Only three out of every 10 Colombians aged 17 or over have set foot in a higher education institution. The figures fall further if the scattered population and rural centers are reviewed, with only 8% of the population having done so, according to the Dane’s figures for 2022.
“Interestingly, most of these people live in capitals, and very few live in rural areas, where it ranges between 8 and 8.3%,” explained Piedad Urdinola, director of DEN.
from sex, A higher proportion of women (31.2%) have been in a higher education institution, for at least one period, than men (27.6%).With a difference of 3.6 percentage points.
“The same thing happens in urban areas and in rural areas, two points of difference. And yet, what we find is that women participate less in the labor market, we have the highest unemployment rates and it’s a paradox.” Why is it, if our women have many more years of education and can be more productive in the labor market, don’t they have these indicators of men?
Bogotá leads the list of cities with the highest number of people aged 17 or over who have been in at least one type of institution Above average, with a ratio of 47.1%. Completing the top three are Atlantico (36.3%) and San Andres (32.6%).
In contrast, Arauca (13.9%), Vupés (12.8%) and Vichada (7.7%) presented the lowest percentages.
Years of education
On the other hand, the average education of Colombians between the ages of 15 and 24 has remained the same over the past four years at 10.1 of the national total. But in sparsely populated and rural centres, the years drop to 8.8 for the same population.
“The average years of education for Colombians is, and remains, 10.1. This is important to remember. It takes a long time to see a significant change in average years of education, to go up one year on average, many years pass In which we are making sustainable efforts to increase the years of education of the population, which is why the numbers look like they haven’t shifted,” Urdinola said.
In Bogota, being the city with the highest data, the average has risen to 11.3 years, followed by Atlântico (10.7) and Quindio (10.6). While Choco (8.4), Guinia (7.5) and Vichada (6.5) have the lowest figures.
If other population groups in the country are reviewed, the average education for people aged 25 to 34 is 11.4 years; While people over the age of 35 live an average of 8.6 years.
