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Education
Recognizing that progress towards more democratic societies, growing
economies and social equity depends on educated citizenship; the Heads
of State and Government have committed themselves to the following
initiatives in the Summits of the Americas.
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Mar del Plata, Argentina,
2005
IV Summit of the Americas
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During the
Fourth Summit of the Americas,
the Heads of State and Government agreed to take several
actions with regard to the issue of education. In the
Declaration of Mar del Plata, the leaders recognized the importance of
access to education as a primary element in the fight against
poverty and the reduction of inequality in our states.
Therefore, they committed to improve access to basic education
for all children and acknowledged that providing educational
opportunities is an investment in the future of our societies.
Likewise, special commitments to the most vulnerable groups,
such as indigenous peoples and afro-descendants, were
undertaken to ensure equal access to employment, eliminate
discrimination in the workplace, and guarantee access to
education.
With the goal of facilitating access and re-entry to the labor
force, maximizing economic productivity and institutional
strengthening, the Leaders committed to improve
life-long-learning opportunities, including technical and
professional training of the population. The Heads of State
and Government agreed that to this end, quality education for
all citizens must be ensured.
Furthermore, the Heads of State and Government committed, in
the Mar del Plata
Plan of Action, to encourage educational
authorities to include the study of the Fundamental Principles
and Rights at Work and the dimensions of decent work in
educational curricula, according to the approach of the
International Labor Organization.
Finally, in order to advance towards the eradication of
illiteracy in our countries, and to strengthen and enrich
educational processes in schools, including the use new
information and education technologies, the Heads of State and
Government committed in the Mar del Plata Plan of Action, to
develop and promote within the framework of the OAS the study
of a literacy program and the implementation of electronic
education programs through the exchange of successful
experiences in other countries.
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Monterrey, Mexico, 2004
Special Summit of the Americas |
In the Declaration of Nuevo León of the Special Summit of the Americas
held in Monterrey, Mexico on January 12-13, 2004, the Heads of State
and Government of the Americas identified education as a decisive
factor for human development in their efforts to promote social
development. Taking into account escalating illiteracy rates in the
Americas, leaders reiterated their commitment to promote access to
basic education based on the principles of participation, equity,
relevance, and efficiency. In addition, the Heads of State and
Government made a commitment to increase access to their educational
systems, reiterating the commitment to further implement the Regional
Education Indicators Project endorsed during the Third Inter-American
Meeting of Ministers of Education. For those that already have not
done so, each country will publicly disseminate a report based on the
educational goals of the Plan of Action of the Second Summit of the
Americas held in Santiago, Chile.
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Quebec City, Canada, 2001
Third Summit of the Americas |
In the Plan of Action of the Third Summit of the Americas,
held in Quebec City in 2001, OAS Member States recognized
that: “education is the key to strengthening democratic
institutions, promoting the development of human potential,
equality and understanding among our peoples, as well as
sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty”. Given this,
the leaders committed themselves to bolstering universal
access to quality, basic education, supporting lifelong
learning initiatives, strengthening educational systems and
enhancing the performance of teachers. During the Third
Summit, the leaders reiterated their commitment to ensure, by
the year 2010, universal access to and the successful
completion of primary school by all children and access to
quality secondary education for, at least, 75 percent of all
young people. Finally, governments gave their support to the
Meeting of Ministers of Education, which took place on
September 24-25, 2001, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
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Santiago,
Chile, 1998
Second Summit of the Americas |
During
the
Second Summit of the Americas held in
Santiago de Chile in 1998, education played a central role in the
mandates set forth in the Plan of Action. Within the document,
countries stated that the hemispheric commitment to education is
expressed in vast processes of reform that are contained at all the
levels of the educational system. This commitment is based on
a broad consensus of the challenges that educational programs
confront.
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Miami,
Florida, USA, 1994
First
Summit of the Americas |
During the
First Summit of the Americas
held in Miami,
Florida in 1994, the Heads of State and Government argued for access
to quality education, adult education and technical, professional and
magisterial training, as well as increased access to quality higher
education.
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stated that women should be granted universal access to education and
asked for the development of strategies to overcome nutritional
deficiencies. Leaders also supported decentralization and community
participation. It was also affirmed that education is the base for
social and cultural sustainable development, economic prosperity and
democratic stability.
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Third Summit of the Americas,
Quebec City, Canada 2001
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Education |
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Education |
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Recognizing that education is the key to strengthening
democratic institutions, promoting the development of human
potential, equality and understanding among our peoples, as
well as sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty;
further recognizing that to achieve these ends, it is
essential that quality education is available to all,
including girls and women, rural inhabitants, persons with
disabilities, indigenous, and persons belonging to
minorities; reaffirming the commitments made at previous
Summits to promote the principles of equity, quality,
relevance and efficiency at all levels of the education
system and ensure, by 2010, universal access to and
completion of quality primary education for all children and
to quality secondary education for at least 75 percent of
young people, with increasing graduation rates and lifelong
learning opportunities for the general population; and also
reaffirming the commitment to eliminate gender disparities
in primary and secondary education by 2005:
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Entrust the OAS to organize, within the framework of the
Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), a
meeting of Ministers of Education in Uruguay, to be held
before the end of 2001, with a mandate to:
- identify and set up appropriate hemispheric mechanisms to
ensure the implementation of the education initiatives in
this Plan of Action and to continue to promote actions on
priorities identified in previous Summits based on a careful
evaluation of our collective achievements in this area;
- establish time lines and benchmarks for follow-up on the
implementation of our commitments in education;
- establish, in light of the fundamental importance of
mobilizing resources to support sustained investment in
education at all levels, a cooperative mechanism to promote
the development of productive partnerships among governments
and with regional and international organizations and the
MDBs;
- promote the participation of and dialogue with relevant
civil society organizations to strengthen partnerships
between the public sector and other sectors of our societies
in implementing this Plan of Action;
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Formulate and implement policies, within the framework of a
strategy for resolving social inequalities, to promote
access to quality basic education for all, including early
childhood and adult education, particularly to promote
literacy, while providing for alternative methods that meet
the needs of disadvantaged segments of the population or of
those excluded from formal education systems, in particular
girls, minorities, indigenous, and children with special
education needs; share information and successful
experiences in encouraging educational participation and
addressing student retention within certain groups,
especially boys -in particular in the Caribbean countries -
whose drop-out rate at the secondary level is high in
certain regions;
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Support and promote lifelong learning by:
- offering varied curricula based on the development of
skills, knowledge, civic and democratic values;
- providing flexible service delivery mechanisms, including
the use of information and communications technologies, to
foster employability, personal growth and social commitment;
and
- certifying skills acquired on the job;
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Strengthen
education systems by:
- encouraging the participation of all sectors of society in
order to obtain a consensus on policies that are viable and
that guarantee the appropriate and continuous distribution
of resources;
- decentralizing their decision-making and promoting the
participation of civil society, especially parents; and
- promoting transparent school management in the interest of
securing an adequate and stable allocation of resources so
that educational institutions can play a leading role as
agents for change;
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Enhance the performance of teachers by:
- improving their conditions of service; and
- raising the profile of the profession by providing, in
addition to solid initial preparation, opportunities for
ongoing professional development, and by designing
accessible, flexible, dynamic and relevant training
strategies using, among other means, new information and
communications technologies;
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Support ongoing regional projects for comparable indicators
and educational assessment resulting from the Santiago
Summit, including cooperation initiatives based on
performance assessment programs regarding educational
processes and achievement, taking into consideration studies
in pedagogy and assessment practices previously developed by
countries; develop comparable indicators to assess the
services provided by each country to people with special
education needs and promote the exchange of information on
policies, strategies and best practices in the Americas;
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Strive to ensure that secondary education is more responsive
to evolving labor market requirements by promoting the
diversification of programs and experimentation with new,
more flexible teaching methods with emphasis on science and
technology, including the use of new information and
communications technologies, and by supporting the
establishment of mechanisms for the recognition and
certification of acquired skills; and to this end, promote
the exchange of information and best practices and support
cooperation projects;
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Promote more effective dialogue between society and
institutions of higher education, and facilitate access for
all to these institutions by balancing growing demand with
higher quality standards and public funding with greater
commitment from the private sector; support hemispheric
cooperation for research in science and technology aimed at
the solution of specific problems in the region and the
transfer of knowledge;
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Support the mobility, between countries of the Hemisphere,
of students, teachers and administrators at institutions of
higher education and of teachers and administrators at the
elementary and secondary levels, in order to provide them
with new opportunities to take part in the new
knowledge-based society, to increase their knowledge of
other cultures and languages, and to enable them to access
information on post-secondary studies and learning
opportunities offered across the Hemisphere, through new or
existing hemispheric networks, such as the educational Web
site set up after the Santiago Summit; continue to support
initiatives in this field such as those carried out by the
IDB and the OAS;
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Promote access by teachers, students and administrators to
new information and communications technologies applied to
education, through training geared toward new teaching
approaches, support for development of networks and
sustained strengthening of information clearinghouses, in
order to reduce the knowledge gap and the digital divide
within and between societies in the Hemisphere;
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Science and Technology |
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Promote the popularization of science and technology
necessary to advance the establishment and consolidation of
a scientific culture in the region; and stimulate the
development of science and technology for regional
connectivity through information and communications
technologies essential for building knowledge-based
societies;
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Support the development of high-level human capital for the
development of science and technology research and
innovation that would encourage the strengthening of the
agricultural, industrial, commercial and business sectors as
well as the sustainability of the environment;
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Promote, with the support of existing cooperation
mechanisms, the development of the regional program of
science and technology indicators;
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Endeavor to implement and follow up on the scientific and
technological activities mentioned above, counting on the
support of hemispheric cooperation and coordination
mechanisms related to this field;
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Quebec
Plan of Action (complete version):
English |
Spanish |
French |
Portuguese |
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Key documents in the area of Education
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Education |
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III Meeting of Ministers of Education |
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The Third Meeting of Ministers of Education in the
framework of the Inter-American Council on Integral Development (CIDI)
of the Organization of American States (OAS) was held on August
11th to 13th, 2003 in Mexico City. Representatives of the 34
Member States of the OAS and experts from other multilateral
organizations, including the Organization of Ibero-American States
for Education, Science, and Culture (OEI), the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB), and the World Bank participated in the
meeting.
The President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, opened the meeting by urging
the member states to overcome the educational lag of the
hemisphere, and stated that although there have been advances in
the area of education in Latin America in the past years, the
region still has many limitations in comparison to developed
countries. The President of Mexico also announced that an
agreement was signed between Mexican authorities and the OAS,
through which Mexico makes available the free use of the EDUSAT
satellite system in order to allow citizens of the hemisphere to
benefit from educational material developed in Mexico and will
also encourage the exchange of educational content between
countries.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria, stated that “the
main reason for great inequity in Latin America is related to our
education systems, which in many cases, is not able to improve the
existing situation of indigenous children, poor families or
illiterate families.” The Secretary General also stated that the
economic crisis in many of the countries has elevated the level of
poverty, which obligates states to address this problem quickly
and “to assume stronger commitments to social and education
policy.” Gaviria highlighted that it is necessary to strengthen
the exchange of experiences between the different countries and
the relationship between the authorities, non-governmental
organizations, and multilateral organizations.
Prior to the Ministerial, a meeting on “Civil Society
Participation in Education” was held in Bogotá, Colombia on July
28-29, 2003. This meeting sought to gather the civil society
organizations’ perspective with respect to the initiatives defined
by the Ministries of Education under the OAS framework.
Representatives of civil society organizations that work on
education in Latin America and the Caribbean participated in this
event. The members of civil society organizations prepared a
document that they submitted for consideration to the Ministers,
in which they made recommendations on the quality and equity of
education, teacher training and the creation of follow-up and
evaluation mechanisms, as well as the repercussions for education
from the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
In the Meeting of Ministers of Education, key representatives from
Brazil and Mexico highlighted the necessity to create an American
Education Fund, which would benefit 840 million people affected by
a low quality of education. The Brazilian Minister of Education,
Cristovan Ricardo Boarque, took this opportunity to request his
American counterpart, Roderick Paige, for the support of the
United States in the creation of the “American Bank” which would
produce an alliance for education for the entire hemisphere.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) claims that they loose
11 million dollars per year in education investment due to the
number of youth that abandon their studies. The level of
investment per capita in basic education fluctuates in the
countries between 50 and 1.700 dollars per year, an amount that is
insufficient for addressing the existing educational needs. The
IDB asked the governments of the region to centralize investment
in basic education, to look for mechanisms for holding teachers
accountable, to establish parameters to measure quality, and to
promote the intervention of the parents in their children’s
education.
One of the main conclusions from the meeting is the agreement of
the various ministers to “explore the possibility” to convert part
of the external debt payment of countries into education programs
through the financial mechanism known as “swap.” The Declaration
states that all the participants did not approve the proposal.
However, the document noted that this initiative must be
developed, “in coordination with the Ministers of Finance and
respecting the countries’ legislations.”
The Ministers of Education in the Americas gathered in Mexico,
reiterated the mandate from the III Summit of the Americas to
reach the goal that all children in the hemisphere would have
access to primary education by the year 2010 and agreed to create
an alliance for promoting better quality of teaching. This was
established in the final twenty-point Declaration of the Third
Meeting of Ministers of Education, which concluded with the
installation of the Inter-American Commission for Education (ICE),
which will be a permanent forum to advance the issue of education
among the 34 OAS Member countries. One of the principal tasks of
the ICE was the approval of hemispheric projects financed through
an OAS special fund of US$2 million. These projects will promote
equity and quality of education, strengthen secondary education,
promote teacher training, and expand and improve the comparable
indicators in education.
Highlights from the Mexico City meeting include: to find a more
efficient way to manage public funds and promote alliances with
the private sector in order to obtain resources. The Ministers
agreed to develop new technologies, promote scientific research
and its application in education; preserve the cultural diversity
of the region, increase civil society participation in the
modernization of the education system, improve teacher training
and strengthen projects that improve the quality and equity of
education. Another goal agreed upon at the Ministerial meeting was
that in 2005, 75 % of youth in the Hemisphere will have access to
secondary education. Latin America has 500 million habitants of
whom 214 million are poor (approximately 43 percent), with an
illiteracy rate of more than 10 %.
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The Horizontal Cooperation Strategy
/Permanent Portfolio of consolidated Programs
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In response to the commitment created by the Ministers of
Education to strengthen horizontal cooperation, the UDSE
prepared a permanent portfolio that contains programs for 17
countries in the hemisphere. Based on this commitment the
Ministers held a consultation for the purpose of identifying
the priority programs. Once the consultation was carried
out, they began the strategy of cooperation with the
programs in highest demand, this phase will include an
internship, in which the staff members of the interested
countries will have the possibility to become more familiar
with the educational programs, and also analyze and apply
the programs within their contexts.
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Educational informatics in Costa Rica |
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On September 30 to October 1, 2002 the I International
Internship of Educational Informatics was carried out the
Foundation Omar Dengo of Costa Rica that specializes in teaching
preparation. Different country representatives and the UDSE also
participated and coordinated the I International Internship of
Educational Informatics. The principal objective of the Internship
was: to create environments of learning where the computer becomes
a tool to make it possible to discuss, analyze, negotiate and
collaborate with the formation of personality, logical thinking,
creativity and flexibility; and to develop a procedure that is
carried out stimulating students in a collaborative work, and to
construct and develop a conceptual map and research bibliographic
or digital sources.
The conclusions of the Internship were:
Develop a plan to promote the pertinent incorporation of the
informatics into the basic education through personal, and/or
institutional action, with a medium- length time frame.
Prepare a Report on the Learning and Convictions that arose in the
I International Internship of Educational Informatics and to
present the Report to the respective authorities of each country.
Submit a proposal on a multilateral project that includes the
realization of demonstrative experiences at basic education
schools.
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Bilingual education in multicultural
contexts
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On December 4 to 13, 2002 the UDSE in collaboration with the
AICD and the Secretary of Public Education of Mexico carried
out the seminar: “Quality of the Education in Multicultural
Contexts”. The objectives of the meeting were to analyze the
challenges of the intercultural indigenous education and the
continental commitments on the cultural diversity assumed at
the Third Summit of the Americas, and to support the
exchange of critiques of the learned lessons in the
multicultural programs of every country. The basic subjects
of the seminar were:
The historical context in the education of the indigenous
peoples of the Hemisphere and the challenges of the
transition from a multicultural education to the
construction of an intercultural education.
The challenges of giving equitable and relevant quality
education to indigenous children.
The implementation of bilingual intercultural policies in
the different contexts in each country which indigenous
populations are present (migrations to the cities, rural
populations with hybrid majorities, etc.)
The seminar consisted of: round tables, with the
presentations of educational diagnoses and conclusions for
each country; an active methodology by presenting national
documents on the situation of bilingual intercultural
education in the countries from the perspective of
academicians, indigenous leaders, and governmental
representatives; as well as workshops with discussion and
reflection on the national documents and the related
presentations.
The participatory environment permitted the exchange of
ideas and managed to enhance the knowledge and experience of
the participants, who tried to analyze and share the
challenges of the intercultural indigenous education, and
agreed on commitments and efforts directed to achieve a
basis for a future declaration on education intercultural
bilingual.
Governmental representatives, academicians, and indigenous
leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Peru participated in the
seminar.
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Inter-American Committee on Education |
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The Follow-Up Group of the Education Chapter of the Summits
of the Americas convened in the
city of Cancun, Mexico on May 29-30, 2002, to draft a
proposal for the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE).
As discussed by the Follow-Up Group, the purpose of the CIE
would be to coordinate the implementation of the
Inter-American ministerial dialogue on education matters in
order to keep track of the mandates of the Summits of the
Americas and the agreements reached at the Meeting of
Ministers of Education. In addition, the CIE would be
responsible for identifying multilateral initiatives and
helping to implement the Organization of American States’
partnership for development policies in the field of
education. The Meeting concluded with the resolution to
approve the regulations of the CIE so that it may start
functioning as of the date of the resolution, ad referendum
of the next meeting of the Committee of the Inter-American
Council for Integral Development.
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Consultations by Civil Society on Education |
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The Unit for Social Development and
Education has initiated an electronic consultation where
civil society organizations can share their perspectives on
the role of civil society in educational development. The
Unit has invited these civil society organizations to
participate in the process, directing them to sign on to the
web page
www.oas.org/consulta.
Once signed on they can register and send in their
participation, which will be posted on the same page.
The topic of
this consultation is Civil Society’s Participation in
Education: Myths, Realities and New Challenges. In
parting, a discussion on Rosa Maria Torres’ article titled
"Citizens’ Participation and Education; A panoramic view and
twenty experiences in Latin America" was proposed. This
article can be found on the same web page.
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Educational Portal of the Americas
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On the evening of September 25, 2001, at a special ceremony
of the Second Meeting of Ministers of Education of the
Americas, the Education Portal of the Americas, which is an
initiative of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and
Development, was inaugurated. From this portal, a user can
access over 4,000 distance learning opportunities,
fellowship programs, courses for the ongoing professional
development of teachers and other related sites of interest.
To see
this Web site, please click
here.
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Second Meeting of Ministers of Education of
the Americas
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On September 24-25, 2001, the Second Meeting of Ministers of the
Americas was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The meeting
highlighted the importance of education as an instrument to
achieve peace, eradicate poverty and co | | | | |
