The new Congress can settle the system's debt with young people.
Column by Rafael Arias, Education and Employment Manager
What do young people need from the new Congress and the presidential candidates?
Now that we have elected congressmen for 2026-2030 and the competition for the Presidency has begun in earnest, let's see what young people say about what they want and need in terms of education and employment in order to calibrate legislative activity, political control and government plans.
Let's start by understanding that young people do want to study, work, or start their own businesses. The vast majority want to study after high school; most report work as their main source of income; and all have household, education, food, etc. expenses to cover in some way (GOYN, 2023 and FExE, 2024).
So why are 5 million (out of 12 million young Colombians) “Youth with Potential”? (AIL, 2025) Essentially, it's because of what this concept of Youth with Potential seeks to highlight (as opposed to “NEETs” or “no-shows”): the barriers that hinder and interrupt the development of a young person who is not studying or working, or who, if working, does so in the
informality.
The fact that 4 out of 10 young people in Colombia are considered Young People with Potential is consistent with the perceptions reported by young people in surveys. According to the most recent study, Youth in Society (C&C, 2026), 6 out of 10 young people have faced barriers in the last year to accessing education, and 5 out of 10 to finding work.
With so many young people excluded from opportunities, would it be better to "reset" the system? No, not at all. We mustn't forget that 4.5 million young people are studying and more than 2 million are formally employed. Far from perfect, the system doesn't lack opportunities for young people, but these are still not relevant, sufficient, and
equitable.
There are three clear areas where the new Congress and the next government could substantially improve opportunities for young people, with relative ease.
1. Solid learning foundations.
Five out of ten young people tell us that developing knowledge is the main reason they value high school , and four out of ten say that identifying interests and skills for their future is the second. Contrary to a frivolous or indifferent view (less than 3% do not consider high school valuable), young people have clear expectations of what should happen before graduation (C&C, 2026). However, what young people expect is not what they receive. Only 13 out of every 100 students who enter high school reach 11th grade and manage to develop essential learning in a comprehensive way (ORE, 2026).
The new Congress will be able to pass legislation making secondary education (grades 10 and 11) mandatory; it makes no sense that in Colombia schooling is only compulsory up to grade 9, something that only happens in a handful of countries in the region. It will also be able to allocate specific and sufficient resources to guarantee the infrastructure, equipment, and teachers required for a comprehensive and compulsory secondary education; this within the framework of the competency law that will sooner or later have to regulate the progressive increase in resources from the General System of Participations (SGP), approved in 2024.
For their part, those aspiring to the Presidency should already incorporate into their government plans goals to improve retention and learning in secondary education, restructuring this educational cycle so that the life project is the integrator of so many learnings and experiences (academic, ethical, sports, socio-occupational, etc.) that happen simultaneously in grades 10 and 11.
2. Modern post-secondary education.
24% of respondents report not having sufficient resources to access higher education, but closely behind, 19% say they lack educational options near their homes and 18% cannot find programs that fit their schedules (C&C, 2026). Relying solely on funding is a clear mistake; a significant portion of efforts must be dedicated to making post-secondary education more flexible. This flexibility should address location and scheduling, but also the skills gap between Colombian talent and employers' needs, which remains around 60% (Manpower, 2026).
The task of the new Congress is to create a new legal framework that simplifies post-secondary education. To guarantee flexibility and quality, it must eliminate the duality between higher education and education for work and human development, establishing a single post-secondary education system that offers both long and short programs in alternative locations and schedules, under second-generation quality standards. To ensure relevance, it must include financial incentives for programs co-designed with the productive sector that demonstrate higher rates of job placement and retention. All of this must include the National Training Service (SENA).
Presidential candidates should already be incorporating into their government plans measures to promote alternative educational options, allocating a portion of the resources that fund higher education to programs that meet the aforementioned criteria of flexibility, quality, and relevance. In a fiscal crisis, the key is not to allocate more resources but to dedicate a significant portion of those already earmarked for higher education to incentivize non-traditional programs (core courses by subject area, micro-credentials, etc.).
Short dual training, etc.).
3. Effective employment.
20% of respondents indicated that the main barrier they face in finding employment is the requirement for more experience than they possess, 15% said that even with experience they lack the means to certify it, and 14% cited a lack of professional networking opportunities (C&C, 2026). Although employment sometimes seems abstract, there is a labor market with specific parties responsible for addressing these shortcomings. Young people alert us to two critical issues.
Paradoxically, the productive sector requires specific skills rather than experience, and there is a network of Public Employment Service (PES) providers that should have already replaced personal contacts.
The new Congress has the opportunity to make the provision of labor intermediation services more competitive by restructuring the incentives received by the different types of providers of the SPE and refining some unconditional items by law, so that they are paid for results of job placement and retention.
Presidential candidates should already be incorporating youth unemployment targets into their government plans, aiming to reduce the rate to single digits, closing the gap with overall unemployment, and prioritizing the reduction of informality. To achieve this, they could adopt three concrete measures: ensuring that all their employment programs are paid based on results, structuring all processes within the Public Employment Service (particularly business management) around skills (instead of relying on theoretical barriers such as experience or qualifications), and creating financial incentives for companies that hire young people based on skills rather than experience.
Published in La Silla Vacía: