ECAES: a problematizing view of the evaluation of higher education

Abstract

This article presents an extensive review of the legal regulations established by the Quality Examinations for Higher Education (Exámenes de Calidad de la Educación Superior, ECAES), whose first approaches are traced back to the 1970s. The primary objectives of these examinations, applied by the ICFES to university/college students of the last semesters or graduate students of the Higher Education Institutes, are listed and some general data about these examinations are established. Furthermore, this text provides some reflections which encourage debate on the application of these and their implications in Higher Education. Finally, it also establishes some propositions which, by way of questioning, could become alternatives to consider and adopt in favour of the integral improvement of the educational quality granted to the professional in Colombia.