The report published by Noticias Caracol on the ranking of the 1,500 best universities in the world is interesting, in which 25 Colombian institutions appear, three of them are from the Caribbean coast.
Of these 25 Colombian universities, 10 are public and 15 private, which are now part of the prestigious list published by the QS World University Ranking.
These institutions are: Los Andes University (198), National University (226), Javeriana University (346), Antioquia University (701), Rosario University (711), EAFIT University (731), Externado University (751) , University of La Sabana (791), Pontificia Bolivariana (801), Icesi University (901), Santander Industrial (1001), North University (1001), Valle University (1001), Jorge Tadeo Lozano University (1201), University of Cartagena (1,201), University of Córdoba (1,201), University of Medellín (1,201), University of Cauca (1,201), Catholic University of Colombia (1,401), Technological University of Bolívar (1,401), Technological University of Pereira (1,401 ), University of Caldas (1401), University of La Salle (1401), University of Santander (1401) and the University of Magdalena (1401). We see that the Popular University of Cesar does not appear.
Precisely in this Wednesday’s editorial note, this space addressed the worrying situation of a large sector of young adolescents who, given the lack of opportunities for higher education, used to get carried away by a group trend of youth violence that is occurring in various regions of the country.
The fact that Colombia appears somewhat prominent in this world report on higher education should mean that in this country there is a good level of studies and with good quality standards, it would also indicate that there are options and opportunities for our youth, but unfortunately that is the duty to be faced with the sad reality that young Colombians live.
So much so that the same report reveals that “while these higher education centers are positioned on this recognized list, the numbers of school dropouts in the country are increasing, a fact for which the Attorney General’s Office asked the Ministry of Education to review the situation.”
It also indicates that, according to the Student Enrollment System, in the last year 342,417 young people have withdrawn from their studies. A total of “44 out of 100 young people end up finishing high school at the wrong school age. That is a huge school lag,” said the president of Fedesarrollo, Luis Fernando Mejía, adding that the barriers to access higher education are latent, because “only 39 out of 100 young people manage to access a university, technical or technological”.
All of this explains a little about the causes and origins of this violent tendency of a large sector of young people that we mentioned in the previous editorial. The process aimed at resolving this crisis of mental attitude and behavior of our youth should begin there. It is clear that the path is education, that is the only hope to achieve social welfare, regardless of social strata.