Colombia Aprende Móvil
In response to the pandemic, a decree was made in April 2020 to create a free mobile navigation tool for education for any mobile phone service user. The Ministry of National Education (MinEducación) and the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication (MinTIC) partnered with mobile phone operators in the country to develop the zero-rating portal to ensure all inhabitants had access to education content and guidelines, with special focus on lower-income households. The portal acted as a facilitator to students, teachers, and parents in rural and urban areas for the mobile version of Colombia Aprende platform (See Colombia Aprende case under Earmarked National Capital Investment)
Due to the critical situation, the complete process from the necessary implementations to the mobile operators enabling zero-rating access to the portal, took around ten days. It should also be noted that this initiative was created together with additional efforts to improve the circumstances, including the donation of 80,000 laptops, the release of an app that provided the user with free 1GB of navigation and 100 phone minutes, and the broadcast of educational content on radio and television.
Pros
In less than a month, from April to May 2020, the site received over 280 000 visits by around 66 000 users
The educational resources made available can be expanded relatively easily
The large number of resources in Spanish can serve Spanish-speaking communities and regions outside of the country
Cons
Content curation needs to be constantly updated and it is required for the curation team to be continually strengthened with the right knowledge and skills to adapt the content to the needs identified in the territories
The initiative requires functional and effective coordination between multiple stakeholders, both between ministers and between public and private organizations
Partners
Ministry of National Education
Ministry of Information Technology and Communications
Various mobile operators in Colombia