The Colombian journey to become a country with an educational system that develops bilingual skills in students began in 1979. More recently, Colombia National Ministry of Education presented Colombia’s National Bilingualism Program 2004–2019, a policy that recognized for the first time that mastering English was a matter of advantages in competitiveness for the country. Two important goals were established under this policy for 2014. First, 40% of secondary graduates should achieve at least an intermediate level—B1or threshold or independent user following the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). Second, 20% of Bachelor degree (under) graduates should achieve at least a vantage or upper intermediate—B2 level. A descriptive approach was applied to the data and it was found that the neither goal was met. The impact of the different programs implemented should be evaluated, so goals proposed for 2025 can be achieved.
Part of the book: Multilingualism and Bilingualism