Using participatory action research to reimagine community mental health services in Colombia: a mixed-method study protocol

Introduction Mental healthcare systems are challenged by how they hear and respond to what marginalised communities experience as drivers of mental distress. In Colombia, this challenge intersects with wider challenges facing post-conflict reconstruction. Our pilot study will explore the feasibility and acceptability of a participatory approach to developing community-led participatory interventions for community mental health systems strengthening and mental health improvement, in two sites in Caquetá, Colombia. Methods and analysis The project is divided into three distinct phases aligned with community participatory action research cycles: diagnostic, intervention and evaluation. This allows us to use a participatory approach to design a community-led, bottom-up intervention for mental health systems strengthening and the promotion of mental health and well-being. The diagnostic phase explores local understandings of mental health, mental distress and access to mental health services from community members and health providers. The intervention stage will be guided by a participatory Theory of Change process. Community priorities will inform the development of a participatory, learning and action (PLA) informed group intervention, with a community linkage forum. The pilot of the PLA intervention will be evaluated using MRC process evaluation guidelines. Ethics and dissemination This project has received ethical approval from two sources. Universidad de Los Andes (2021-1393) and the University College London (16127/005). Dissemination of findings will include academic publications, community forums, policy briefs and visual media (cartoons, pod casts and short films)

Universalización de la educación media de calidad : el reto que sigue para llegar a ser "Colombia la mejor educada"

Título del número: Diez años generando conocimiento y liderazgo para transformar lo público. Sección: Investigación"Uno de los retos más grandes que enfrenta el país en la siguiente década es lograr que la actual generación de niños y niñas logre alcanzar mayores niveles de educación. Más y mejor educación implica que los estudiantes permanezcan en el sistema educativo y adquieran las competencias necesarias para desarrollar el proyecto de vida que elijan. Para ello, una condición fundamental es permanecer en el sistema educativo y graduarse del bachillerato. Algo que parece obvio, pero está lejos de ser realidad: en Colombia, cerca de 2,5 millones de jóvenes entre 19 y 24 años no se han graduado de bachillerato. Es decir, aproximadamente el 25 % de los jóvenes en zonas urbanas y del 60 % de los jóvenes en zonas rurales...

Calidad de la educación básica y media en Colombia: diagnóstico y propuestas

Este trabajo hace una propuesta de política educativa para Colombia que permita mejorar la calidad de la educación básica, secundaria y media y así convertirla en una herramienta efectiva de movilidad social. Se muestra que Colombia ha tenido avances importantes en cobertura. Sin embargo, las mejoras en términos de calidad han sido marginales e inequitativas. Las propuestas de política son: i) fortalecimiento de la evaluación de la calidad de la educación; ii) fortalecimiento de la capacidad institucional de los colegios públicos; iii) implementación de la jornada escolar completa; iv) implementación de una política de docentes que permita atraer mejores profesionales y mejorar los instrumentos de evaluación de los docentes; v) participación del sector privado en la provisión de educación.This paper makes a proposal of the education policies needed in Colombia in order to improve its quality of basic and secondary education and thus allow it to become a tool of poverty reduction and increase in social mobility. We show that Colombia has attained significant progress in enrollment rates. However, improvements in terms of quality have been marginal and not equitable. The policy proposals revolve around five elements: i) strengthening the evaluation of the quality of education; (ii) strengthening the institutional capacity of public schools; (iii) implementation of a complete school day; (iv) implementation of a policy of teachers that attract best professionals and improve their evaluation instruments; (v) participation of the private sector in the provision of education

Beyond the mincer equation: the internal rate of return to higher education in Colombia

In order to present an estimation of the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to higher education in Colombia we take advantage of the methodological approach provided by Heckman, Lochner and Todd (2005). Trying to overcome the criticism that surrounds interpretations of the education coefficient of Mincer equations as being the rate of return to investments in education we develop a more structured approach of estimation, which controls for selection bias, includes more accurate measures of labor income and the role of education costs and income taxes. Our results implied a lower rate of return than the ones found in the Colombian literature and show that the Internal Rate of Return for higher education in Colombia lies somewhere between 0.074 and 0.128. The results vary according to the year analyzed and individual’s gender. This last result reinforces considerations regarding gender discrimination in the Colombian labor market

School management and sexual behavior of teenagers

This paper asks whether school based management may help reducing risky sexual\ud behavior of teenagers. For this purpose we use student level data from Bogot´a to identify students from Concession School (CS), who are enrolled in public education system with a more school management autonomy at school level, and to compare them with those students at the traditional public education system. We use propensity score matching methods to have a comparable sample between pupils at CS and traditional schools. Our results show that on average the behavior of students from CS do not have a sexual behavior that differs from those in traditional public schools except for boys in CS who have a lower probability of being sexual active. However, there are important differences when heterogeneity is considered. For example we find that CS where girls per boys ratio is higher have lower teenage pregnancy rates than public schools with also high girls per boys ratios. We also find that teachers’ human capital, teacher-pupil ratio or whether school offers sexual education are also related to statistically significant differences between CS and traditional public schools

Tras la excelencia docente. Cómo mejorar la calidad de la educación para todos los colombianos

Otros autores: Darío Maldonado, Guillermo Perry, Catherine Rodríguez y Juan Esteban SaavedraTítulo del número: Educación: El reto de la calidad en Colombia. Sección: Investigación"Este artículo resume el estudio Tras la excelencia docente. Cómo mejorar la calidad de la educación para todos los colombianos, impulsado y financiado por la Fundación Compartir, y realizado por investigadores de la Universidad de los Andes, la Universidad del Rosario y la Universidad de Southern California. Se trata de una propuesta sistémica que, de implementarse, logrará transformar la calidad educativa a través de la excelencia del componente escolar más importante para el aprendizaje: los docentes...