UNESCO Santiago

Regional Office for Education

May 2014

• Many countries have increased their human development level with some reaching “high” scores:

Very high HDI: 3 countries High HDI: 18 Mid HDI: 10 Low HDI: 1

• Per capita income rose from USD 8,400 en 2000 to USD 9,634 en 2012

• 28.2% of the total population were living in poverty in 2013 (ECLAC)

• But there are also challenges: demographic (ageing of population, no. of children per family); economic (middle-income status of many countries); violence: in schools and at large; demographic bonus in many countries e.g. Mexico.

INEQUALITY remains the key outstanding task in the region

Socio-economic development

1.Eliminate poverty and famine (50%)

2.Universal primary education (coverage)

3.Gender equality and empowerment of ♀

4.Reduce child mortality

5.Improve maternal health

6.HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7.Environmental Sustainability

8.Partnerships for development

1. Contents and methods

2. Teachers

3. Culture of schools

4. Planning and management of education

5. Social responsibility for education

1. Early childhood education

2. Universal primary education of quality

3. Adult and youth education

4. Literacy (50%)

5. Gender parity in primary and secondary

6. Quality of education

MDGs EFA PRELAC

EFA and youth transition to work

4

Education Support Systems

Curriculum Contents and Methods

Teachers

Planning and management

Culture of schools

Social responsibility for education

• Diversity and flexibility • Standard setting • Harmonization of learning objectives • Pedagogical and teaching methods

• Education for a culture of peace • School environment • Academic and participative leadership • Inclusion and equity

• Decentralization • Quality assurance and school inspection • Accountability • EMIS

• Convergence and interagency coordination • Public -private partnerships • South-South cooperation • Innovative funding

• Pre- and in-service training • Certification, accreditation, min standards • Teaching evaluation

PRELAC

Recognized progress towards EFA. Yet important gaps remains

Differences between countries are marked; several countries will not achieve the EFA targets by 2015

Since 2000 some countries increased their UPE by 10% or more but, worryingly, there are downward trends since 2010 in at least 7 countries

• 20% of children are in the informal labour market

• 36 to 40m illiterates; the issue of functional illiteracy

• Over 50% of young people, 20-24, do not complete secondary

• 21% of young people neither work nor study (“Ni Nis”, CEPAL - OIT , 2012)

Inequality is more acute within countries than between them: related to socio-economic status, ethnic origin or place of residence (rural versus urban)

Quality of education is chronically deficient. UNESCO TERCE will be launched in December 2014.

Progress towards Education for All (EFA)

73% enrolment in ECE 2012 96% UPE 2012

76% enrolment secondary 2012 92% coverage adult education 2011

• Improve quality of education for individuals to develop their full potential and to obtain decent jobs. Education as a factor of social mobility

• Two critical aspects to be addressed:

Learning outcomes in the broad sense

Improve pre-and in-service teacher training as well as all dimensions of the teaching profession

• Inclusive education for all: vulnerable groups, those with special needs, indigenous groups, those in rural areas, working children, etc.

• Prevent school wastage, dropouts and reduce repetition rates

• Raise the education and skills levels of young people; reduce and prevent functional illiteracy

• Maintain and if possible, increase the % of public expenditure in education, and especially, improve the management of education systems. Not necessarily more money but “better” use of money

Main pending tasks

• A process combining the know-how of Governments, UN, CSOs, international cooperation and others

• UNESCO Santiago leads a regional process to a) help the countries meet the goals by 2015, and b) design the post-2015 education agenda

• Guiding principles in 3 areas: The right to education and the contribution of

education to reduce inequality Quality as a broad multifaceted concept of

learning throughout life Strategic alliances, convergence of agendas and

South-South cooperation.

Towards the post-2015 development agenda

The LAC region can and should formulate for itself more ambitious educational goals as it has the political will, the fiscal means and the intellectual capacity to do so

Regional Strategy on Teachers: key agents to improve education quality Assessment of the situation and conditions of teachers in LAC and the

key factors for their improvement Pre- and In-service teacher training Professional development Institutions in charge of policy formulation on teachers

Strategic focus on ICTs in education (teachers and learning outcomes)

Achievements Much valued information on teacher policies for improved decision-

making State-of-the-art on the status of teachers in LAC Guidelines and papers on standards for teacher training and

evaluation Compilation of successful experiences on teacher policies Regional technical meetings (3) to reinforce national capacities (Lima,

Panama, DR)

Partners with all 11 UNESCO Offices in the region; CECC/SICA; CEPAL

Main accomplishments of UNESCO Santiago

LLECE – Latin American Laboratory for the Assessment of the Quality of Education (presently the TERCE study)

Evaluation of learning outcomes in 16 countries in 3rd and 6th grades of primary schooling to identify factors that affect school attainment and design policies to improve quality of education

110,000 students in 3,500 schools

Generate information for evidence-based decisions to improve the quality of education

Forum for sharing of knowledge on evaluation trends and models on education quality and associated factors that affect learning

Instrument of South-South cooperation for training and professional development of national evaluation teams in 16 countries

UNESCO has stepped up its regional training programmes on education quality as the use of the results remains a challenge

Some examples of results

EFA coordination and monitoring

Targeted training programmes on the management of education systems, jointly with UIS and IIEP

State of education in LAC and technical support to Ministers and officials: regional reports, briefs, presentations, regional state-of–the-art on EFA

Post-2015 position papers on specific perspectives

Much appreciated training programmes to strengthen national capacities on use and production of education data, quality indicators and statistics on finance eg. Bolivia (Avelino Siñani Education Law, 70 civil servants)

• ESD trainings and manuals to orient education contents and methods towards knowledge and universal awareness of sustainability, in line with Rio+20

• Global citizenship education for an active and peace-driven citizenship, able to develop instruments and practices for sustainable, equitable development for all

• HIV & AIDS and sexuality education: compilation of teaching/learning good practices in the classroom for use and regional dissemination

Tools: a portal of innovation in education INNOVEMOS 2.0 with over 1,000 demonstrated experiences in Culture of peace, Teachers, ICTS, ESD, TVET, etc.

and in addition….

Inequality is a vulnerability shared by all countries. It demands complex actions requiring consensual solutions by all parties. Education plays a critical role in these efforts

The region has made EFA progress but needs to consolidate gains and formulate more ambitious goals in the post-2015…. But the window of opportunity is closing

The region requires and deserves more sophisticated technical assistance in education to respond to the complex and multilayered 21st century challenges

EFA and the MDGs have been useful to position education in the national development agendas

Conclusions

For the post-2015, innovative and more efficient mechanisms (management, funding, monitoring, reporting) are needed to follow up on the new commitments.

The architecture of the international cooperation is changing fast. Countries are now more partners than recipients. As countries develop, they strengthen the region, but also strengthen UNESCO.

South-South and North-South-South cooperation have become powerful tools that we need to harness as important instruments of international cooperation.

Conclusions (contd)

UNESCO interventions and technical assistance must adapt to the more complex realities of the region as countries move towards higher socio-economic status (this is not unique to LAC).

A new international cooperation is likely to focus on education support systems e.g. teachers, evaluation, education quality, planning, programme design and monitoring, etc.

Partnerships are essential:

Working as One UNESCO (next slide)

Strategic coalitions and PPPs

Agreements with regional groups on post-2015 e.g. CELAC

The present, the future

Montevideo: teacher education programmes, in Argentina & Paraguay Guatemala: education for peace and HR: arts, games & creative thinking Haiti: lead aid coordination; 2nd Haitian funds request to the GPE Mexico: Sustainable schools in the State of Hidalgo Lima: Strengthening teacher capacities Havana: Associated Schools network Brasilia: a) analysis of stipends for Early Childhood Education policies in Brazil and Mercosur; b) school management prize; c) education curriculum for inter-ethnic relations (afro-descendants) Quito: DIPECHO project on disaster risk reduction and prevention Kingston: technical vocational education and training (St Kitts and Nevis): science education in Guyana San Jose: EFA assessments in Central American countries

Working as One UNESCO: some examples

The present, the future (contd)

What role for UNESCO Santiago in the post-2015?

A platform for the delivery of education services on a demand-driven basis

Support and facilitate South-South and North-South-South cooperation

Explore new modalities for innovative financing for education

Ensure UNESCO coordination and leadership, quality assurance and coherence with the upcoming SDGs

A smart balance of upstream and downstream.

A new PRELAC for the post-2015

Thank you