Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Education

ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI)

INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OEA/Ser.W/XIII.6.11 XI MEETING OF AUTHORITIES CIDI/CECIE/doc.3 /10 rev.1 AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 28 March 2010 February 22 – 23, 2010 Original: Spanish Washington, D.C.

REPORT OF ACTIVITIES OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (CIE) 2009-2010

(Presented by the Chair of the CIE and the Technical Secretariat)

Introduction

This report was prepared by the Chair of the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE) and its Technical Secretariat, which resides within the Office of Education and Culture (OEC, formerly the Department of Education and Culture, DEC) of the OAS Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI).

Its purpose is to inform Member States of the activities of the CIE and its Technical Secretariat since the X Meeting of Authorities and Executive Committee of the CIE, held in Washington, D.C., in February 2009. The report focuses specifically on progress in the areas of (a) policy dialogue; (b) project support; (c) resource mobilization; and (d) promotion of interagency cooperation and consultation with civil society.

Background

Established at the Third Meeting of Ministers of Education, held in Mexico City in 2003, the CIE is composed of one representative of each Ministry of Education of the 34 OAS Member States. Its principal mandate is to follow up on the implementation of decisions issued at the ministerial meetings and in the Summits of the Americas process in the field of education. In addition, the CIE seeks to identify multilateral initiatives and contribute to the execution of OAS policies and programs dealing with strategic partnerships for education. The CIE performs its functions with support from the OAS General Secretariat, in the form of services from its Technical Secretariat, residing within the Office of Education and Culture of the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development.

The CIE has been supported in its task of implementing concrete programs and projects, in response to priorities set by the ministries, through a subfund consisting of a single contribution to support initiatives to fulfill the mandates of the Summits of the Americas and the ministerial meetings. The total allocated to education in 2003 was US$2,000,000. The CIE charged its authorities with the responsibility for decisions on financing initiatives under this fund. More information regarding regulations and expenditures in the 2004-2010 period is given in the Resource Mobilization section of this document. 2

The CIE meets in plenary session (34 representatives) approximately once every two years. The authorities and Executive Committee of the CIE, composed of three officers (one chair and two vice chairs), five subregional representatives, and five alternates, meet approximately two to three times per year to review the progress of ongoing projects, to discuss new policy priorities and important research findings, and to develop concrete strategies for providing financial, technical, and political support to specific initiatives that promote multilateral cooperation among member states of the Hemisphere.1/ These meetings are open to participation by all Member States.

During the 2009-2010 term, the CIE authorities continued to implement the CIE Work Plan, based on the priority areas established by the Ministers of Education at their biannual meetings and in the Summits of the Americas process.

The Office of Education and Culture of the OAS Executive Secretariat for Integral Development, in its role as Technical Secretariat, supports the CIE by promoting policy dialogue among members; by fostering horizontal cooperation in all the member countries to exchange information and discuss experiences and good practices in the field of education; by managing multilateral projects on key priority topics; and by encouraging a coordinated approach to strengthening policy and practice, coordinating with international organizations, and consulting with civil society regarding their priorities. The activities of the past two years are summarized herein under the following headings: project support, policy dialogue, resource mobilization, and facilitating interagency cooperation and consultation with civil society.

Project Support in Priority Areas

Education Indicators:

In 1998, the 34 Heads of State and Government gathered at the Second Summit of the Americas, in Santiago, Chile, and adopted a Plan of Action on education with three quantifiable objectives to be achieved by 2010: the first is universal access to and completion of primary education; the second is that 75% of the region’s young people enter secondary education, with increasing rates of secondary completion; the third is that the population in general have access to opportunities for lifelong learning. At the same time, the Plan of Action specified the need to develop internationally comparable education indicators in the region. The result was the Regional Education Indicators Project (PRIE), initially coordinated by Chile and, since 2003, coordinated by the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) of Mexico, with technical coordination by UNESCO/OREALC. The project has received funding from the OAS (CIE), the SEP, and, in the first implementation phase, USAID. The Steering Committee that guides project execution consists of representatives of five ministries of education, SEP, UNESCO, and the OAS (CIE Chair and Director of the Office of Education and Culture).

1 At the Third Meeting of Ministers of Education, Mexico was elected Chair, and Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil as Vice Chairs, of the CIE for the 2003-2005 term. (For a report on progress during this period, see document OEA/Ser.W/XIII.6.3). At the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Education, Trinidad and Tobago was elected Chair of the CIE; Brazil and Venezuela were elected Vice Chairs. At the Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Education, Colombia and Ecuador were elected Chair (for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 terms, respectively); Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil were elected Vice Chairs. (For subregional representatives and alternates, see http://www.oas.org/udse/cie/ingles/fr_bien.html). 3

The main objectives of PRIE have been to develop and publish a set of indicators of OAS member-country progress toward achieving the education goals of the Summits of the Americas and to provide technical assistance to member countries in strengthening their capacity to collect, analyze, and use reliable data in decision-making.

During 2009 the following data missions were carried out: 1. Data Plan Mission to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (June 2009) 2. Data Plan Mission to Suriname (August 2009) 3. Data Plan Mission to Belize (October 2009) 4. Data Plan Mission to Grenada (October 2009) 5. Data Plan Mission to Venezuela (November 2009)

The VII LAC Regional Workshop in Educational Statistics 2009 was held in Cancun, Mexico on December 9-11, 2009. 25 countries participated, along with the OAS, UNESCO/OREALC and the UNESCO Statistics Institute (UIS).

At this meeting the discussion draft of the 2009 Educational Panorama was distributed, showing the progress of the member States and the region in the achievement of the objectives of the Summits of the Americas. This publication is a continuation of the Educational Panorama 2005 and shows that the region has advanced considerably, especially in aspects of educational access; nonetheless the problems of educational equity and quality have not been resolved. The 2009 Educational Panorama is planned to be published by the PRIE project in 2010. Comments or corrections by member states are requested as soon as possible in order that they may be incorporated in the final publication.

In addition to the publication, the meeting gave an opportunity to share the latest advances in the region in the field of educational statistics and to promote collaboration among the statistics offices of the region’s Ministries of Education. UNESCO has credited the PRIE with helping to significantly improve the reporting of educational statistics in the region.

The OAS Technical Secretariat has provided technical information for the project’s objectives and execution, the development of products and communications strategies, and the development, in collaboration with the SEP and UNESCO, of the project website: www.prie.oas.org. A virtual forum also has been established on the OAS website for online discussion of the use and analysis of information and other topics meaningful to agents of the Regional Information System (SIRI).

The publication of the 2009 Panorama will close the PRIE cycle and project, unless other decisions are made and additional funding identified.

Early Childhood Development and Education

In November 2007, the Ministers of Education of the Member States adopted the “Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education” (CIDI/RME/doc. 10/07) and the "Guidelines for Early Childhood Education Programming” (CIDI/RME/doc. 7/07) in Cartagena de 4

Indias, Colombia. The Ministers agreed to implement policies, strategies and programs that support childhood development and education with equity, quality and efficiency. For this purpose, the CIE approved the Work Plan for 2008-2009, which contains various projects and activities.

During the VI Meeting of Ministers of Education in August 2009, the Minister of Education from Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Esther Le Gendre; the Executive Vice President of the Junta Nacional de Jardines Infantiles (National Association of Kindergartens - JUNJI) of Chile, Mrs. Estela Ortiz; and the Vice Minister of Education from Colombia, Dr. Isabel Segovia; informed about the progress of the activities that had been developed with support from all member States. The Ministers approved a paragraph in the “Declaration of Quito”, where they reaffirmed their Hemispheric Commitment, they express their satisfaction at the progress in implementing the mandates under the coordination of the CIE, and in order to give this greater impetus and visibility, they agreed to entrust CIE to develop an Inter-American Program on Comprehensive Attention to Early Childhood, to which they will give a firm support.

The Technical Secretariat at CIE made progress in the preparation of a preliminary version of this Inter-American Program. In the following months, based on a suggestion from the Permanent Mission of Chile at the OAS, came up the idea to organize a Special Session of the Permanent Council about Early Childhood that could promote and make visible the rights and opportunities from children from birth to eight years in Member States policies. The Ambassadors from the OAS Missions of Bahamas, Colombia and Costa Rica, supported this activity because they consider it is a priority in the fight against poverty. The General Secretariat has been working in the organization of the Joint Special Session of the Permanent Council and the CEPCIDI entitled: “Investing in early childhood: a certain strategy to fight poverty and to promote social development and equity” to be held on February 24, 2010.

In 2009, the following projects and activities have been developed to implement the Ministers’ mandates:

1. Project: “Policies and Strategies for the Child's Successful Transition to Socialization and School” seeks to complement the efforts of the Member States to design, create, and evaluate the policies and strategies that increase enrollment and improve the quality and equity of early childhood/preschool education and the first two years of basic/elementary school. The project has two components: i) Understanding and disseminating the state of the art of early childhood education and care from birth to 3 year and ii) Policies and strategies for the child’s transition to socialization and school. The project developed two symposiums about the topics of its two components: one in Washington, DC in 2007, and the other in Valparaiso, Chile, 2009. As main results we can identify the following:

The event helped to strengthen the institutional capacity of early childhood/preschool and basic education national offices to formulate policies and strategies that improve the quality of life and possibilities for academic success of children. For example, Brazil incorporated the advances on the studies about transitions of the project OAS- Van Leer in its official curricular policy documents that have been published by the Ministry of Education in 2010 2. Moreover, the directors of early childhood and basic education of the 34 Member States

2 Report presented by the National Coordinator of Early Childhood, Lic, Rita Coelho, in Puebla, Mexico, February 2010. 5

shared their knowledge and examined the latest findings in neuroscience and pedagogical practice, as well as, the advances and challenges that Member States have regarding the accomplishment of international commitments. The work by Subregion has been improved and also the alliances between countries and institutions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Actions with other institutions and international organizations have been strengthened: UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank, IADB, OEI, Andean Development Corporation (CAF), Bernard Van Leer Foundation, PAHO, World Association of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI); World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP); Save the Children, Plan, CINDE, among others.

The Symposium were broadcasted live to the 34 countries of the OAS as well as outside the Inter-American region. Both Symposiums have been burned in CDs with all the information in English and Spanish, according to the agenda. See presentations at http://www.sedi.oas.org/dec. See videos in English at http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/EducaciónCuidadoyDesarrolloInf antil/Proyectos/Educacióndelaprimerainfancia/tabid/1318/language/en-US/Default.aspx

The book Early Childhood Transitions: An International Outlook was published with support from the international consultants Maribel Cormack and Erika Dunkelberg, and the technical consultancy of the OEC. The book analyzes aspects of the topic of transitions in the Americas and in countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The findings were presented at the Second Symposium. http://portal.oas.org/ LinkClick .aspx?fileticket=dD4mkNcuueE %3d&tabid=1318&language=es-CO

During the II Symposium in Valparaiso, Chile, in agreement with and with the financial support of UNICEF/TACRO, 15 indigenous leaders from various countries of the region met to discuss early childhood care in their communities. They adopted the Declaration of the Indigenous Peoples, where indigenous leaders argue the foundations of intercultural bilingual education; expose their hopes and worries regarding early childhood education in their communities.

The project received US$331.040 from the CIE – funds from resolution CP/RES. 831 (1342/02). These resources served as seed funds to multiply the contributions from other donors.

2. OAS/Van Leer Project: “Transition policy trends in indigenous, rural and border communities” began in 2007 with the participation of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and with the financial support of the Bernard Van Leer Foundation. The OEC obtained the membership of Costa Rica and Bolivia, which are financed by UNICEF; Guatemala, financed by the Institute for Development and Educational Innovation in Early Childhood Education and Children's Rights (IDIE) from the OEI; as well as Mexico, conducted through the Foundation for the Integral Development of Indigenous Peoples and People of Mexico and financed by the government of the People's Republic of China.

It is a research project that seeks to contribute to the search for consensus to support decision- makers to contribute in improving quality and expanding coverage to children from birth to 6

eight years old of indigenous, rural and border populations. Academics, experts from government and civil society are participating in the project. The last coordination meeting took place on 25 and 26 January 2010, in Puebla, Mexico.

The following publications are a result of the project: (a) “Transition policy trends indigenous, rural, and border communities”, it gathers information from the first five countries of the project: conceptual precisions, analysis and interpretation of statistics and education policies focused on indigenous populations; (b) “Case studies in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Chile”; (c) an executive report that includes the conclusions and the lessons learned in aspects of education policy, statistical data, factors derived from case studies favorable to transitions; conditions reversing unfavorable processes and recommendations; and (d) a CD with both books, to be published in Spanish and English in May 2010.

For further information please follow this link: http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/EducaciónCuidadoyDesarrolloInf antil/Proyectos/Transicionesexitosasdelniño/tabid/1317/language/en-US/Default.aspx

The project has a component of social communication, and in 2009 the results from the studies have been translated into a communicative language. Several meetings of dissemination have been developed from the case studies in Colombia and Peru, this experience can serve other countries.

The First International Symposium “Early Childhood and challenges for basic education in the XXI century” was held in Puebla, Mexico, January 27 to 29, 2010. It was convened by the Government of Puebla, through the Ministry of Education, the Foundation for the Integral Development of Indigenous Peoples and People of Mexico / AC, and the OEC / OAS. It brought together 1,500 delegates from 15 countries and Mexico to provide an environment of knowledge, analysis and reflection of the reality of teaching, public policy, the challenges of multiculturalism and indigenous vision of educating children in their first eight years of life and in basic education. The working tables made very specific proposals in areas such as teacher training, intercultural bilingual education, and others. On 12 February 2010 the findings and recommendations were presented to the Indigenous Teachers Union of Mexico. The Secretary of Education of Puebla, Lic. Dario Carmona, offered to take the findings and recommendations to the Chamber of Deputies in order to request support for their implementation. Please see more details in the following website: http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/EducaciónCuidadoyDesarrolloInf antil/Proyectos/Transicionesexitosasdelniño/tabid/1317/language/en-US/Default.aspx

This project was financed by the Bernard Van Leer Foundation through a sum of 265,000 Euros (approximately US$350,000). Chile/JUNJI and Brazil’s Ministry of Education provided government resources as well. UNICEF, OEI/Guatemala and the government of China contributed to the project. The OEC has received approval of an extension of financial support from the Van Leer Foundation for a second phase of work, which will start the second half of 2010. It will also add other topics: poor urban areas, scale from birth to three years, combating violence, healthy environments for learning. The call is hemispheric for all the 34 member states. 7

3. Project: “Expanding the Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education through Technology and Communication Networks.” The Commitment of the Ministers of Education proposes “developing communication and dissemination policies” and exchanging and promoting advocacy and social participation experiences in early childhood. In June 2008, a US$161,925 project was approved by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The OEC, with support from Colombia’s CINDE, Chile’s JUNJI and Peru’s Acción por los Niños (Action for the Children), prepared a “Communication Strategy to improve the quality of early childhood education.” This strategy has been socialized in four events for its validation, with the following results: (a) between May 2009 and February 2010 8 workshops and disseminating forums have been accomplished in: Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Trinidad and Tobago; (b) technical documents including “Report of communication experiences on early childhood” and “Diagnostic Guide communication experiences on early childhood in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Surinam.

Several practical tools have also been developed: “A guide for guidance on Internet social networks to position early childhood ", which gives guidelines for handling practical information on early childhood en: Internet, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Blogs. “Keys to discuss early childhood in the media” is a manual for developing early childhood texts of press coverage. The “Manual for communicators and journalists on general guidelines for early childhood” is a tool with recommendations on how to cover, disseminate and implement information. “Key messages and slogans on Early Childhood” proposes concepts on early childhood as a result of some workshops facilitated by communication specialists in Chile, Mexico and Colombia. Two newsletters were also prepared: one on early childhood and another on trends in transition policies in indigenous, rural and border communities.

On 18 January 2010, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the area of communications at the Ministry of Education held a workshop with the national directors of preschool education in 12 countries in the Caribbean and CARICOM. Four days later, the journalists were given a sample sheet with information on experiences and data communication on early childhood in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. They were asked to do the same exercise in their countries for delivery to the communication units of the ministries of education.

Finally, the cost of different service providers to implement the Early Childhood Portal defined in the Strategy of Communication is in consultation, it is intended to develop 3 databases: experts, successful experiences and links to other websites and networks.

4. Project: Consolidating early childhood education in the Caribbean through technical cooperation with Chile.” The OAS and the government of Chile signed a Memorandum of Understanding for mutual technical cooperation between Chile and Caribbean Member States. The memorandum approved a project to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Caribbean countries to expand and improve the quality of childhood care and education, within the “Regional Framework for Action for Children 2002- 1015 (CARICOM)” and “Chile crece contigo” (“Chile grows with you”). The project was 8

approved in May 2009 for US$100,801, which allowed the participation of delegates from 13 Caribbean countries in the Symposium on Transitions in Chile.

From January 18 to 22, 2010, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the meeting “Improving early childhood education in the Caribbean through cooperation with Chile” was held. It involved the participation of 4 specialists from Chile / JUNJI, the CARICOM Secretariat, UNICEF Caribbean and the Technical Secretariat of the CIE. The purpose was to advise and think about policies for children, management, curriculum collective construction, family work, alternative care, and networking. All countries contributed to the development of the agenda. The meeting resulted in an excellent level of exchange and mutual understanding between the Caribbean, Chile, CARICOM, UNICEF and the OAS, asking at the end to continue this type of technical meetings between Latin America and the Caribbean.

5. Project: Evaluation of Quality Education: Follow-up of the Commitment to early childhood. This project seeks to promote the implementation of follow-up, monitoring, and evaluation strategies that contribute to the improvement of the quality of early childhood care. It will examine indicators, teaching standards, and tools to evaluate the equality of educational processes. Thirty-four Member States will participate through their actions in five subregions, which will culminate in an Inter-American meeting in Paraguay at the end of 2010. The activities that have been developed so far are:

(a) The Ministry of Education of Costa Rica, along with the DEC/OAS, UNICEF, the General Secretariat of Central American Education and Cultural Coordination (CECC/SICA) of the Central American Integration System convened the “Central American Subregional Congress: evaluation of childhood development and learning from 0 to 8.” Forty-two government delegates from eight countries’ different sectors and institutions participated. Those in charge of Paraguay’s evaluation programs and Mexico/CENDI participated in order to initiate inter-regional coordination. We are currently tracking and socializing the Evaluation Forum, prepared by the National Early Childhood Education, Ministry of Education of Costa Rica. See the report at http://portal.oas.org/Portal/Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/EducaciónCuidadoyDesarroll oInfantil/Proyectos/ProyectodeEvaluacióneIndicadores/tabid/1730/language/en- US/Default.aspx

(b) The Second Forum of Mercosur: "Evaluation of the comprehensive development and quality of services in care policies in early childhood” was held on December 2, 3 and 4 2009, in Asuncion, Paraguay with technical and financial aid from-UNICEF, OAS / OEC, IDB, OEI, UNESCO). It was agreed to develop another follow-up meeting of Mercosur agreements in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the fourth week of April or second week of May 2010. It will be conducted with support from the Ministry of Education, IADB, UNICEF, OEI and OAS. The topic will be "implementation of indicators of child development assessment and selection of tools for its execution.”

(c) The Andean subregional Congress is now in preparation and it will be held in June 2010 under the coordination of the Ministry of National Education of Colombia, UNICEF and the OAS. 9

(d) A Seminar for Sharing Experiences will also be organized: "Equity from the start: 10 years of EDI (Early Development Instrument), and it will be held on June 16 and 17, 2010 at the University of Oxford, Canada, along with the Center for Advanced Research CIAR, Canada, Council for Early Childhood Development, the Oxford Center for Child Studies and OEC / OAS.

(e) Similarly, we are coordinating efforts to organize the Caribbean subregional meeting with CARICOM in July 2010, possibly in Guyana. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education of Paraguay, is organizing the World Congress on Early Childhood Assessment to be held in November 2010, in Asuncion, with support from the OAS / OEC and other entities.

6. “Introduction to early childhood care strategies from birth to 3” Distance course. As part of the CapaciNet project “Improving Democratic Governability: Online learning for institutional capacity-building,” financed by CIDA, the OEC and the Executive Secretariat of the SEDI have undertaken (with support from a consultant, Maribel Cormack) the content design of the distance course that will be offered in May 2010 to the Member States, civil society institutions and teacher education institutions.

The course aims to respond to the growing awareness of the importance of child development at this stage, and the need to expand the capacity to meet this stage with quality. It uses the network concept combining technology tools with open methodological proposals that may enhance capacities for policy development and quality programs aimed at children from birth to three years. The thematic content of the course are based on current information on research in neuroscience, pedagogy, research, educational assessment, curriculum, and sociology. It also incorporates lessons learned and international policy statements, from a rights perspective. The CapaciNet project supports the OEC in this endeavor with US$10,000.

7. Second World Congress and Ninth International Meeting of Early and Preschool Education: Processes of professional development and training of education agents. It was held in Monterrey, Mexico from September 23 to 25, 2009. It was convened by the State Government of Nuevo Leon, the Ministry of Education, Child Development Centers in Monterrey (CENDI) and the Office of Education and Culture of the OAS. The findings were passed in four categories: research priorities, challenges to the training of teachers and education professionals, communication challenges and recommendations to governments, to civil society in general, and to the media and training institutions in particular. The event was transmitted live to 48 countries with support from the World Association of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI).

In additional actions related to the work plan of the CIE in the area of early childhood, the OEC participated in the Preparatory Meeting and the “Global Forum of Working Groups of Civil Society, State: comprehensive care for early childhood” held in Cali, Colombia in November 2009. These meetings were held in support of implementation of national public policy, “Colombia for Early Childhood.” This participation of the OEC opened the opportunity to work associated with the “Entrepreneurs for early childhood education” in an activity planned for the first half of 2010 along with Argentina and Brazil. 10

The OEC provided expertise to the Technical meeting of the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Children and Adolescents in Argentina, also to the International Seminar organized by OMEP Argentina and the Congress of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires in April 2009. This activity opened great opportunities for working with Argentine businessmen from “Educational dialogues” (“Diálogos Educativos”) with whom the OEC organizes a call to entrepreneurs in Latin America which are committed to early childhood, for the first half of 2010. Finally, the OEC was involved in supporting civil society represented by the World Association of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI) at the World Congress: “Early Childhood Today”, in Guanajuato, Mexico in July 2009. http ://portal.oas.org/ Portal /Topic/SEDI/EducaciónyCultura/EducaciónCuidadoyDesarrolloInfantil/Ev entos/tabid/1336/language/en-US/Default.aspx

In addition, the consultant Prof. Maribel Cormack represented the OEC at the International Conference on School Readiness and School Success from November 12-13, 2009, which was held in Quebec City, Canada. The event was organized by the Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Development and the Strategic Knowledge Cluster Canada on ECD from Canada. This approach allows Member States to participate in the Network of the Center of Excellence and its published papers. Learn more at www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca

The OEC has consolidated its work associated with the OEI in various activities; i) the signing of the Agreement OEI-OAS during the Sixth Meeting of Ministers of Education, ii) technical assistance in the International Seminar on Quality Early Education for Early Childhood; iii) the contribution of the essay "The Future of Latin American education: is non schooling an option," published in the Series Metas 2021, early education chapter; iv) in another essay written at the request of SITEAL, “Childhood Education in indigenous and rural communities”, published in the “Report on social and educational trends in Latin America” of the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIPE-UNESCO, Regional Office Buenos Aires) and the Organization of Iberoamerican States (OEI). The OEI Guatemala coordinates with the OEC the implementation of the Distance Learning Course for non-professional staff working with children from 0 to 3 years.

Finally, since July 28, 2009, the OEC is part of the advisory committee, as expert of the High Secretariat of Early Childhood at the ALAS Foundation, together with the Earth Institute at Columbia University for Global Health and Economic Development

Strengthening the Teaching Force

Research shows that well-prepared teachers are one of the main factors in student learning. But in most areas of the Americas teacher preparation levels are uneven and often substandard. The OAS and the Ministry of Education of Trinidad and Tobago have continued to implement the project “Teacher Education for the 21st Century: An Emphasis on Technology and Collaboration to Improve the Quality of Education in the Americas,” presented by Trinidad and Tobago to the CIE in May 2008.

During 2009 the following activities were carried out: 11

 Design and implementation of on-line courses for teacher educators with the aim of helping teachers to integrate information and communication technologies in their teaching practice. The iEARN network, based in New York, and the Evolucion Foundation of Argentina have collaborated with the OAS for the development and execution of this component. This is an 11-week course whose contents aim to prepare the teachers of future teachers to integrate technological and Internet Web 2 tools in their pedagogy, to enrich their classes and improve the learning achievement of their students, as well as to facilitate collaboration with their peers in other institutions and other countries via technology. Between Augusts and December 2009, the second edition of the course was implemented. Forty-eight teacher educators from Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago participated in the English edition. In the Spanish version, 80 teacher educators from Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia and the Dominican Republic participated. The same courses will be offered in the platform of the Portal of the Americas in 2010.

 Between late 2009 and early 2010, a number of activities have been developed as part of the process of creating the Inter-American Teacher Educator Network (ITEN). Surveys were carried out to obtain feedback from the teaching force of the Americas on the theoretical framework of the network. These surveys were administered to the participants in the online courses (teacher educators) and to pre-service teaching students. The results of the surveys were compiled and analyzed to elaborate the conceptual document on the nature and content of the network. The communication strategy of the ITEN was also developed in this period, describing a plan of action to be implemented in the communication’s area.

 Throughout 2010 work will center on the creation of a web site deducated to initial (preservice) teacher preparation in the region. The Latinamerican Network of Educational Portals (RELPE) and the (UNESCO) Institute of Higher Education for Latin America and the Caribbean will also participate in this component and have agreed to collaborate with the OAS in this effort. RELPE is interested in creating an observatory on the use of information and communication technologies in the preparation of teachers in the Americas. This observatory will constitute a database with information on technological equipment, use policies, training, and curricular integration of ICTs in teacher-preparation institutions in the Americas. IESALC is interested in having a graphic representation or “mapping” of the institutions dedicated to forming teachers in the Americas. This map will make available to all interested parties a registry and detailed description of the teacher preparation institutions in the region.

Education for Democratic Citizenship

The Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices, adopted by the Ministers of Education in 2005 and supported by the OAS General Assembly at its recent session, has been successfully developed as an alliance of governments, civil society, international organizations, schools, universities, and others who work to promote the development of a culture of democracy through education. The Program includes three components: research, professional development, and experiences and information exchange. An Advisory Board includes approximately 12

35 representatives of such international entities as the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, UNICEF, and UNESCO; representatives of member states’ education ministries; and experts from academia and civil society from across the Hemisphere. The role of the Advisory Board is to monitor the progress of the Program.

At the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Education, held in Trinidad and Tobago in August 2005, the Ministers requested that the CIE support the launching of the Program and also facilitate the development of a detailed and feasible work plan with a proposed budget and sources of financing for the program’s first phase.

In response to this mandate, the authorities and Executive Committee of the CIE, in 2005, 2007, and 2008, have approved a total of US$390,100 in support of specific activities of the Program from a “reserved subfund” (CP_RES 831) through 2009. Leveraging the CIE seed funds, the OEC has secured an additional US$1,597,561.00 in counterpart funds from outside donors for activities in all three components of the Program.

The topic and the Program are now part of the political agenda of the OAS. At its thirty-ninth regular session, held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, in June 2009, the General Assembly focused on the topic “Towards a culture of non Violence”. The Inter-American Program plays a prominent role in the General Assembly’s declaration.

The Program has also yielded the following products and concrete achievements during this period:

Research Component

 The Inter-American Journal on Education for Democracy, is an online, trilingual, peer-reviewed journal in partnership with the University of Indiana, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, and the University of Toronto. The first three issues can be found at www.ried-ijed.org. The fourth edition about “Education, Citizenship and Interculturalism” is available online in its English version and will be available in Spanish in the first semester of 2010.

Professional Development

 “Education for Democratic Citizenship in the Caribbean: An Internet Course for Educators,” is designed to ensure that the classroom becomes an early incubator for growing democratic cultural practices within and between emerging generations of Caribbean citizens. The distance learning course consists of two phases of 13 weeks. The first consists of an online course that provides educators with tools, knowledge and skills-necessary to complete course with a practical phase in their classrooms.

The course, which is being offered through the Virtual Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI Open Campus) is part of a 3-year pilot project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and administered by the Office of Education and Culture of the Organization of American States (OAS). It involves 13

two cohorts of approximately 200 educators from 6 member States including Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. The practical phase for the second cohort began in February 1, 2010 for participating educators who successfully completed the virtual stage. The OAS is currently working with the Virtual Campus of UWI, their faculties of education and the education ministries of participating countries to promote the sustainability of these efforts after the completion of the pilot project in mid 2010. Furthermore it is conducting an independent evaluation of the draft final report will be available mid 2010.

 Online course for educators on teaching the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, piloted in Peru in 2006, with the participation of 750 teachers, and funded by the United States Government. The last course module helps teachers make their classrooms “democratic classrooms.” Under consideration is the possibility of implementing the project in Colombia and Guatemala with financing from FEMCIDI. See promotional video and additional background documents at http://www.educadem.oas.org/.

 The Young Scholars Program since its creation has received 94 applications from young professionals and college students from all subregions of the Americas. To date 12 young people participated directly in the activities of the Inter-American Program. In 2009, the program incorporated a self-training online course of two months on the Inter-American Democratic Charter3, which is part of the first stage. Thus, 15 young people from all disciplines were selected to participate in it. According to the evaluation activities, 6 young people were selected to participate in the second stage of the program, which is associated with the work of the Inter- American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices (this stage will be carried out during the first months of 2010)

Information Exchange Component

 Thanks to contributions from the Permanent Mission of the United States, the horizontal cooperation fund to support technical assistance missions in the area of education for democracy was successfully launched a. A call for applications was distributed to all member states in March 2009 and the OAS received a total of twenty-seven proposals. Through a competitive process, nine proposals were selected benefiting twelve countries and directly involving twenty-one institutions. Twenty missions were conducted between July 2009 and January 2010. Each project must submit a final report on the conducted technical assistance mission one month after its completion. Likewise, each project must submit a report on the technical assistance mission’s impact one year after its completion. Please see below a list of the technical assistance missions carried out to date:

3 This course was based on the "Hemispheric Course for Teachers: The Inter-American Democratic Charter and the Teaching of Democratic Values and Practices", the first virtual pilot was in 2006 in Peru. The project received funding from the U.S. Mission to the OAS and other partners, including Ministries of Education of Peru and the Ministry of Education of Argentina, the organization Fe y Alegria from Peru and the National University of Distance Education Spain (UNED). 14

Horizontal Cooperation Fund – Technical Assistance Missions financed First call of proposals (2009) Beneficiary Providing Topic Institution Institution Dominican Lessons learned - National School Mediation 1 Argentina Republic Program Developing a proposal for Early Childhood 2 Argentina Colombia Citizenship Education 3 Mexico Colombia Piloting the Program Classrooms in Peace Piloting the Program on Teacher training on 4 Costa Rica United States Conflict Resolution Education Panama, Costa Panama, Costa Strengthening Education to Prevent Youth 5 Rica and Rica and Abstention from Voting Guatemala Guatemala Developing a Model for Youth Democratic 6 Colombia Mexico Leadership 7 Mexico Chile, Ecuador, Rethinking Public Policy on Indigenous Education Inter-American Institute of Human Rights 8 Colombia, Peru Colombia, Peru Exchange of National Experiences on Teacher Training in Citizenship Education and other Lessons Learned 9 Trinidad and United States Training to Strengthen Student Councils in Schools Tobago

 Launch and maintenance of an Internet portal for the Inter-American Program: http://www.educadem.oas.org

 During 2009 two additional issues of the online bulletin of the Inter-American Program were published for a total of six issues to date. Each of the two new issues had a special focus: (5) The role of arts and communications media in citizenship education and (6) Education for Migrant Children and Youth: http://www.educadem.oas.org/boletin6/index_eng.html

In 2010, the Program has various activities scheduled, pending the consecution of additional resources, which include:

1. Launch of issues 4 (in Spanish, the English version is already available), 5 and 6 of the Inter- American Journal on Education for Democracy;

2. Launch of the policy brief series, continuation of electronic bulletin versions 7 and 8, and portal maintenance and update;

3. Implementation of the project “The use of arts and the media in promoting democratic citizenship among children and youth,” to be held in collaboration with the Inter-American 15

Committees on Education (CIE) and Culture (CIC), Sesame Street Workshop and the support of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD.)

New initiatives: Thanks to contributions from the Permanent Mission of the United States and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Inter-American Program in 2009 has made progress on the following new initiatives:

4. Explore the possibility of migrating the online courses on evaluation of citizenship education policies and programs and the course for teachers on the creation of democratic classrooms, among others, to a common platform. This would make possible the continual offering of professional development opportunities to member states. It has been decided to migrate all contents to the OAS Education Portal of the Americas.

5. Launched a three-year project on the right to education of migrant children and youth, in early 2009. The project is developing an analytical report to document the size and nature of the educational situation of migrant children and youth in the member states; and to document and analyze existing national education policies and programs pertaining to migrant children and youth. The report will be based on a policy survey that was conducted throughout the Hemisphere between May and July 2009 and that was responded by 22 member states. In October 2009 a presentation on “Children and Youth Migration” was made to the Special Committee on Migrant Issues.

6. Participation on the design and implementation of the Project: “Stemming the Tide of Youth Crime, Violence and Drug Abuse in Central America: Building Awareness and Promoting Prevention Among At-Risk Youth” (SEDI, SMS, Trust for the Americas.) Through the Inter- American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices, the Office of Education and Culture participated in the design and will participate in the implementation of one of the project’s three components aimed at fostering dialogue and participation of youth organizations with other governmental sectors towards the advancement of a common prevention agenda. This is a three-year project financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID,) under the Merida Initiative. The project will be implemented in five Central American countries in collaboration with the OAS Secretariat for Multidimensional Security and the Trust for the Americas.

7. The Technical Secretariat participated at a meeting of the Working Group in charge of preparing the Meeting of Ministers of Public Security (October 2009) and at the Second Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Public Security that took place in the Dominican Republic on November 2009. At both meetings the Technical Secretariat made a presentation on the fundamental role that education and culture policies and programs have on the construction of integral prevention policies. For more information on this presentation (only available in Spanish) please go to: http://scm.oas.org/pdfs/2009/RM00084S.ppt

Adult Literacy and Education

On June 3, 2008 the OAS General Assembly adopted resolution AG/RES 2387 (XXXVIII- O/08) “Eradicating Illiteracy and Fighting Diseases that Affect Integral Development.” The resolution was ratified on June 4, 2009 by the Resolution AG/RES. 2467 (XXXIX-O/09). It endorses the 16

mandate given by Heads of State at the Summit of the Americas in Mar del Plata and the OAS General Assembly in 2006, which entrusts the OAS to undertake a study on successful programs and practices for the development of the ability to read and write for adults and youth.

The OAS has participated in the World Conference on Adult Education in Brazil, on December 1 to 4, 2009 and at the International Forum of Civil Society (FISC), held in Belém do Pará, Brazil, November 28-30, 2009, organized by UNESCO. Dr. Joel Warrican (Barbados) prepared and presented a study on “Public Policies, Strategies, and Programs for Literacy and Adult Education in Caribbean Nations (2003-2008)” that he developed as a consultant for the OAS/OEC.

The study contains an annex with information from government institutions and civil society that are offering literacy programs and adult education in the Caribbean. The study was translated into Spanish and it was given to the INEA and UNESCO. In January 2010 UNESCO decided to publish the contribution of Dr. Warrick in the books that will be broadcast on the topic of literacy. This project received US$29,000.00 from the CIE Education Subfund and it has a balance of US$15,000.-

Policy Dialogue

Much of the substantive education policy dialogue fostered by the CIE is reflected in the preceding topic-specific sections of this report, since virtually all areas of project work involve policy dialogue and discussion of lessons learned and good practices. Indeed, one of the primary motivations for undertaking projects within the CIE framework is to illuminate and influence policy.

The bulk of this section, therefore, focuses on meetings of the CIE and its authorities. Since the beginning of 2009, the CIE, with assistance from the Technical Secretariat, has supported the preparation, organization, and follow-up of the X meeting of the authorities and Executive Committee of the CIE, the preparatory meeting for the VI Meeting of Ministers, and the VI Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education.

The X meeting of the Authorities and Executive Committee was held in Washington, D.C., on February 26 and 27, 2009. The CIE Work Plan was ratified, including approval of US$180,000 for the project on educational quality evaluation as a follow-up to the Hemispheric Commitment to Early Childhood Education and continuation of the Regional Educational Indicators Project (PRIE) with US$62,400 plus US$50,048 in reassigned prior-year funds. It was agreed that member states would name a contact at each ministry to help coordinate activities under the new project on education for migrant children and youth. It was decided to circulate the project proposal for joint efforts between the CIE and the Inter-American Committee on Culture (CIC) and the culture area. In preparation for the Sixth Meeting of Ministers, the CIE enthusiastically agreed to make youth and secondary education the central focus. It was also decided that the Meeting should focus on policy dialogue and that the outcome should be a policy declaration containing specific instructions to the CIE and other bodies.

The V Summit of the Americas, celebrated in April 2009 in Trinidad and Tobago, incorporated into its Final Declaration, texts on the role of education and the commitments of the member states to offer a quality education to all, similar to the text recommended by the CIE and presented to the Summits working group by the delegation of Ecuador in its capacity as CIE Chair. Similarly, the work of the CIE Chair and Technical Secretariat contributed to the adoption of clear, 17

strong language on the importance of education in promoting a culture of non violence at the 39 th General Assembly of the OAS, whose theme was “Toward a Culture of Non-Violence.”

The preparatory meeting for the Sixth Meeting of Ministers of Education was held on July 9 and 10 in Washington, D.C., where consensus was achieved on much of the Declaration of Quito and other documents for the Meeting of Ministers, and on the next steps in the preparatory process.

The Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education was held in Quito, Ecuador, on August 12-14, 2009, in the context of the beginning of that country’s Bicentennial celebrations. Discussions centered on the theme “Better Opportunities for the Youth of the Americas: Rethinking Secondary Education.” New CIE authorities were elected for the 2009-2011 biennium: as Chair, Ecuador; as First Vice Chair, Argentina; as Second Vice Chair, Trinidad and Tobago; and as members of the Executive Committee (alternate representatives in parentheses): United States (Canada) for North America, Guatemala (Nicaragua) for Central America, Suriname (Barbados) for the Caribbean, Venezuela (Bolivia) for the Andean Region, and Paraguay (Brazil) for the Southern Cone. The Youth of the Americas Encounter on Secondary Education was organized by the Government of the Republic of Ecuador prior to the meeting of ministers. The encounter gathered 48 young participants from 10 countries of the Americas who drafted and later on presented recommendations on secondary education in topics such as the universal access to secondary education, a greater connection between education and the world of work, access to cultural, artistic and sports activities, support to students in at-risk situations, and implementation of more participatory and democratic education models, among others. To access the Quito Charter: Recommendations of the Youth of the Americas Encounter on Secondary Education to the Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education, please go to: http://scm.oas.org/doc_public/ENGLISH/HIST_09/CIDI02654E05.doc

In support of policy dialogue, the Technical Secretariat, in close coordination with the Chair of the CIE, prepared the documents, promoted smooth communication through virtual and other means, and translated the proposals submitted, as well as comments on the projects that members posted on the virtual forum. The OEC contributed to the policy dialogue by producing technical and analytical documents. In the final report of each meeting, it safeguarded the institutional memory of the CIE. It provided inputs to, and updated, the CIE web pages. It designed and implemented the virtual forums for the CIE and for the projects under the Work Plan. Lastly, the Technical Secretariat fostered dialogue between the CIE and the Inter-American Committee on Culture in response to guidelines from the Inter-American Council for Integral Development and requests from the Ministries of Culture and Education of the member States.

The Technical Secretariat reports regularly to the OAS political bodies, particularly the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI), and to the Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General, on CIE accomplishments and challenges. It also ensures communication with other pertinent OAS areas, such as the Summits Secretariat, the Department of Human Development, the FEMCIDI office, the Secretariat for Political Affairs, the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security, and, of course, the Culture Section within the Department of Education and Culture, to find partners and promote coordination on topics and projects of mutual interest. Finally, the OEC promotes ongoing communication with other international organizations working in related areas (see section below on interagency coordination). 18

Resource Mobilization

At the Third Meeting of Ministers of Education, the Ministers adopted resolution CIDI/RME/RES.9 (III-O/03), allocating US$2,000,000 of resolution CP/RES. 831 (1342/02) education funds to future responses to Summits and Ministerial mandates. The CIE delegated to its authorities the power to decide upon initiatives funded through this mechanism. At its third regular meeting, in October 2006, the CIE, considering that these resources will not be replaced, adopted specific criteria to guide decisions regarding the selection of proposals for CIE funding (CIDI/CIE/doc.7/06 rev. 1). These criteria were:

. Responds to mandates emanating from the Summits of the Americas and thematic priority areas defined by the Ministers of Education; and, whenever possible, complements Summit and/or Ministerial hemispheric projects already in execution; . Pertains to those topics within the education sector for which the OAS has recognized competence and, when appropriate, draws support from other OAS cooperation mechanisms, in particular, the fellowship and training mechanisms; . Is multinational and/or hemispheric in scope, although it may contain subregional components; . Requests funding for less than 40% of the total project cost; and demonstrates confirmed counterpart support from other sources; . Demonstrates endorsement from and confirmed participation of ministries of education of the CIE member states and is endorsed and presented by a CIE member; . Encourages policy dialogue and horizontal cooperation among its members in the field of education; . Demonstrates adequate technical quality and policy relevance as evidenced by a successful evaluation according to the CIE Project Evaluation Matrix and approval of the Project Evaluation Committee of the OAS General Secretariat.

The CIE and OEC have been actively seeking to mobilize additional resources to support the various initiatives of the CIE. The following table presents information on the allocations made to specific CIE initiatives between 2004 and 2010. It also includes counterpart resources secured by the CIE, the OEC, and partners. During the 2004-2010 period, the CIE allocated US$1.983,312.00 to specific education projects from the reserve subfund. Counterpart resources from other sources (donors and partners) where mobilized by the CIE and the OEC totaled US$5.047,873.00, or 71,8% of total project resources. Significant in-kind resources in the form of staff time were contributed by the Technical Secretariat and, in some cases, by other entities; these are not reflected in the chart. 19

Recursos Movilizados Estimados 2005- Feb 2010 Estimated Resources Mobilization 2005-Feb 20104 CP/RES. 831 Tema (1342/02) Contraparte Descripción Total Educación para 390,150.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) Democrácia 51,000.00 Center for Civic Education Education for 40,000.00 Gob de Colombia Democracy 560,000.00 CIDA (Gob. Canada) 526,650.00 USAID 80,000.00 Global Issues Resource Center 80,000.00 SEP Mexico 10,000.00 PNUD 250,000 Mision Permanente EEUU 390,150.00 1,597,650.00 Sub Total 1,987,800.00

Educación 541,290.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) Inicial 8,000.00 Banco Mundial Early Childhood 13,000.00 BID CENDI, Gob. de Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 500,000.00 Soc. Civil 6,000.00 CAB 13,000.00 UNESCO 125,000.00 UNICEF 12,000.00 Ohio State University 50,000.00 Gobierno de Trinidad y Tobago 3,000.00 AMEI 3,000.00 CARICOM 3,000.00 University of Chicago 3,000.00 CEECD (Center Excellence ECD) 20,000.00 Becas OEA 350,000.00 Bernard Van Leer Foundation Gobierno de la República Popular de 50,000.00 China 161,710.00 CIDA Gobierno de Canadá MOU Chile-Caribe (Gobiernos de 100,801.00 Chile) 12,000.00 OEI

E 4 These figures are based on funds mobilized since the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Education, held in August 2005. Both subfund CP/RES. 831 (1342/02) and counterpart resources are allocated funds and do not represent up-to-date expenditures. Counterpart resources are estimated on the basis of reports from partners and include both cash and in-kind resources 20

Empresarios por la Educación Inicial y 100,000.00 Gobierno de Colombia 15,000.00 CAF 200,000.00 Gobierno de Chile Gobierno de Puebla, Mexico, SEP, 250,000.00 Soc.Civil. 40,000.00 Gobierno de Paraguay 541,290.00 2,038,511.00 Subtotal 2,579,801.00 Indicadores 243,975.00 USAID (2005) Educativos 261,907.00 SEP México (2005) Education 257,309.00 SEP México (2007) Indicators 300,821.00 SEP México (2008) 182,575.005 Sub Fondo Reserva (2004-2006) 185,600.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (2006-2007) 62,400.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (2008-2009) Evaluation Forum 141,720 Sub Fondo Reserva (2004) 572,295.00 1,064,012.00 Sub Total 1,636,307.00 Formación 178,200.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (2008) Docente 60,000.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (2006) Teacher 17,000.00 México (FEMCIDI) Education 40,000.00 El Salvador (FEMCIDI) 80,000.00 MOE T & T (en Especie) 58,500.00 MOE T & T (FEMCIDI) 52,000.00 RELPE 55,200.00 Fundacion Evolucion - i EARN 30,000.00 Becas OEA 238,200.00 332,700.00 Sub Total 570,900.00 Alfabetización 29,000.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) 15,000.006 Becas OEA Literacy

29,000.00 15,000.00 Sub Total 44,000.00 Apoyo Secretaría 85,813.00 Técnica CIE 6,500.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) Support Tech Sec 5,630.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) CIE 114,434.00 Sub Fondo Reserva (CPR 831) 212,377.00 Sub Total 212,377.00 1,983,312.00 5,047,873.00 GRAND TOTAL 7,031,185.00

Facilitating interagency cooperation and consultation with civil society

5 This amount covers the 2004-2006 period 6 Estimate 21

In an effort to mobilize additional resources, develop synergies between organizations and sectors, and avoid the duplication of efforts, the CIE and the OEC facilitated interagency cooperation and civil society participation in OAS education initiatives in the 2009-2010 period. In some instances, this cooperation consisted in the simple sharing of information about policies, programs, and projects; in others, partnerships or alliances were forged or resources were mobilized from donor agencies, international organizations, civil society organizations, and the private sector to strengthen OAS Ministerial and Summit priorities.

In the Regional Education Indicators Project (PRIE), in addition to support from the CIE, funds were provided by the Secretariat of Public Education of Mexico, and in the initial phase by USAID and the U.S. Department of Education (National Center for Education Statistics). Technical partners include the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, headquartered in Montreal, and the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC).

In the Early Childhood Education activities, the Secretariat was able to mobilize a significant alliance of international and civil society organizations, including UNICEF, UNESCO, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Bernard Van Leer Foundation, the World Bank, the IADB, the World Association of Early Childhood Educators (AMEI), and others to bring counterpart resources and experience to the projects sponsored by the CIE. For example, for the Second Inter- American Symposium, in addition to the contributions of the Government of Chile and the CIE, there were financial and intellectual contributions from those other organizations, without which the event would not have achieved the scope, level of participation, and impact it did.

In education for democratic citizenship, and specifically in the Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices, Advisory Board members include representatives from UNICEF, UNESCO, the OEI, the Convenio Andres Bello, and numerous civil society organizations, universities, and private sector partners, as well as the Governments of Canada, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, and others. Many of the Program’s partners have committed concrete resources (both financial and other) to initiatives of the Program in each component (Online Journal, online courses, cooperation, seminars, and workshops) since its launching (see final report at www.educadem.oas.org).

On the topic of strengthening the teaching force, the Secretariat is firming up an alliance with the Latin American Network of Educational Portals (RELPE), the International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, the Fundación Evolución, and the iEARN network. (See www.oest.oas.org/iten).

On May 30, 2009, in Santiago, Chile, and in coordination with UNESCO/OREALC and the OEI, the OAS convened an interagency meeting to coordinate the education agendas of the various institutions. The central topic was identifying tools to promote better communication and coordination and reduce the duplication of effort. It was attended by representatives of the three organizers and of UNICEF, PREAL, the Van Leer Foundation, the World Bank, the IADB, and ECLAC. The organizations agreed to put together a table in which they would report their activities, based on the “Goals 2021” proposed by the OEI in the Ibero-American Summit framework.

International and civil society organizations participated in the VI Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education, including UNICEF, UNESCO, PAHO, IDB, CECC/SICA, IIHR, PREAL, 22

OUI, and CXC. Several of these organizations offered their collaboration in specific actions within the work program of the CIE. During the meeting, an agreement was signed between the OAS and the OEI to promote interagency collaboration in the fields of education and culture.

Conclusion

In sum, under the leadership of the current authorities, the CIE has delivered to Member States a series of strategies, projects, activities, publications, and opportunities for policy dialogue that reflect the priorities set and instructions given by the Ministers, most recently in their meetings in Cartagena and Quito. The CIE has stepped up dialogue and the sharing of research findings and examples of good practices in the fields of early childhood education and education for democratic citizenship – two areas in which the OAS, through the efforts of the CIE, can be considered a leader. The Member States’ progress on meeting the education goals of the Summits of the Americas can now be examined in detail through reliable and comparable indicators, and efforts have been made to strengthen their capacity to generate these indicators. The critically important topic of preparing teachers to teach the students of the 21st century receives needed attention through a promising new project. The CIE has made a meaningful contribution to regional discussions on adult education and literacy and will contribute new information on educational policies for migrant children and youth. The Committee has become institutionalized as a decision-making body within the inter-American system, allowing the topic of education to be examined in an informed, fruitful, and ongoing manner within the OAS political dialogue. Resources have been executed transparently. Partnerships have been established with a range of important international and civil society actors.

Challenges facing the CIE at the present time include consolidating the gains of the past several years, and an urgent need to mobilize new resources to ensure that its program of work can contribute significantly to addressing the needs of the member states. Another challenge is to balance and represent subregional interests and experiences in as diverse a region as the Americas. And finally, the challenge of keeping education on the agenda of a political organization should not be minimized. With continued vigorous leadership, the CIE can continue to play an important role in supporting member states in their efforts to provide quality education to all, and as an informed and eloquent voice for the fundamental role that education plays in economic development, social inclusion, and democratic governance in the region.

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