Rita Mercedes Urquijo

A visionary Colombian educator who revolutionized Latin American pedagogy through bilingual and inclusive teaching methods.

Rita Mercedes Urquijo (1898–1985) pioneered bilingual education in Colombia, creating systems that integrated Indigenous languages with Spanish instruction. As director of the National Institute of Pedagogy (1940–1950), she developed the first teacher training program emphasizing cultural sensitivity. Her 1953 book La Educación en los Pueblos Originarios became a cornerstone for intercultural education policies. Urquijo established Colombia's first rural school network for Afro-Colombian communities in the Pacific region, addressing systemic educational exclusion. In 1960, she co-founded the Latin American Association of Pedagogical Sciences (ALCEP), which later influenced UNESCO's literacy programs. Her work with the United Nations in the 1970s helped design multilingual curricula for Andean countries. Urquijo's legacy includes the 1973 Colombian law mandating Indigenous language preservation in schools. Explore her archives at Banco de la República or learn more via educational studies.