Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS) continues bringing higher education to the most remote regions of the country. This time, in Inírida (Guainía), it took a decisive step with the implementation of the program Higher Education in Your School, which will allow 10th and 11th grade students to study the professional program in Agroindustrial Administration, through a step-by-step model (ciclos propedéuticos). This way, upon finishing high school, they will obtain a double degree: high school graduates and professional technicians.
“Later, through this progressive model, students may complete the technological level and eventually the professional degree, if they wish. This is a strategy we have already been implementing in Arauca, Vaupés, Guaviare, and Vichada, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and with the support of local governments,” said Professor Jorge Villamizar, UIS representative in the territories.
It was precisely Professor Villamizar who led the working agenda on August 28 and 29 in the Guainía capital (Inírida). During the visit, he met with education authorities, including Lina Bonilla and Jenny Peña, professionals from the Departmental Secretary of Education (SED), and Principal Carlos Gómez Galán of IE Luis Carlos Galán Sarmiento, the school projected to host the first implementation of the program.
In addition, together with engineer Oliver Chía from the SED Planning Office, the team reviewed the conditions of a property that could become the first inter-university campus in Inírida—an initiative of great regional impact that would receive funding from the Ministry of National Education, through modular facilities.
The visit also included the promotion of the UIS Mathematics Olympiad (OMU), an outreach program aimed at fostering academic talent among students in the department.
With this strategy, UIS advances a step-by-step education model (ciclos propedéuticos), where young people can begin with the technical level, continue with the technological degree, and reach a professional education—without having to leave their territory.
Already implemented in Arauca, Vaupés, Guaviare, and Vichada, the initiative now reaches Guainía, offering new opportunities for the future to hundreds of students in eastern Colombia.
