ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT OF PRIMARY BASIC EDUCATION IN COLOMBIA: BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCY AND ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

Abstract

The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into school management is redefining processes traditionally carried out by school leaders and administrative staff in primary education institutions: student enrollment and seat allocation, academic monitoring and early detection of dropout, and day-to-day communication with families. This article examines, from an argumentative and interpretive perspective, how these technologies are transforming primary school management in Colombia and the ethical dilemmas that emerge from their implementation. The analysis is based on a critical review of recent academic literature on artificial intelligence applied to primary education in Colombia, weighing documented operational benefits—such as streamlining administrative procedures, continuously monitoring attendance and academic performance, generating early warnings of dropout risk, and ensuring the permanent availability of communication channels for families—against the risks arising from excessive reliance on systems that may reproduce socioeconomic or geographic biases and operate as structures that are difficult for the educational communities being evaluated by them to audit. The article concludes that educational institutions and education departments that succeed in combining AI’s analytical capabilities with explicit mechanisms for transparency, community participation, and ongoing teacher training are better positioned to build fairer and more inclusive school management systems. As its central contribution, the essay proposes a three-option institutional policy framework to guide school leaders and education department teams toward the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in the management of primary education, without foregoing its benefits or compromising the dignity and rights of students.