The Universidad Industrial de Santander arrived with force in the department of Guainía, accompanying the Ministry of National Education, where the head of this portfolio, José Daniel Rojas Medellín, made official the arrival of higher education in this Amazonian department and informed the regional authorities about the construction of a UIS headquarters in Inírida.
Students will be able to study in programmes of the National Open and Distance University – UNAD, thanks to the strategy Higher Education in your School from this year and in 2026 new programmes will be opened in partnership with the Industrial University of Santander (UIS) and the University of Caldas, expanding the academic offer in areas such as agro-industry, arts, environmental sanitation and renewable energy, announced the minister.
Before an audience of students, teachers, rectors, local authorities and indigenous leaders from the department and neighboring towns, the minister said that “the Industrial University of Santander and the University of Caldas are going to help us make an immediate transition from secondary to higher education. What does this mean? It means that when you reach eleventh grade, you can not only choose between UNAD or Uniminuto, but also have the opportunity to study at the University of Caldas or the Industrial University of Santander to study your university degree completely free of charge. And, furthermore, they will do so in high quality, accredited public universities; free and of high quality, as it should be”, the minister emphasized.
This means that, thanks to this visit and the support of the Ministry, the Universidad Industrial de Santander will ensure the start of the articulation programme with secondary education in the first semester of 2026, said Professor Jorge Villamizar, UIS manager in Territories, who weeks ago had led an advance party of the university to the capital of Guainía.
Construction of a UIS headquarters in Inírida
During his address to the community of Guainía, the minister made a request to the governor: “We need the lot to build the university headquarters of the Universidad Industrial de Santander, here in Inírida. And if he helps us quickly with that lot, the national government will provide the resources to build the university headquarters,” said Rojas Medellín, adding: “The rector of the UIS, who I have to acknowledge here, is very agile, very fast, knows how to build in record time, but best of all, and you have seen it there in your networks, we did it with the president two days ago, he builds beautiful buildings, of high quality, aesthetically beautiful, as a public university should be, and… it will be the beautiful building of the public university here in Inírida for you.”
During his visit to neighboring communities, the minister took the opportunity to “send a message of thanks to the educational and academic community of the UIS, Universidad Industrial de Santander, because together we are revolutionizing change, together we are making history. The Universidad Industrial de Santander is making history in this region, it is guaranteeing these children, this future and this present, that they can become professionals here, seeing this beautiful landscape every morning, seeing their families every morning, giving their mothers and fathers a hug, and becoming professionals with relevance, to transform the territory. He concluded by saying: “That is true peace, that is true transformation, and that is what the Universidad Industrial de Santander is working for with the Government of Change”.
Finally, Professor Jorge Villamizar reported that “the UIS is making progress in the programming of the Mathematics Olympiads of the University’s School of Mathematics, which has already begun in Guainía and in which some local educational institutions are already participating with their primary school students”.
