The Directors of María Cano met with Mr. Carlos Chaparro Sánchez, Director of Sapiencia, where the Institution was invited to join the articulation of the post-secondary education model where it will join the Specialized Talent Training Program that seeks to generate access to a short-term, specific training offer in areas identified with Industry 4.0 that will grant 50,000 places to the inhabitants of Medellín to generate competencies in soft skills, bilingualism, basic code and specific skills. In addition, Sapiencia wants María Cano to be part of the new higher education that will arrive with innovative and different proposals for young people and adults, without age limits.

For her part, María Cano proposed to the official the realization of an association agreement for the Software Engineering program for the training of the inhabitants of Medellín, taking into account the programs of the municipal administration in relation to technologies and innovation.

The Medellín Higher Education Agency – Sapiencia – is committed to contributing to the integral development of the city from the orientation of the higher education system of the Municipality and its various articulations, through the management of public policies and resources to make possible the comprehensive training of citizens and their equitable participation in a society of knowledge and innovation.

Its main functions are:

• Lead the implementation of the higher education public policy, and establish the quantitative and qualitative technical parameters that contribute to the fulfillment of the institutional purpose of the Agency.
• Determine in accordance with the public policy of higher education that is defined -maintaining the legal nature of the institutions that make up the public higher education system of the municipality of Medellín, the plans and programs of the system.
• Promote greater efficiency, transparency and optimization of public resources and a specialized, coordinated and complementary provision of the intervening public institutions, in accordance with the integral development policies of the Municipality of Medellín, the department of Antioquia and the country that contributes to the improvement of the access, quality and equity of higher education in the municipality.
• Manage and control the information system of the system of public institutions of higher education of the Municipality.
• Structure, contract and execute directly, indirectly or through the same public institutions of the Medellín higher education system, the strategic projects that are jointly determined with the intervening institutions for the efficient administration, operation and control of the System of Public Education Institutions Superior of Medellín.
• Coordinate with the public institutions of higher education in Medellín, the inter-institutional delivery and receipt, as the case may be, of the goods, products or physical areas associated with the strategic projects required by the system and contracted by the Agency in compliance with the provisions of paragraph previous.
• Define the general technical criteria for the allocation of resources in the system of public institutions of higher education in Medellín, seeking greater efficiency in their distribution and use.
• Promote the articulation of the activities and projects of national and international organizations with higher education policies and establish alliances to strengthen the management of the Municipality of Medellín and the institutions that make up the system.
• Answer general inquiries related to higher education in the Municipality of Medellín.
• Issue technical concept on the conventions, agreements, projects or actions proposed by international organizations and foreign governments in matters of higher education; seek opportunities for cooperation and coordinate the participation of the institutions of the system in international scenarios specialized in higher education.
• Monitor the service provision of the public institutions that make up the Medellín higher education system and report the results to the Medellín Council and the community in general on a semi-annual basis.
• Implement and operationalize the policy of access to higher education for students with limited economic resources, fully managing municipal funds that financially leverage said policy, regulating and / or regulating them.
• Provide complementary services to public and private Higher Education institutions of the Aburrá Valley and promote their work in synergy with the HEIs of the Medellín Municipality sub-system.
• Provide technical support to the Secretary of Education of Medellín in the fulfillment of the functions delegated by the Ministry of Education for the authorization and control of private institutions related to post-secondary education.