On 9 November, the Deputy General Minister for ICT, María Carolina Hoyos; the Director of Institutional Relations and Fundación Telefónica, María Jimena Durán, and the Director of Computers for Education, Fernando Bedoya, presented the Family ICT School, an initiative geared towards training parents and guardians nationwide in the use of new technologies in order to promote the optimum use of the internet, encourage the secure use of ICTs in homes and schools, and develop family projects involving ICTs to enable them to get closer to their children, the community and the world.

The programme was launched in August 2015 and has achieved the following so far:

– Trained 202,000 parents and guardians nationwide
– Held 100 Family ICT Schools all over the country: one per municipality
– 115 trainers in the field
– Results of the pilot scheme: 542 parents and guardians trained
– Implementation of the Family ICT School in 24 educational institutions: nine in Bogotá and 15 in the rest of the country

The event recognized Rosa Cruz Ibarra, Walter Osorio and Miguel Ángel Martínez, three parents from the Proniño programme to eradicate child labour, who have learned how to use the internet and ICT technologies thanks to the Family ICT School and are now having a positive impact on their communities having been distinguished as ICT Masters.
By 2018, the Family ICT School aims to have trained and graduated one million parents and guardians.

In the photo, from left to right: Rosa Cruz Ibarra, Deivi Osorio (son), María Jimena Durán Sanín, Walter Osorio (father) and Miguel Ángel Martínez.