by when. It's hoped that they'll use this as a guide with which to plan their own English curriculums," says Grimaldo. 
English lessons are compulsory in secondary schools and it is estimated that two to three hours a week are spent teaching English. 
Compulsory English language testing in all final-year university exams was implemented last year. Many degrees, especially from private universities, already require students to obtain a minimum score in English language tests order to pass their final degree. 
According to the minister of higher education, time spent on learning English does not have a negative impact on other studies. "The means justify the end," he says. 
In fact, there is a growing consensus that English should be a key component of any university degree and is vital if graduates want to successfully compete in the global jobs market, particularly with the imminent Free Trade Agreement between the US and Colombia. 
"Being able to speak good English is really important for me," says Hernan Vargas, a business administration student at the Externado University in Bogotá. "I'm pleased that so much time, around 12 hours a week, is given to English in my degree." 
While the demand for English at universities grows, raising English standards in schools remains a long-term challenge. 
"We're still in the initial phases of the bilingual programme," says Grimaldo. "We know there's a lot of work to do but government will and policy is there." 


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