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News > Colombia

Colombia: Water Shortage Affects 11% of Public Schools

  • Students at the state-owned 'Cerro Alto' Business Educational Institution, Cauca, Colombia.

    Students at the state-owned 'Cerro Alto' Business Educational Institution, Cauca, Colombia. | Photo: Twitter/ @ELTIEMPO

Published 22 February 2021
Opinion

In the country, one out of 10 state-run educational centers are in areas that do not have access to drinking water.

Colombia's Economics of Education Laboratory (LEE) on Sunday warned that at least 11 percent of the country's public schools do not have water access, which is a requirement for returning to the classroom.

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"One out of 10 state-run educational centers are in areas that do not have access to drinking water," LEE co-director Luz Karime said, explaining that this situation occurs in only 1 percent of private schools.

The water shortage "is a serious indicator of inequality ahead of the return to face-to-face classes," Karime added as she presented the results of a research study regarding Colombia's education system.

For weeks, LEE consulted the bases of the 2018 National Population and Housing Census, the 2019 Formal Education (Educ) form, and the Educational Venues Identification System (Sise).

"During the investigation, not only did we found gaps between the public and private sector, but they were also visible between rural and urban zones. Schools on the periphery of large cities have less access to water than those in urban areas," the specialist explained.

The results contradict the guidelines issued by the Education Ministry, which establish that to ensure health conditions and physical distance, the drinking water supply must be guaranteed.

One of the self-care measures to which special attention will be paid in schools will be hand washing every three hours. 

"This requirement cannot be met in the affected schools. Therefore, President Ivan Duque must act quickly to resolve this situation before ordering the return to face-to-face classes," she concluded.

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