Historical Database on Educational Enrolment in Colombia, 1904–1958
This dataset provides annual historical series on gross enrolment rates in Colombia, disaggregated at the subnational level for the period 1904–1958.
It was originally constructed as part of my doctoral dissertation, The Rise of Mass Education in Colombia, and later used in:
Fuentes-Vásquez, M. J. (2023). “The Origins of Mass Education in Colombia.” Revista Uruguaya de Historia Económica, 23(XXIII), 10–44.
The dataset makes it possible to examine the long-run evolution of educational access across Colombian departments and national territories during the first half of the twentieth century. It is intended to facilitate further research on regional inequality, state capacity, educational policy, gender, rurality, economic development, and the historical roots of present-day disparities.
Geographical coverage: Colombian departments and national territories.
Time coverage: annual observations, 1904–1958.
Unit of observation: territory-year.
Main indicator: Gross Enrolment Rate (GER).
Educational levels: primary and secondary education.
Available disaggregation, where the original sources allow it: sex, public/private provision, urban/rural primary education, and academic, vocational, and teacher-training secondary education.
Gross enrolment rates relate the number of enrolled students to the relevant school-age population: ages 5–14 for primary education and 15–19 for secondary education.
The series was reconstructed from historical educational statistics, principally the Memorias del Ministerio de Educación and Colombian Statistical Yearbooks, combined with population censuses for 1905, 1912, 1918, 1928, 1938, 1958, and 1964.
The historical sources are uneven, particularly before 1933, when educational statistics differed in periodicity, definitions, territorial coverage, and degree of disaggregation. From 1933 onwards, following Decree 492, public and private schools were required to report statistics to the Ministry of Education using a unified form, improving the consistency of the published series.
To construct annual enrolment rates, school-age population estimates were interpolated between census benchmarks using exponential growth curves. Territorial units were harmonised to account for administrative-border changes over the period. Where historical territorial units were split or reorganised, student and population figures were aggregated to ensure comparability over time. The national territories of Meta, Vichada, Putumayo, Caquetá, Vaupés, and Amazonas are grouped as an Amazon Region in the long-run harmonised series.
Some observations are unavailable because the original statistics were not published or could not be recovered. A small number of implausible or isolated missing observations were interpolated using adjacent years; these should be treated with appropriate caution in empirical work.
For full methodological detail, sources by year, territorial harmonisation, and discussion of limitations, please consult the doctoral dissertation and the article listed below.
If you use the dataset, I would be grateful if you cite the article below and let me know about your research.
Fuentes-Vásquez, María José. 2023. “The Origins of Mass Education in Colombia.” Revista Uruguaya de Historia Económica 23 (XXIII): 10–44.
Fuentes-Vásquez, María José. The Rise of Mass Education in Colombia. Doctoral dissertation.
Fuentes-Vásquez, María José. 2023. “The Origins of Mass Education in Colombia.” Revista Uruguaya de Historia Económica 23 (XXIII): 10–44