La formación por alternancia y el desarrollo rural en América Latina. El caso de Colombia

Abstract

Rural development is not understood in the same way in such different contexts as the European and the Latin American. Some Institutions speak about a New Rurality in Latin America based on concepts like human development, social capital and equitable economic growth. Latin American agriculture is becoming more and more multifunctional and the rural development tends towards a territorial approach which strengths social effects. But in any rural area, sustainable development processes are favoured, in the first place, with the permanence of people in this environment. And, in second place, when those who perform changes have the appropriate education and training. This paper attempts to describe a unique educational system based on alternating training periods in the socio-professional environment and in the school. It also proposes an impact evaluation model of this training applying it to a Latin American rural area. It allows us to verify very successful results for the quality of life, the employment, the sustainability of agriculture and territorial equilibrium. More specifically, the case of Colombia is studied to analyse the way in which young students attending studies under alternating cycle, are capable of influencing the generation of local development processes because they become leaders of their own communities and build the fabric of society.