Newsroom
Cambridge exams set the standard for Colombia
26 February 2007
The Ministry of Education in Colombia has partnered with Cambridge ESOL to include internationally-recognised English language assessment as part of the state school-leaving exams.
From October 2007 school pupils in Colombia will need to demonstrate their English language skills by passing a University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (English for Speakers of Other Languages) exam as part of the Prueba de Estado school-leaving certificate.
The new international standard of testing comes as part of the bid by Colombia’s Ministerio de Educación Nacional to equip the population with English skills for work and higher study. All the exams are linked to the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).
The contribution to the Prueba de Estado is one element of a collaboration between the Ministerio and Cambridge ESOL, a not-for-profit department of the University of Cambridge. The ECAES, a test for final year university students, also includes an English language component from Cambridge ESOL. Colombian trainee teachers are being entered for the FCE (First Certificate in English) – including, most recently, a group of 400 in December 2006.
Sharon Harvey, Regional Manager for Cambridge ESOL in Latin America, said: “In a global environment for business, education, the media and professions such as law and finance, certificates with international value and recognition have huge value.
“The Colombian Government is leading the way in this area by creating a new generation of people with good English skills and international proof of what they can do.”
Cambridge ESOL is to work with the Ministerio to provide training and support so that Colombia will in future produce its own tests linked to the CEFR.
Cambridge ESOL exams are the world’s leading range of certificates for learners of English. Each year they are taken by over 2 million people in 130 countries.
