Nationwide, teachers have held demonstrations and conducted public campaigns for the past 36 days as protracted negotiations proved unable to end the impasse. But the battle, which was elevated on February 28 when the Colombian Education Workers Federation (FECODE) submitted a petition of grievances to the government, ended yesterday with an agreement signed in Bogotá by Education Minister Yaneth Giha and FECODE head Carlos Rivas.

Photo: Education Minister Yaneth Giha and FECODE head Carlos Rivas sign an agreement in Bogotá to end a national teachers’ strike that lasted more than a month. (Credit: Presidencia de la República)

As part of the agreement, teachers will receive salary increases of 6% in 2018, 11% in 2019, and 15% in 2020. “This is an effort,” said Giha, “to continue closing an historical gap that the country has had with our teachers,” who she called “the backbone of education.”

The top official in the Ministry of Education also called on the country’s education secretaries to adjust the school calendar to ensure that “the eight million children and young people affected by this strike” will make up all the class time they missed. Giha, who took over last year after former education minister Gina Parody resigned following the failure of the “Yes” peace vote campaign she helped lead, said that FECODE ensured the government that its members are prepared to teach the lost hours of class time.

Additionally, the government also pledged to invest more into early-childhood education, including a mandate that all public schools must offer free preschool by 2024, and help consolidate the peace process through human rights and civics-focused coursework in the a new program called “School as a Territory of Peace.” In a statement, Giha also pointed to 15 unspecified initiatives in the agreement to address education policy, union guarantees, teachers’ health, welfare, and the creation of a new education commission.

Other concerns previously raised by FECODE, however, have not been addressed, including the teachers’ call to overhaul Colombia’s prevailing two-shift daily schedule for students in favor of a full-day system. Matters may further be complicated by the fact that two-term President Juan Manuel Santos has less than a year remaining before the 2018 presidential election, which means new leadership will arrive well before many of the softer, non-binding intentions of the agreement can come to fruition.

Comments from the Ministry of Education highlight the need for an ongoing dialogue between the department, FECODE, and Congress to continue addressing the flaws in the nation’s education systems. She said that this must “be a broad, unprecedented discussion, which will also involve the Congress, mayors, governors, and other actors in the education system.”

Ultimately, the current leadership of the Ministry of Education proved willing to do enough to end the strike while not over-committing future resources that the current administration will not control. “The priority of the national government was always to reach an agreement that recognizes the work of teachers and the indispensable role of education in the development of the country and that, at the same time, would be responsible with public finances,” said Giha.

Ocampo will fill a position formerly occupied by Yaneth Giha, who moved on to become Colombia’s Minister of Education last November after former minister Gina Parody stepped down following the failure of the campaign, which she helped lead, to encourage voters to pass the nation’s original peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Photo: César Ocampo, a U.S.-educated aerospace engineer who has worked with NASA, has taken over as the head of the agency tasked with promoting scientific research and innovation. (Credit: Colciencias)

The Armenia-born scientist is an aerospace engineer who earned a doctorate in astrodynamics at the University of Colorado in Boulder in the United States in 1991. Ocampo went on to serve as a researcher, teacher, trainee, and consultant for the Washington-based NASA space agency, according to Colciencias, as well as a professor and researcher in the University of Texas at Austin‘s department of aerospace engineering.

Most recently, after returning to Colombia in recent years, he held the position of dean of the School of Exact Sciences and Engineering of the Universidad Sergio Arboleda before becoming dean of special projects for the same Bogotá-based institution. He has also taken on work that promoted social projects focused on sustainable development.

“His social conscience has been the motivator to make his path an example for the next generations by encouraging scientific education for children and young people throughout the country,” said Colciencias in a statement.

Giha, a University of Los Andes-educated economist who has spend the past two years in charge of Colciencias, the nation’s science and technology research agency, will take over the ministry immediately

“It’s a pride — an honor — and it’s a huge responsibility,” said Giha. “I want to energize a topic that is a priority for the country, and for me personally, with an excellent team.”

Yaneth Giha Tovar, Colombia’s Minister of Education.

Parody stepped down from her post days after Colombians rejected President Santos’ peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a plebiscite on October 2.

She had been a leader of the “Yes” campaign to raise support for the deal and ended up being the only cabinet member to be replaced following the humiliating result. Parody, one of the most high-profile LGBTQ voices in Colombia, had also faced hostility and personal attacks throughout the year from those who criticized her priorities as head of the education ministry.

Yaneth Giha has now taken over after the position was vacant for more than a month. “I welcome you to the cabinet so that you continue to work for education,” said President Santos.

In addition to her background in economics and serving at the Ministry of Education as vice-minister of preschool, basic, and middle education, Giha has extensive expertise in security.

She earned a master’s degree in war studies from King’s College in London and a specialization in conflict resolution from Javeriana University in Bogotá. In government, she has worked in the National Planning Department‘s military forces division and in the Defense Ministry as deputy minister of strategy.

“The president put a vote of confidence in me because this is one of the most important portfolios of this government,” said Giha. “Education is the center and the linchpin of much of what is being done.”