Bill 238.

Summary.

The bill seeks to establish the National Educational Statistics System (Sistema Nacional de Estadística Educativa, SINEE), govern the collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of education statistics, provide public access to current information, and support evidence based decisions, transparency and accountability. It defines technological architecture, open data, education data and indicators, and the data portal. The system would operate as an interinstitutional network led by the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación), in coordination with the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo). Public and private educational institutions, universities, technical institutes and other education sector bodies would participate. Its structure would combine institutional operational autonomy with common standards and protocols.

The Statistics Office (Oficina de Estadística), attached to the senior office of the Ministry of Education, would manage the system as a specialized technical unit. It would develop technical rules and methods, apply quality controls and coordinate participating institutions, supported by professionals in statistics, computing, data analysis and education management. The National Educational Statistics System would assemble indicators covering the various dimensions of education. For access and coverage, it would measure enrollment, gender parity, progression between levels, the geographic distribution of services, gaps in provision, exclusion and barriers to access. Results would be broken down to the corregimiento (district) level, as well as by gender, socioeconomic level, population group, type of educational management and service delivery mode.

The system would publish information on educational quality, including national and international assessments, learning outcomes, teacher certification, continuing education and performance, school climate, community participation, user satisfaction and policy impacts. It would also track educational pathways and system efficiency through promotion, repetition, dropout, delayed progress, completion, transition, cost and resource use data. Resource assessments would cover buildings, basic services, safety, accessibility, materials, technology, connectivity, staffing, expenditure, budgets and funding. Equity indicators would address socioeconomic and geographic disparities, gender differences, disparities between population groups, targeted support, resource allocation and the effects of inclusive policies.

Educational institutions would have to use standardized digital records, appoint staff responsible for data, update information according to established schedules and verify it before submission to the national system. The Educational Statistics Office (Oficina de Estadística Educativa) would establish the applicable protocols and formats. The bill provides for a National Educational Data Portal offering search, visualization, downloads, interactive analysis and reports; it requires interoperability, security and protection of sensitive information. Public data could be used for research, planning and evaluation under licenses promoting responsible use. Access to confidential data would be subject to protocols and authorizations, with mechanisms to trace its use.

Implementation would proceed through a 6-month planning phase, a 12-month initial implementation phase, an 18-month expansion phase and a 24-month consolidation phase. SINEE would issue quarterly public reports, maintain a statistical transparency portal, enable citizen consultation and user support, and hold annual public hearings. The Ministry of Education would allocate resources for infrastructure, training, research and evaluation. The bill provides for entry into force upon promulgation and gives the Ministry of Education 90 days to issue implementing regulations. Its provisions concern the named education and statistics bodies, public and private educational institutions, universities, technical institutes, teachers, students, researchers and users of education data.