Education at a Glance 2026: Colombia
Table of contents
This country note for Education at a Glance 2026 provides an overview of the key characteristics of the education system in Colombia. In line with this year’s thematic focus, it emphasises teacher shortages while also covering other parts of the education system. The data in this note are provided for the latest available year. Readers are referred to the corresponding tables in Education at a Glance 2026 for notes and reference years.
Recruiting second-career teachers is a common strategy for addressing teacher shortages and helps to diversify the profile of the teaching workforce. According to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, on average across the OECD, 8.4% of lower secondary teachers are second-career teachers; in Colombia, they make up 4.7% of all teachers (Table 5).
According to the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, a large majority of lower secondary teachers (68.4%) are satisfied with their terms of employment (barring salaries) on average across the OECD. In contrast, the share of lower secondary teachers who are satisfied with their salaries is much lower at 38.7% on average. In Colombia, 87.2% of lower secondary teachers are satisfied with their terms of employment and 63.1% are satisfied with their salaries (Table 5).
The number of teachers a system needs is not determined by student numbers alone. On average across the OECD, measured in full-time equivalents, the number of teachers in public and private primary schools rose by 13% between 2015 and 2024, even though the number of primary students rose by only 2% over the same period, a divergence driven by policy choices around class sizes, teachers’ working hours and instruction time. In Colombia, the number of primary teachers decreased by 2% over this period, while the number of students decreased by 10% (Table 7).
Looking ahead, the number of children aged 5-14 in Colombia is projected to decrease by 9% between 2024 and 2033, pointing to lower demand for teachers if other policies remain unchanged (Table 7). However, as argued above, demographic trends are only one factor shaping teacher workforce needs, and their effects can vary depending on how population change is distributed across regions. Teacher workforce needs also depend on policy decisions related to class sizes, teacher attrition and funding.
Educational attainment remains at an all-time high in 2025 as more people obtain advanced qualifications. Across the OECD, 43% of working-age adults (25-64 year-olds) have a tertiary qualification, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is slightly lower at 39%. In Colombia, the share of adults with tertiary attainment is below the OECD average at 29%, while the share of adults with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment is also below the OECD average at 36% (Table A1.1).
Youth and young adults who are neither employed nor in education or training (NEET) are a key policy concern, as prolonged periods of inactivity at a young age can have lasting negative effects on socio-economic outcomes later in life. In Colombia, 26% of all 18-24 year-olds were NEET in 2025, up from 25% in 2015. For comparison, the average share of NEETs across OECD countries with available data for both years was 13% in 2025 and 16% in 2015 (Table A2.2).
The labour-market significance of advanced qualifications is also reflected in earnings. In almost every OECD country, workers without a tertiary qualification have earnings below the national average. In Colombia, full-time, full-year workers with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment earn 30% less than the national average and those with below upper secondary attainment earn 51% less (Figure A4.1).
Participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is common among children from the age of 3 in all OECD countries. In Colombia, 78% of children between the age of 3 and the starting age of primary education (age 6 in Colombia) were enrolled in ECEC in 2024, lower than the OECD average of 90% (Figure B1.1). However, enrolment rates for younger children vary widely across OECD countries. Among 2 year old children in Colombia, 27% are enrolled in early childhood educational development programmes that meet the criteria of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) by combining education and care. This places Colombia at the lower end of OECD countries with available data. In addition, 21% of younger children in Colombia are enrolled in ECEC services outside the scope of ISCED, such as programmes that primarily provide care (Table B1.1).
The number of primary and secondary schools – and thus their geographical proximity to students – varies across countries. Many countries have more primary than lower secondary schools, reflecting the desire to provide education close to primary students’ homes while offering secondary students the greater choice of specialist subjects that can only be provided by larger schools. In Colombia, there are 1.33 primary schools for each lower secondary school, below the OECD average of 1.97 (Figure B2.4).
In most countries, there is no strong alignment between trends in the number of students and trends in the number of schools at lower secondary level. In Colombia, the number of lower secondary students decreased by 0.19% annually between 2015 and 2024, while the number of lower secondary schools increased by 0.99% annually over the same period. On average across the OECD, the number of students increased by 0.96%, while the number of schools decreased by 0.10% (Figure B2.1).
Transitions from one level of education to the next are critical junctions in a student’s trajectory and have a major influence on educational outcomes. One year after the last grade of lower secondary education, 84% of students in Colombia are enrolled in an upper secondary or other education programme, 9% of students are repeating the last grade in lower secondary and 6% are not enrolled in formal education. The share of students who are not enrolled is similar to the average of 5% among the 22 countries and economies with available data (Figure B3.1).
In upper secondary education, 91% of new entrants in Colombia complete a general or vocational programme within two years of the theoretical end of the programme. By this point, 1% of the cohort remain enrolled, while 8% have dropped out without qualifying (Table B3.3). In Colombia, women are 5 percentage points more likely to complete their upper secondary programme than their men peers, a gap that is similar to the gap in most other countries with available data (Table B3.2).
The transition from upper secondary education to other programmes or the labour market is another important milestone in a student’s career. One year after the end of their upper secondary programme, 44% of students are enrolled in a post-secondary non-tertiary or short-cycle tertiary programme in Colombia, 0.02% are enrolled in another upper secondary or other type of programme and 56% are no longer enrolled in any education. In comparison, on average across countries with available data, 35% of upper secondary graduates are enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree programme, 13% are enrolled in a post-secondary non-tertiary or short-cycle tertiary programme, 10% are enrolled in another upper secondary or other type of programme and 42% are no longer enrolled in education (Table B3.4).
At tertiary level (ISCED 5-8), most OECD countries host a larger number of international students than they send abroad. On average across the OECD, outbound internationally mobile students account for 6% of all national students (whether enrolled domestically or abroad), while inbound students account for 12% of all students enrolled domestically in 2024. In Colombia the share of outbound international students is 3%, while inbound international students average 0%. The top three destination countries for outbound students in Colombia are Argentina (20%), Spain (17%) and the United States (13%), while the top three origin countries of inbound students are Venezuela (66%), Ecuador (6%) and Mexico (4%) (Table B4.3. and Table B4.4).
In many countries, inbound mobility has increased faster than outbound mobility among tertiary students. On average across the OECD, the share of inbound mobile students increased by 4 percentage points between 2015 and 2024, and the share of outbound mobile students increased by 1 percentage point. In Colombia, the share of inbound students remained the same, while the share of outbound students increased by 1 percentage point (Table B4.3).
Government expenditure on primary to tertiary education as share of GDP (based on final funds, on educational institutions, including R&D) varies by a factor of approximately two across OECD countries (ranging from 2.4% to 5.2%), while government expenditure per student varies by a factor of ten (from USD 3 398 to USD 32 832 adjusted for purchasing power parity) as differences in income levels mean nominal expenditure tends to vary more than relative expenditure. On average across the OECD, expenditure per student from primary to tertiary education was USD 13 601 in 2023, while in Colombia it was USD 3 398 (Table C1.4. and Table C1.1).
Government expenditure on education tends to rise with the level of education. In primary education, expenditure per student was USD 3 526 in 2023 in Colombia and USD 12 893 on average across the OECD. In lower secondary education, it was USD 3 594 in Colombia and USD 14 291 on average across the OECD. Thus, Colombia is among the majority of OECD countries where expenditure is higher at lower secondary level than at primary level (Table C3.1).
Expenditure can be divided into capital and current expenditure: the former finances investment in assets such as infrastructure, while the latter covers regular operating costs. Current expenditure can be further broken down into staff compensation and other current expenditure, such as purchases of goods and services and routine maintenance. In Colombia, 94% of current expenditure in primary educational institutions is dedicated to staff compensation compared to 79% on average across the OECD, while the remainder is dedicated to other current expenditure (Figure C3.3).
At upper secondary level, government expenditure per student can differ substantially between general and vocational programmes. Vocational programmes are often more expensive than general programmes due to the need for specialised technical equipment, while at the same time, private contributions, for example from firms, cover a larger share of overall costs in some countries. In Colombia, expenditure per student is USD 2 867 in general upper secondary programmes and USD 4 036 in vocational upper secondary programmes, compared to the OECD average of USD 12 421 in general programmes and USD 13 901 in vocational ones (Table C4.1).
Most countries have increased their investment in pre-primary education in recent years. This is also reflected in the ratio of children to teachers. Across the OECD, the number of children enrolled at this level decreased slightly by 2% between 2015 and 2024 while the number of teachers increased by 14%, resulting in a 14% reduction in the child-to-teacher ratio. In Colombia, the number of children enrolled in pre-primary education increased by 12%, while the number of pre-primary teachers also increased by 63%, resulting in a 31% decrease of the child-to-teacher ratio (Data for chart D2.1).
Teachers spend only a fraction of their working time teaching; the remainder is devoted to other tasks, including lesson preparation and marking. On average across the OECD, primary teachers taught 770 hours per year compared to 710 hours per year in lower secondary education. In Colombia, annual typical teaching hours were 955 in primary education and 840 in lower secondary education. Thus, Colombia was among the large majority of countries where teachers in lower secondary education had to teach fewer hours than those in primary education (Figure 1).
Net statutory teaching time in hours per year, in public institutions
Note: Please refer to the source table for information on whether the data refer to typical, minimum or maximum hours.
1. Actual teaching time (in Latvia except for pre-primary level).
2. Reference year differs from 2023. Refer to the source table for details.
3. Average planned teaching time in each school at the beginning of the school year.
For data, see OECD (2026) Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en, Figure D4.1 and Table D4.1.
Women form the majority of teachers at all levels of education except tertiary. Teachers in pre-primary education are almost entirely women with 96% of teachers being female on average across the OECD. The share of women among pre-primary teachers in Colombia is identical to the OECD average. At 51%, the share of female teachers in lower secondary education is lower, and it is below the OECD average of 68% (Table D5.1).
Across the OECD, women are more strongly represented among teachers than among school management staff. In primary education, women in Colombia accounted for 77% of teachers and 43% of school management staff in 2024, a gap of 34 percentage points. This gap was larger than the OECD average of 15 percentage points (Figure D5.3).
Contact
For more information on Education at a Glance 2026 and to access the full set of indicators, see: https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en.
For more information on the methodology used during the data collection for each indicator, the references to the sources and the specific notes for each country, see Education at a Glance 2026: Sources, Methodologies and Technical Notes, https://doi.org/10.1787/dcf64a14-en.
For general information on the methodology, please refer to the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics 2018, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264304444-en.
Updated data can be found online at http://data-explorer.oecd.org/ and by following the StatLinks in the publication.
Explore, compare and visualise more data and analysis using the Education GPS: https://gpseducation.oecd.org/.
Questions can be directed to the Education at a Glance team at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills: EDU.EAG@oecd.org.
This work is issued under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD, and does not necessarily reflect the official views of OECD Member countries.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Note by the Republic of Türkiye:
The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union:
The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Türkiye. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Education at a Glance 2026: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b4968bbc-en.
© OECD 2026
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Attribution – you must cite the work.
Translations – you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text: In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and the translation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.
Adaptations – you must cite the original work and add the following text: This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.
Third-party material – the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and for any claims of infringement.
You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.
Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shall be Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one.