The Third National Pedagogical Congress– Towards an Alternative and Democratic Public School System 

On behalf of the teachers, students, and alumni of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, as well as myself as the Institution’s Rector, we would like to express our gratitude and support for all Colombian teachers and the Colombian Federation of Education Workers–Fecode. We are committed to continuously developing a new public, alternative, democratic school system that serves a new society.

The goals of this meeting demonstrate the maturity of the Colombian Pedagogical Movement. In the face of the neoliberal model’s prioritization of commercial, colonial, prescriptive, and instrumental interests, the movement has undertaken the development of a critical, collective, and resilient approach to education and training.

This Congress is a crucial educational event that provides a space to reflect on pedagogy in our own contexts, recognize our differences, and acknowledge the sociocultural diversity that defines us as a nation. Educating amid conflict, addressing inequality through education, and educating with ethical and political integrity encourage us to view education as a long-term endeavor. This enables us to live in a social and democratic state governed by the rule of law, where the focus is on living with dignity.

We also describe it as an educational event that shows the region’s finest experiences. These experiences reflect the complexity of educational practice. The event also honors new teachers and their professional collectives, who embody dignity and professionalism. Since the Second Congress 31 years ago, a new generation of teachers has emerged. Considering global advances, new trends in pedagogy, and the broad field of educational research, their questions and concerns are understandable. This includes multidisciplinary and specific research, as well as the use of social networks. These networks have the capacity to accumulate information beyond our understanding, forcing us to become analysts of symbolic knowledge rather than producers of pedagogical, historical, contextual, and specific knowledge.

As an institution of teachers, students, and alumni, we are here to participate in this celebration of hope, joy, and dignity. This celebration enables us to acknowledge ourselves as a collective entity that argues respectfully, proposes imaginatively, recognizes contexts, embraces challenges, and fosters solidarity and fraternity. We are here to tell the country that a different kind of education is possible in both rural and urban areas when we think with our hearts and feel with our heads, as Fals Borda said.

The UPN has decided to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Fecode and its teachers. The university is committed to collaborating with Fecode to safeguard public education as a public resource and improve teaching conditions. Without excellent teachers, educating individuals committed to human rights will be challenging.

We renew our hope that new generations of teachers will continue cultivating the seeds sown by the Colombian Pedagogical Movement in 1982. Many of our graduates planted this seed, and now more than a thousand teachers from across the country are nurturing it. These teachers are working to make schools territories of peace and critical pedagogy. They embody the spirit of emancipatory teaching, instilling hope for a dignified present and future.

We strongly believe that respect for freedom, strengthening democracy, the collective meaning of the pedagogical ethos, and promoting social justice are key principles for safeguarding dignity. We also recognize the importance of embracing diverse worldviews and educational approaches –both intergenerational and intragenerational– as criteria for political action. We hope these criteria will contribute to the emotional and pedagogical bonds that will shape the future of the Third Congress.

This rigorous process will provide educational and pedagogical guidance, improve training experiences in the country, and inform the development of a new Ten-Year Education Plan. The plan will provide academic and technical guidance for a new educational project, reaffirming education as an essential right and opportunity from early childhood through higher education.

P.S. We invite the Honorable Representatives of the House to make history by approving the reform of Articles 86 and 87 of Law 30 of 1992. The education system and public universities will be grateful.