Due to the implementation in Colombia of an education system that evaluates performance through a category called competencies, this paper analyzes the parameters, in terms of epistemological theory, that made this shift possible. Beginning with Chomsky - who coined this term - and then moving on to the theoretical approach proposed by Hymes as communicative competence, I try to build the genealogy of the term competence and explain its current use. Also, through a comparative analysis between government documents and academic papers, I talk about the implications, both in theory and practice, that this new meaning of the term has brought about in the education system in Colombia