Colombia: Long-running teacher strike ends /update 4

Event

Colombia's largest teacher union - the Federación Nacional de Educadores (Fecode) - and the government reached an agreement on June 16, ending 37 consecutive days of strike. As such, more than eight million students, as well as 350,000 teachers, will be able to return to class on Monday.

Context

A recent report by organization the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) slammed the country's poor and failing education system and urged the Colombian government to improve national standards and the quality of education, increase public investment by prioritizing preschool education for the most disadvantaged, and set better teacher training policies.

According to the June 16 agreement, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos has pledged to improve salaries through progressive bonus payments, enhance union involvement in forming education budgets, and increase investment in preschool education. The government also promised to help consolidate the peace process with the FARC rebel group through human rights and civic-oriented coursework.