UNESCO Santiago Regional Office for Education May 2014 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UNESCO Santiago Regional Office for Education May 2014

Socio-economic development • 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

MDGs EFA PRELAC 1.Eliminate poverty and 1. Early childhood 1. Contents and famine (50%) education methods 2.Universal primary 2. Universal primary education (coverage) 2. Teachers education of quality 3.Gender equality and empowerment of ♀ 3. Culture of schools 3. Adult and youth education 4.Reduce child mortality 4. Planning and 5.Improve maternal health management of 4. Literacy (50%) education 6.HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 5. Gender parity in primary and 5. Social 7.Environmental secondary responsibility for Sustainability education 8.Partnerships for 6. Quality of education development

PRELAC Curriculum • Diversity and flexibility Contents and • Standard setting • Harmonization of learning objectives Methods • Pedagogical and teaching methods • Pre- and in-service training Teachers • Certification, accreditation, min standards • Teaching evaluation • Education for a culture of peace Education Culture of • School environment Support schools • Academic and participative leadership Systems • Inclusion and equity • Decentralization Planning and • Quality assurance and school inspection management • Accountability • EMIS • Convergence and interagency coordination Social • Public -private partnerships responsibility • South-South cooperation for education • Innovative funding EFA and youth transition to 4 work

Progress towards Education for All (EFA)  Recognized progress towards EFA. Yet important gaps remains  76% enrolment secondary 2012  73% enrolment in ECE 2012  92% coverage adult education 2011  96% UPE 2012  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.

Main pending tasks • 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

Towards the post-2015 development agenda • 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. 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

Main accomplishments of UNESCO Santiago 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

LLECE – Latin American Laboratory for the Assessment of the Quality of Education (presently the TERCE study)  Evaluation of learning outcomes in 16 countries in 3 rd and 6 th 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)

and in addition…. • 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.

Conclusions  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 21 st century challenges  EFA and the MDGs have been useful to position education in the national development agendas

Conclusions (contd)  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.

The present, the future  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