Colombian universities' English at all costs

Colombia's powers that be place a fair amount of importance, in theory anyway, on improving the level of English here. There was even a ridiculously ambitious plan from the government to have the country bilingual by 2019. Still on track with that, guys?

There's aiming high and then there's the pie in the sky. Keep it attainable, people. (If only the Brits had colonised the place instead of those plundering Spanish, eh?)

'This would have been much easier if I'd started at a younger age.' (Picture from web.)

Essential English 

Nonetheless, as the global language (for now) in an unprecedentedly interconnected world, there's no doubt having English up to a workable level is, or at least could be, an advantage.

Thus, convincing the masses to warm to it is a noble pursuit.

Like most things, but perhaps even more so with languages, this leads to better results by getting them when they're young. However, Colombia's track record in this regard, especially in public schools, leaves a lot to be desired.

This being the case, the fact that in many university courses you can't graduate without attaining a certain, usually relatively high level of English could be viewed as being a bit harsh.

Of course, if you're studying international relations or the like where English is usually a core element and prerequisite for the course, fair enough.

Yet for degrees where English is not essential per se, why make obtaining a good grade in it a qualification requirement?

If the student has shown to be competent and worthy of his or her degree in the chief area of study, let them at it we say.

OK, as mentioned above, having a decent grasp of English may open more doors in the workplace. So the universities in question could be seen as forcing a good deed on students who have paid hefty enrolment fees. How thoughtful of them.

Now, as you know it's far from cynical we are here, but those of that disposition could be forgiven for thinking that the English requirement is just a money-making racket. 'Aw, hard luck, you failed English. Not to worry. Pay for a course to get your level up to scratch, pay for an additional semester and hopefully you'll be good to graduate in a few months.' Come on guys, these universities would never be so self-centred.

As tough as it may seem on those who struggle with English, as ever in these parts some centres of learning "allow" a way around it. From what we can gather, in some places the English test doesn't have to be taken supervised, on campus. There's an unsupervised, on-line option.

We recently had the friend of an acquaintance ask us to assist her while she took this on-line test. Of course, we objected strictly on moral grounds -- it had nothing to do with the fact that it wasn't financially worth it for us.

This practice, where it happens, obviously makes a mockery of the whole English requirement. (For the record, this was Universidad Central.)

An Ielts or Toefl exam would soon find out those who profess to have a high level of English (to a point anyway; some people who do have good English don't always perform well in such tests).

Outside of that, coming back to the practice of having an English test requirement for degrees where it's not essential, isn't it best to just let potential employers deal with that?

A Spanish-speaking civil engineering firm searching for prospective employees would probably list English as merely an advantage, not an actual requirement.

Forcing the language on people at a later stage in their development isn't the way to achieve bilingual status.

Needless to say, it starts at a much younger age.

If English is a priority for Colombian officialdom, the place to get serious about it is in primary-level education.

Alas, from a public school perspective anyway, it's more a case of the blind leading the blind in this regard.
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Higher education, superior disarray

As a society, we tend to place a lot of value on higher education, especially in relation to the loftier institutions. On the face of it, this isn’t a bad thing. 

Generally, those who go through universities and the like go on to have much better lives, measured in monetary and influential terms anyway, than those who don’t.

Seats of excellence? (Photo from redzone.yorku.ca.)

However, that certain centres of education are seen as centres of excellence is often self-fulfilling. 

This is even more acute in places where wealth and privilege, more than anything else, dictate a person’s chances of accessing third-level education. If you didn’t go to the right university, or worse still none at all, it’s unlikely you’ll be accepted into the movers-and-shakers group.

In many ways, Colombia falls into that category.

People are judged, and hired, on where they were schooled more so than on any proven ability. (Granted, it can be difficult for most young job seekers, whatever their background, to 'get the start' and prove their worth, but some don't even get a look in. And yes, this is something that happens across the globe.)

Yet, having both seen and heard stories of how some of Colombia's most prized universities conduct business, it would, or at least should, make you less than enamoured with them as leading pedagogical lights.

Take my recent flirtations with the human sciences department of one of these well-respected institutions in relation to teaching a specific course through English there. 

In not untypical fashion for these parts, it was all done in a rushed, last-minute manner. To make matters worse, it all happened during the annual four-week shutdown over Christmas and New Year.

So the initial talks were in mid-December, where I neither said yea nor nay to the job offer, as payment wasn't discussed and it wasn't even a given if the course was going to be a runner.

The next I hear from them, in the latter half of January less than one week before classes were due to begin, was to be told that the documents required to work for them were ready to be signed.

 
‘Hold on there now, we haven’t even discussed payment. Plus, you’re expecting me to come up with a course plan from scratch in a few days, at my own expense and time?’ ‘Pretty much so, yes.’

Any which way but lose?

One of the many issues at play here seems to be the lack of communication between the departments of human resources and human sciences. The course was the responsibility of the latter; the former – as is standard practice anywhere – was in charge of deciphering pay based on experience as well as providing the associated contract.

It appeared that those at human resources expected me to toddle on down to the office and sign whatever they offered me (which, incidentally, was not very much, especially when you consider the exorbitant student fees the university in question and others here charge.)

It must also be remembered that I didn’t come looking for this job; it came my way via an intermediary and the university contacted me. Therefore, you might think, there would be room for flexibility and negotiation. But no.

Whatever about all of that, the most worrying aspect appears to be the thought, or lack thereof, given to the fee-paying students. 

You basically had a group of them signing up to a course before, in reality, it actually even existed. What kind of slipshod thing are they attending? Perhaps there were backup plans, but bearing in mind some previous practices by other such Colombian institutions, that’s not a given.

In defence, the fact that the course was, I believe, elective and not obligatory mitigates things somewhat. 

It must also be said, obviously, that the top universities in Colombia have produced, and continue to do so, some extremely talented professionals from all walks of life. You do want to see some tangible results for the money invested, of course.

But that incidents such as the above happen, even if it was a one-off, is disconcerting. A little bit more forethought is all that’s really required.

Though how dare we mere mortals question the methods of these sacred cows? Forgive us, for we are not worthy.