THE MAJORPROJECTOF EDUCATIONin Latin America and the Caribbean

Summary

Presentation 5

The Major Project of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean 7- Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges 7

Working document

- Recommendation 31

- Quito Declaration 42

- Development 44

Education opportunities for women. The case of 49Latin America and the CaribbeanErnesto Schiefelbein with Sonia Peruzzi

OREALC Activities 77

OREALC Publications 85

BULLETIN 24Santiago, Chile, April 1991

In order that this bulletin may reflect in as complete and timely manner as possible the initiatives and activities carried out by each and all the countries of the region in relation to the Major Project of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, pertinent of ficial bodies are invited to send to the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean all information they wish to have published in this bulletin.

The views expressed in the signed articles are those of their authors, and are not necessarily shared by UNESCO. Reprint of this publication is authorised mentioning its source.

The publication of this bulletin has been made possible by the voluntary contribution of the Spanish Government to the activities of the Major Project of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Presentation

The attendance by almost all ministers of education of Latin American andCaribbean countries at the PROMEDLAC IV Meeting, the importance of adopted textcontent and the climate in which PROMEDLAC IV* deliberations took place, permitone to rate this meeting as historic. What was so new about PROMEDLAC IV? First,the recognition that a stage of educational development had ended and that a newera was beginning. This recognition, already latent, had been expressed at previousmeetings. The Guatemala meeting (PROMEDLAC 111), the preparatory meetings ofthe World Conference of Education for All and Latin American and Caribbean parti -cipation itself at Jomtien were important landmarks in this process. But PROMED -LAC IV ratified this conviction, and did so with the force afforded it by the massiveattendance of the region's ministers of education. But, besides maintaining the need -for embarking upon a new path, PROMEDLAC IV defined the base lines for it. Inthis respect, the text of the Quito Declaration synthesises the basic points on whichregional consensus was established in connection with the new strategy: the needfornational consensus on educational policies, intersectoriality, requirements for modi -fying management styles by introducing modes of action that strengthen responsibilityfor results, the emphasis on actions based on educational demand, the break up ofeducational corporateness, the meeting of basic educational needs as a criterionforcurricular transformation, domestic and international solidarity as cardinal elementsfor the success of proposals, coordination of contingency and long term plans and aseries of other elements to be listed in the recommendations' text adopted at the mee -ting, all constitute key words in the new educational discourse. The third notableaspect of PROMEDLAC IV was the strengthening of cooperation ties at variouslevels. The first of these was the tie between countries: bilateral agreements, subre -gional agreements, agreements between countries of Latin America and theEnglish-speaking Caribbean, formal and nonformal agreements; all these werestrengthened prior to and during the meeting, and will likely constitute one of themost important elements in the near future. Now more than ever, regional integrationis a dynamic reality. Second, the ties between State and non-governmental organisa -tions. Their presence and recognition of the needfor their coordination was aconstant during the meeting. Third, the ties between cooperation agencies. WithPROMEDLAC IV it has become clear that the Major Project has ceased to be theexclusive domain of UNESCO and the Ministries of Education and has gone on tobecome the project of all agencies and institutions committed to the objectives of edu -cation for all. This issue of the Bulletin includes all the PROMEDLAC IV material.The meeting undoubtedly constituted a starting point that augurs a future of effort,

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new challenges and renewed enthusiasm for the Major Project in its second decade. We are confident that the PROMEDLAC IV documents included in this issue will serve as a permanent reference point in this new endeavour.Likewise, we present an article by Ernesto Schiefelbein, who offers us important information on education opportunities for women in Latin America and the Caribbean.

* The Intergovernmental Committee of the Major Project of Education in Latm America amd the Caribbean is known witn the

acronym of PROMEDLAC (Proyect Majeur dans le domaine de Reeducation in Amerique Latine et les Caraibes)

In Chapters II, III and IV, the educational situ-ation is reviewed in relation to the three mainobjectives of the Major Project of Education inLatin America and the Caribbean and in the lightof basic learning needs identified at the WorldConference on Education for All. Those chaptersgive an account of progress, limitations, obstaclesand issues ansing from recent experience acquiredby the countries concerned in the not too distantpast. They also identify points where alternativesmust be found in order to raise the level of effi-ciency of education systems and enlist the help ofnew social actors traditionally excluded from theworld of education.

Chapter V looks at the challenge that educationsystems of the region will have to meet in

their future development and the main strategiesfor tackling it appropriately. That challengeinvolves; linking educational action to strate-gies aimed at changing patterns of productionaccording to equitable criteria by reaching na-tional consensus in the field of education, andattaining a higher degree of vigour throughthree main strategies: renewal of teaching pro-cesses through the professionalisation of tea-chers as a body, flexibility and relevance of cur-ricula, and encouragement of innovation in theprionty areas of any policy to improve the qua-lity of education; strengthening of educationaladministration and management through the useof effective arrangements to enlist the participa-tion of all those involved in the education proc-

THE MAJOR PROJECTOF EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICAAND TINE CARIBBEAN

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PROGRESS, LIMITATIONS, OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES

Working document

PROMEDLAC IVIs taking place at a historic moment of special importance for the future of educatio -nal development in the region. It is generally acknowledged that education will play a key role in thedevelopment strategies adopted by Latin American and Caribbean societies in order to take up thechallenge of changing the patterns of production on equitable terms. Generally speaking, this entailsacknowledgement of the fact that profound changes to traditionalforms of educational action will berequired in order to meet the demands of a new model of development based on the attainment of highlevels of international competitiveness and social equity in a context of democratic, pluralistic andparticipatory institutions. This document ties in closely with the PROMEDLAC 111 working document and final report. For thatreason, elements in those documents which are still valid have been omitted and special attention hasbeen paid to the documents approved by the World Conference on Education for All, held in JomtienThailand in March 1990. The document falls intofive chapters. Chapter I contains a review of thedecade just ended and stresses the fact that education systems have succeeded in maintaining theirquantitative achievements at a high cost in terms of quality and equity. Now that the decade is over, itmust be stressed that the possibilities of traditionalforms of educational development have beenexhausted and that new modalities of action need to be worked out that are consistent with the econo -mic, political and cultural requirements of new development strategies.

ess, new incentives to give people responsibili-ty for results, selectivity of operations aimed attarget populations, and intersectorality in mo-dalities of action; and optimum use of the possi-bilities afforded by international co-operation.

The purpose of this working document is tofacilitate discussion during the proceedings ofPROMEDLAC IV. Additional information onthe situation of education in the region and onco-operation activities may be found in otherdocuments prepared by UNESCO.1

Chapter I. A new stage in educational development

The decade 1980-1990 culminated in a series ofregional and international events calling for adebate encompassing both the two-year periodsince PROMEDLAC III and the sectoral analy-sis of education. In order to gain proper under-standing of educational phenomena and to de-sign appropriate strategies, it is today moreindispensable than ever before to have a broadoverall vision of educational problems.

In that decade, educational development co-existed with "regression on the economic andsocial fronts in the vast majority of the countriesof the region. This may bestbe gauged by set-ting the achievements made in previous decadesand also in the 1980s against those of othercountlies, especially the industrialized countriesof the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD) and various South-East Asian countries".

The Economic Commission for Latin Amer-ica and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has accordin-gly described that decade as a 'lost decade' anda time of 'painful lessons'.

Between 1980 and 1990, education was af-fected by the economic crisis, mainly through

1 The State of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1980-1987. UNESCO/OREALC, Santiago, Olile,1990; UNE5CO'5 co-operation within the framework ofthe Major Project for Latin America and the Caribbean.

ED-91*RoMEDLAcmEF. I

cuts in public expenditure and the deteriorationin the quality of life of the people at large. Ineducation, the average reduction in public ex-penditure was estimated at 25 per cent, althoughhigherpercentages were recorded in some coun-tries. The quality of life of middle-and low-income groups in particular, has deterioratedwith a sharp decline in their consumptioncapacity and in their possibilities of joining thelabour market.

Owing to the reduction in public spending oneducation and the declining ability of house-holds to bear the costs of education, efforts haveconcentrated on maintaining the coverage of thesystem, while sacrificing the quality of the edu-cation provided. Although there are major diffe-rences from one country to another, an assess-ment of the decade reveals that it was possibleto maintain and in some cases even extendcoverage at the cost of a significant deteriora-tion in the working and employment conditionsof teaching staff and in the facilities andresources allocated to education, including theschool infrastructure.

Fundamentally, the deterioration in the work-ing and employmentconditions of teaching staffhas been the result of the fall in pay, the deterio-ration in the professional status of their workand the huge difficulties encountered inimplementing further training and educationalsupport programmes. Some studies carried out inthe countries of the region show that staff aredisillusioned and frustrated, while teachers'o rganizations concentrate their action onwrangles over salary claims and suspend teachingactivities, thus reducing thenumberofdays thatpu-pils attend class. On several occasions, in respon-se to initiatives by an authority that did not offer

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The most eloquent indicator of this dete-rioration is repetition, which concernsapproximately 20 per cent of pupils in pri-mary schools, more particularly in theearly grades, and this percentage usuallyapplies to children from low-i n c o m efamilies in rural and urban fringe areas.

adequate employment or working conditions,teachers have acted to oppose change or educa-tional renewal.

The deterioration in the tools of the teachingtrade, in both quantity and quality, concerns theavailability of materials for both teachers andpupils. Basic materials such as exercise books,textbooks,pencils forpupils and teachers' guidesare in short supply. In an education systembased to primarily on the availability ofresources rather than on the suitability of tea-chers, these shortages seriously curtail the lear-ning opportunities open to pupils. But this dete-rioration is also apparent in the difficultiesencountered in acquiring new equipment andeducational apparatus for science teaching andfor the introduction of new items directly rela-ted to scientific and technological progress suchas computers, libraries, laboratories, radios andvideo systems.

The deterioration of the infrastructure of edu-cational establishments and the lack of newbuildings to cope with the growth and greatercomplexity of the demand for education havethrown into sharp relief the precarious backdropagainst which education is unfolding.

One factor that aggravates the seriousness ofthis deterioration is the long duration of the cri-sis. It should be borne in mind that if the decli-ne in teachers' pay and the failure to maintainbuildings and equipment continue for a verylong time, they will have irreversible conse-quences which will make it necessary to retrainstaff completely, rebuild premises or renew allequipment, as the case may be.

Faced with this economic crisis, which is havingsuch serious repercussions on education, neitherfamilies nor the State have remained idle. Familieshave adopted strategies of action in response to thisnew crisis in education. Many middle and lowermiddle class families, which had been able to meetthe cost of their children 's education privately in thepast by sending them to private establishments, havechosen to send them to State schools, thus increa-sing the burden of demand on a sector seriouslyshort of resources. Poor families send their childrento State schools so that their children ' s basic nutri-

tional needs may be met, besides, their learningneeds. States have faced up to this situation by main-taining levels of coverage, and in some caseshave increased them. Similarly, strategies tomaintain and improve certain standards of qual-ity have been encouraged.

Three of the main public strategies designed )maintain educational coverage are as follows:- To give priority to population groups most at

risk from the crisis and which have been pas-sed over by the education system. This ac-counts for the priority given to basic educa-tion and literacy.

- To support administrative rationalization inorder to improve efficiency in the manage-ment of education systems. Sharing out re-sponsibility with a view to decentralisationand fuller participation by parents and by thecommunity in general have been the mainlines of action in this regard.

- To co-ordinate health care from the vantagepoint of the schools and to maintain and in-crease food aid provided in schools, withinthe limits of the resources available.Governments have also endeavoured to helppupils with clothing and textbooks.From the point of view of quality, some of the

most common strategies are:- The use of textbooks describing situations in

the pupils' daily lives, new systems of evalu-ation (automatic promotion) and pilot experi-ments in areas such as data processing, im-proved science teaching and new methods ofteaching reading, writing and arithmetic.

- Experiments have been carried out and inno-vations made in the curriculum in order to in-corporate such dimensions as population edu-cation,communityparticipation, human rightsteaching, ecology and the environment, andthe struggle against drugs and AIDS.

- In countries with high percentages of indige-nous peoples, bilingual-intercultural syllabu -ses have been actively encouraged, but theycontinue to be geared to the indigenouspeoples only and do not form part of the gene-ral curriculum.

Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges. Working document / PROMEDLAC IV

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International co-operation has helped in vari-ous ways to ensure that such strategies to pro-tect educational development in the region areviable. Foreign contributions, through loans ordonations, at a time of severe cutbacks in publicexpenditure on education, acquired great impor-tance during the decade. In particular, thosecontributions provided governments with addi-tional resources for implementing their priori-ties. The World Conference on Education forAll made it possible to combine not only theefforts of the four agencies that convened theConference -UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP andthe World Bank- but also those of a significantnumber of other agencies and non-governmen-tal organisations. In the case of Latin Americaand the Caribbean, special mention should bemadeof the Inter-American Development Bank,which provided very substantial backing duringthe preparatory stages.

The last ten years have been regarded as adecade spent safeguarding educational develop-ment and, at the same time, opening up freshpossibilities: fresh in the sense of both emergenttrends and the objetive conditions that makenew operations possible.

To recognize the existence of these fresh pos-sibilities is not to deny that the crisis will conti-nue to be a significant limiting factor. Foreigndebt servicing and low economic growth rates,for example, will continue to influence publicspending on education. Education policies andstrategies will continue to operate under condi-tions of great financial austerity. But, by thesame token, it may be acknowledged that ener-gies and proposals will not be concentratedexclusively on clamoring for greater resourceavailability.

Some of the factors that, in the regional con-text, may have a favourable influence on educa-tional development are the following:- From the economic point of view, according to

ECLAC documents, the urgent need to cor-rect the imbalance of the region's interna-tional position has been fully confirmed, andawareness has also grown of the importanceof maintaining short-term macro-economicbalances and supplementing them with sec-toral policies for change. Efforts were re-doubled to take greater advantage of potentialfor regional integration, and spurious dilem-mas over industry versus agriculture, thedomestic versus the foreign market, State ver-sus private sectorand planned versus marketeconomy were largely resolved.The proposal to 'change the patterns of pro-duction on equitable terms' recommended byECLAC lays emphasis on the objectives ofinternational competitiveness and equity in acontext of democratic, pluralistic and partici-patory institutions. A strategy based on theseprinciples will lead to new and importantdemands being made on education, as it willbe necessary to develop human capacities inboth quantity and quality as never before.

- The consolidation of democratic governmentsnot only creates better conditions for the op-eration of pluralistic patterns of participationand coexistence but at the same time makesheavy demands on the education system .These are demands for the renewal of formu-lae and strategies forpreparing individual citi-zens for life in more complex societies, whereneeds arise from the traditional areas of civicparticipation and also from newer areas suchas care of the environment, prevention ofdiseases such as AIDS, the struggle againstdrug addiction and new forms of social orra-cial discrimination.

- Trends towards regional integration have gai-ned new strength. This is happening in aninternational climate that is conflict-f r e eand, at the domestic level in particular, oneof growing awareness of the need to achievepeaceful and negotiated solutions for the

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The lesson learned from the experience ofrecent years is that financial resources area necessary but not a sufficient conditionfor attaining educational goals, and thateven in situations of great scarcity of re-sources it is possible to implement suc-cessful low-cost strategies.

development of national economies. T h a tbeing the case, new types of demands for cul-tural and educational integration will arise, atboth the base of the system and in the upperechelons.Economic and political changes have been

accompanied by a number of educationalchanges, the fruit of the experience that thecountries of the region havegained. Suchchanges include the following:- In the context of national reform, proposals to

decentralise the administration and manage-mentof education systems,have become wide-spread. Although experience and results varysignificantly and it is too early to draw conclu-sions, it is obvious that decentralisation is aframework with a high potential for encourag-ing the participation of new actors, curriculumadaptation, accountability for educational re-sults and administrative eff i c i e n c y.

- Moves towards decentralization have alsomade it possible to recast the role of the Statein both central and local administration. Atthe central level, States have started to streng-then their capacities to evaluate results and todraw up and implement programmes with aview to evening out differences. At the locallevel, it is easier to devise opportunities forlinking the work of the school to that of otherinstitutions concerned with education andother members of the community.

- Growing awareness of the value of educationin development strategies has given impetusto processes which, although still in their in-fancy, make it possible to identify aspects onwhich some of the changes will be concen-trated in the immediate future. Such changesmay centre on strengthening and modernisingthe teaching of reading, writing and science,on the more systematic use of informationtechnologies both in teaching and in themanagement of education systems, on theneed to make school establischmcnts recep-tive to the world of work and to culture, onrecognition of cultural diversity as a factorthat gives added breadth to educational sche-mess and on the promotion of educational

innovations and steps to improve educationalquality as one of the central themes runningthrough action-oriented strategies.

The end of the decade marks, to a certainextent, the end of a process of educationaldevelopment in which the region scored impor-tant quantitative successes but at the cost of lowlevels of efficiency, quality and equity. Quanti-tative achievements have been maintained dur-ing the decade thanks primarily to the efforts offamilies and teachers. In such circumstances,however, quantitative gains cannot be sustainedfor much longer and development demands interms of equitable change in production patternswill call for more and more attention to be paidto improving the quality of academic achieve-ments. In short, the countries of the region arefaced with the challenge of devising strategiesto meet new demands in the field of educationbrought about by social change. Taking up thischallenge implies putting the medium- a n dlongterm dimension on the decision-makingagenda of education authorities. From this pointof view, one of the most important lessons to belearned from the decade of crisis is that the pres-sing need to take long-term decisions must berecognised. These decisions imply:- The link-up between the State and the private

or non-governmental sector. The questionmust then be raised: how can equality ofopportunity be guaranteed in an educationsystem in which the private sector has a gro-wing share of responsibility for education?

- With regard to gearing education to the worldof work, scientific, technological and culturaloutput, the question should be raised: howcan the education system break out of its iso-lation from the productive, scientific and cul-tural dynamism of modern society?

- With regard to co-ordination between centraland local government, it would be useful toponder the questions: what should be the roleof each? what machinery is most effective inachieving unity amid diversity?

- With regard to the stability of educationalfunding policies, it would be worth while to

Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges. Working document / PROMEDLAC IV

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ask questions such as: how can a steady flowof resources for the implementation of long-term education policies be ensured? what ma-chinery is most effective in eliminating disce-pancies? And which incentives are likely toenlist greater private participation in the fund-ing of education?

- On the subject of the growing professionaliza-tion of teachers as a body, certain questionsshould be asked, such as: what initial and in-service training strategies should be promoted?how can creativity, innovation and greateraccountability for results be encouraged? howcan the most talented people be attracted intothe teaching profession?

Chapter II. A minimum of eight to ten years' schooling for all children ofschool age

As the decade comes to an end, it is importantto point out that in spite of great financialconstraunts, the number of pupils enrolled inbasic education has risen. At the same time, itshould be borne in mund that repetition hasalso increased.

The high percentage of academic failure in thepoorest population groups brings out the exis-tence of serious problems of equality of access toand retention within the school system. This isproof that problems of coverage and quality can-not be considered in isolation. The reliablerecords available confirm that one of the mostimportant challenges to be taken up in the nexttwo decades, in view of the level of educationaldevelopment attained in the region, will be toexpand and consolidate levels of coverage by

making significant improvements in quality andin conditions of equity in the field of education.

Pre-school education

The expansion of the coverage of pre-schooleducation marks one of the decade's major stepsforward. The information available indicatesthat about two thirds of 5-year olds and a quar-ter of 3 to 4-year olds are covered. The English-speaking Caribbean countries have made greatstrides at this level and most of them have intro-duced compulsory schooling for 5-yearolds. Inspite of this progress, coverage is still concen-trated in urban areas except in a few countrieswhere the public sector has made major effortsto extend coverage to rural children. Similarly,in terms of both the coverage and the quality ofthe education available, the middle and upperclasses have the advantage. The private sectorcaters for a quarter of pre-school enrolments,and concentrates its supply in the economicallymore privileged urban areas. In rural areas,however, this responsibility rests primarily withthe public sector.

Financial difficulties and constraints haveboosted inventiveness in finding pre-s c h o o leducational alternatives that both serve educa-tional purposes and comply with demands thatcomprehensive arrangements be made for chil-dren living in conditions of poverty. Strategiesof community action, involvement of fathersand mothers as educators of their children andtraining of instructors from within the commu-nity itself have made this a very vibrant level ofeducation displaying much internal variety.

That variety also has to do with the variationsin the ages of children in pre-school education.There are three distinct age-groups, matched bydifferent strategies of action: the 4 to 6 age-group, the 2 to 4 age-group and the 0 to 2 age-group.

In the 0 to 2 age-group, action is geared toeducating families, and especially mothers, toprovide early stimulation, health care and propernutrition for their children. The demand for thistype of action is met byRthe ministries of health

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Some 30 per cent of pupils entering thefirst year do not get beyond the fourthgrade of primaryeducation; approximately50 per cent drop out of the school systembefore completing primary education,which lasts for six, seven or eight years, asthe case may be.

with very little input from the ministries of edu-cation. Non-governmental initiatives con-centrating on areas of extreme poverty play avery important part in its development. Thecontribution of the churches and of charities inconjunction with UNICEF's very substantialcontribution have been crucial to the develop-ment of this type of activity. Programmes arebeing carried out in many countries through themass media, which have an important educa-tional role to play.

For the 2 to 4 age-group, it is apparent that theform of education provided varies according tosocial class. In the middle and upper classes ofs o c i e t y, its growth parallels the growth in educa-tion for 4 to 6-year olds. In poor rural and urbanfringe areas, there is a high level of communityparticipation. Important experiments are underway in some countries of the region such as thed a y-care centres programme in Colombia and theinformal initial education programme operatingwith community participation in Mexico.

This demand remains largely unsatisfied,owing to budgetary constraints. With the grow-th of awareness of its importance and of theneed for women to work, demand has every rea-son to increase. The extent of organisation in thecommunity is a crucial factor if the latter is toachieve self-sustaining development, whichcalls for efficient, intersectoral working arran-gements to be devised.

One subject for discussion is whether priorityshould be given to developing this level or, onthe contrary, concentrating efforts on the pre-primary education of children aged 4 to 6. En-listing the help of community agents in the careof children aged 2 to 4 has been a step towardsachieving all -round provision for children and,equally important, education and entry into theworld of work for adults, especially women.Adult literacy and education in this regard raise avery important issue: how to satisfy the demandfor adult education in such a way as to give directencouragement to improving the quality of edu-cation for children up to the age of four.

As already mentioned, there has been consid-erable expansion in the provision for 4 to 6-y e a rolds. Future debates will centre on how to linkthis level of education to primary education . T h emain points at issue have administrative andfinancial, as well as educational} aspects.

In that regard, answers must be sought toquestions such as: in the present circum-stances of austerity, is it possible and desi-rable to propose as an objective one or twoyears of compulsory pre -school education?what are the most appropriate ways andmeans of linkage? is it possible to promotejust one level of education which will coverthe years of pre-school education and thefirst few years of basic education, and willconcentrate on meeting the basic needs oflearning to read, write and do arithmetic,and the all-round development of the chil-d's personality? will teachers at this levelrequire specialized training or can prima-ry-school teachers be used without profes-sional retraining?

Primary education

At the regional level, the countries' effortsAtoexpand educational coverage have yieldedgrowth in both gross and net rates of primary-school enrolment. Although population patternsdiffer from one country of the region to another,

Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges. Working document / PROMEDLAC IV

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A vital theme in any discussion of educationpolicies is that of ways and means of providingsupport for the initial education of children up tothe age of 2 in population groups that take prio-rity under the Major Project of Education forLatin America and the Caribbean. Adult educa-tion is still required forboth mothers and fathers,and for persons working with the children andtheir families. The content of functional literacyprogrammes in the countries of the region isgeared to meeting that demand. In the context ofvocational training, there is a heavy demand foradult education that must be met.

these increases indicate that all in all the grow-th of education has exceeded population grow-th. The most recent estimates available for the1990s show that the number of pupils enrolledbetween the ages of 6 and 10 has risen from64.8 to 71.4 million. This increase seems to bethe combined effect of three factors, namely, theexpansion of pre-primary education (which hasrisen from 7.9 to 15 per cent in ten years), easieraccess to basic education (the net enrolment raterose from 80.2 per cent to 85 per cent for 6 to 1l-year olds, and for 8- and 9-year olds the netrate is over 90 per cent), and longer time spentattending school as regular pupils (five years ormore). In the aggregate, these increases havebeen achieved concomitantly with a fall from29 to 27 pupils per teacher during the decade.

Analysis of the of ficial information availableon enrolments suggests that, allowing forexceptions, all children who so desire may haveaccess to schooling. As a result, at present,constraints on the general provision of basiceducation have to do not so much with factorsrelating to the expansion of the system butrather with factors relating to the quality of edu-cation. These factors are, on the one hand, thediversity of demand, which is both multiple inorigin and manifold in social and economicmotivations and requirements, especially insocieties where there is bilingualism and geo-graphical dispersal of the rural population and,on the other, a series of determining factors thathave led to a decline in the quality of State edu-cation. On the whole, these factors are concentra-ted in four critical areas: late enrolment, repetition,temporary dropout and premature final drop-o u t .The first three are interactive and reinforce prema-ture dropout. Permanent drop-out occurs betweenthe ages of 10 and 12, and more than 55 per cent of1 5-year old pupils drop out once and for all.

There are certain obstacles connected withdemand which, because of their persistence, areconsidered to be structural and consequentlycall for intersectoral and integrated policies onthe part of the State. They include inter aliapoverty, whereby socioeconomic backgroundstrongly affects academic performance, or those

learning situations in which the cultural context,usually an indigenous one, is worlds apart fromthe context implicit in subjects taught at school.

Other obstacles, in particular those resultingfrom the downturn in public expenditure percapita on education (from US $ 88 in 1980 toUS $ 60 in 1986) take on special importance ifthey are considered over time. In the short term,the unsatisfactory situation of teachers' pay hasresulted in the spread of strikes, a rise in absen-teeism, shorter working hours and lack of moti -vation to follow through innovations.

In the long term, the persistence of austerityand of budgets earmarked primarily for salariesmakes a teaching career less attractive and cutsdown to a minimum the investments that affectthe quality of the education provided. This situ-ation manifests itself in a number of shortcom-ings such as growing deficiencies in the state ofschool buildings, which are in poor conditionbecause they are used for many purposes and bymany shifts, the high percentage of incompleteand unstreamed schools, the shortage of text-books and equipment, and the lack of resourcesfor necessary changes in curriculum content,modemizahon of the system and Raining facili-hes.

In short, an appraisal of action aimed atattaining the obiecove of providing eight to tenyears' education for all the children in the regionshows that the obstacles to be overcome are clo-sely bound up with the ways in which the sys-tem responds to the diversity, both cultural andmaterial, of demand. One salient problem con-cems forms of educational management inwhich there is on the whole very little accounta-bility for results. High repetition and drop-outrates and low levels of learning attainment donot usually call forth appropriate reactionswhere educational administration is concemed.

The participants may be interested in discuss-ing future strategies in primary education. Thedebate might focus on questions such as:

is it desirable and possible to extend com-pulsory schooling to the age of 16, as somedeveloped counties have already done, or

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is it preferable to ensure that eight years ofschooling are effectively provided every-where? should basic education be seen asan end in itself providing content and acti-vities that enable pupils to meet their needsand requirements as members of a society?In counties with poor educational coverage,would it not be advisable to reduce thenumber of years of compulsory schoolingin order to concentrate resources and curri-culum structures on a period of schoolingthat would be Duly universal?What are the most suitable strategies forreducing repetition in schools? how canexperiments such as automatic promotion,fulsome schools and one-teacher schools beevaluated?

Special education

Catering for the demand for special education isone factor that must be taken into account in co-verage policies in order to attain the target ofeducation for all. Although no precise informa-tion is available on the size of this demand or itslocation, estimates from the World Health Orga-nization indicate that about 10 per cent of chil-dren of school age would need special attention.

Great progress has been made in the region incaring for disabled children attending public orprivate educational establishments. In addition,there has been further legislation on disabledpeople' s right to education and their access to it.That legislation has given a boost to specialeducation in several countries, thus making iteasier to win support and funding. Similarly, inboth of ficial speeches and educational practice,there has been a gradual shift of focus, in thatresponsibility for caring for pupils with specialneeds has been Transferred from special schoolsto the ordinary school system, which is expec-ted to cope with the needs of all children. Thiseducational integration marks an important stepforward in the process of integrating the dis-abled into society in general.

In several counh ies, associations of parentsof disabled children have been strengthened.Such associations are a force to be reckonedwith, both in making direct contributions and intheir ability to exert pressure for better facilitiesfor disabled children and for their future inte-gration in the labour force.

It should be pointed out, however, that suchprogress is Sell on a very small scale. Specialeducation is given too little priority in resourceallocation and little or no follow-up to schoo-ling or vocational Draining services are provi-ded for the disabled.

Some groups of disabled people still have noaccess at all to educahon, especially those suf-fering from serious or multiple handicaps. It isalso very likely that many more disabled chil-dren do not in fact attend school because the lawis not strictly enforced, or because of the lack ofresources and educational services.

Although much has been said about the im-portante of parent participation, parents con-tinue to play a minor role in the education ofdisabled children. The spread of knowledge andthe pooling of experience, which have yieldedencouraging results in various countries, havealso been modest at regional level.

On the whole, the special education providedin the private sector tends to be qualitativelybetter than in the public sector, and is concen-trated in urban areas.

Although there are major differences betweencountries, it can be claimed that, apart from thecommon problem of scarce financial resources,there is a lack of clear policies and precise stra-tegies on education for disabled children. Legaland administrative provision are rigid, especial-ly with regard to the classification of handicapsand the allocation of resources by category. Inaddition, such definitions often fail to matchindividual needs. The real scale of the problemof handicap is unknown, both quantitatively(number of children with handicaps and theirlocation) and qualitatively (nature of their edu-cational requirements). These factors con-siderably hamper the planning and evaluation ofthe services provided and are also compounded

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by a certain conceptual ambiguity in determin-ing which children actually have special educa-tional needs. In some countries, special educa-tion is still regarded as charitable work, as asocial welfare programme or as the responsibil-ity of voluntary organisations. The attitudes ofteaching staff towards the current trend ofbringing disabled children into ordinary schoolsare coloured by strong reservations and doubts,owing to the novelty of the issue, unwillingnessto change and lack of training or qualificationsfor coping with these new tasks.

In the context of the current debate on findingplaces for disabled children in ordinary schools,discussion arises as to whether priority shouldbe given to expanding a subsystem of special-ized services outside the ordinary educationsystem (cf. traditional special schools) or tostrategies that combine both components.

Problems also arise as to the definition of theteacher profiles: in other words, whether theyshould be specialists or general practitioners,trained to work in a separate or an integratedcontext, or whether ordinary teachers should betrained to work with special children?

In the event that the option of integrated edu-cation is chosen, it would be appropriate to ask:what are the most suitable modalities for theregion? what steps are needed to ensure that ex-pansion does not mean a decline in quality?

Chapter III. Eradication of illiteracy andexpansion of educational facilities foradults

In the closing years of the decade, national orlocal literacy campaigns or programmes wereunder way in almost all the countries of theregion -a sign of the priority given to youth andadult literacy education . There has consequent-ly been a decline in absolute illiteracy ratios anda reduction in the number of illiterates.

As a result of the progress made in fighting illi-t e r a c y, the problem is now concentrated in sixcountries of the region, although serious literacy

problems persist in the indigenous population ofa further four countries and in the over-40 age-group in almost all countries of the region. T h enumber of absolute illiterates in Latin A m e r i c aand the Caribbean, estimated at 44.3 million in1980, had been reduced to42. 8 million by 1987;during that period, literacy efforts were success-fully stepped up so as to cater for the full popu-lation increase of approximately 100 million. T h eestimates of total numbers of illiterates for 1980and 1987 are comparable, since they are based onprojections derived from population census databased on standard demographic methodology.According to national estimates, which are evenmore optimistic, a further 4.9 million personshave been made literate through literacy campai-gns or basic adult education.

Notwithstanding all this progress, if we as-sume that current trends continue until the year2000, the total number of illiterates can be re-duced to only 39.3 million, which is equivalentto 11.1 per cent of the population aged 15 andover. This estimate suggests that the regionmust redouble its efforts if absolute illiteracy isto be brought down to less than 10 percentbytheend of the century. For that purpose, specialschemes would have to be planned to reduceilliteracy in Brazil, Dominican Republic, ElS a l v a d o r, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, whichwould otherwise have absolute illiteracy ratiosapproaching or exceeding 15 per cent by the endof the century. Special projects are also warran-ted for the indigenous communities of Bolivia,E c u a d o r, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, whichstill have high illiteracy ratios, particularlyamong indigenous girls and women . S uch pro-jects would focus on enrolment of the rural popu-lation and the provision of literacy facilities foradults. Moreover, they could be made moree ffective if more detailed information were avai-lable on groups that have slipped through the netof enrolment and literacy eff o r t s .

Evaluation studies of national experiments inliteracy teaching have revealed a change ofapproach to illiteracy, literacy programmes andadult education. There is more awareness of thefact that illiteracy is a phenomenon associated

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with poverty, lack of co-ordination among mul-ticultural social systems and the failure of theformal system of basic schooling. As a result,more realistic approaches are being adopted,taking into account the real and complex scaleof the problem and the influence of the prevai-ling socioeconomic context. Moreover, the tra-ditional importance of literacy education isbeginning to be overshadowed by the need toestablish integrated adult education systems.Although adult education still consists of a scat-tered array of services, with little co-ordinationbetween formal and non-formal and govern-mental and non-governmental programmes,there is greater awareness of the need to rise tothe challenge of setting up an integrated systemthat will meet the needs of both new productionpatterns and social justice, organized around anew blueprint for basic education.

Progress in the eradication of absolute illiter-acy is making it possible to concentrate energyand resources on the problem of functional illit-eracy, which has grave implications both for thepresent and for the future. Functional illiteracyis difficult to measure accurately, but a roughidea of the scale of the problem can be obtainedfrom data on incomplete primary schooling. InLatin America and the Caribbean, where quali-ty assessment systems and evidence of repeti-tion and drop-out indicate that inadequacies areconcentrated in the area of reading and writing,this indicator is more reliable than in othercontexts. Thus, the 1980 population census dataindicated that almost 60 per cent of the popula-tion over the age of 15 had not completed pri-mary school. Even for the youngest age-group(15 to 19), the percentage was as high as 50 percent. The situation is therefore extremely seri-ous and will call for resolute action in the shortterm.

It has further been acknowledged that respon-sibility for literacy and adult education shouldnot lie exclusively with the administrative unitsin ministries of education or with organizationset up for such purposes, but should devolve onthe entire education system, which should bewidely co-ordinated with social organisations.

The proclamation by the United Nations andUNESCO of 1990 as InternationalLiteracy Ye a r( I LY) prompted countries to give literacy edu-cation the status of a national undertaking. Na-tional committees or organisations for ILY w e r eset up in most countries of the region and manyn o n-governmental organizations created specialprogrammes or committees for the same purpose.

Adult education also received a strong boostfrom the preparations for and the results of theWorld Conference on Education for All held inJomtien, Thailand, from 5 to 9 March 1990,which helped to spread the idea that the overrid-ing aim of such activities is not just to teachpeople literacy and numeracy but to offer thembasic education opportunities coupled with animprovement in the quality of life and greaterjustice and participation in the life of society forthe entire population.

In the interim since PROMEIBLAC III, therehave been some outstanding examples of na-tional action with a potential regional impact.The "Monsenor Leonidas Proano" National Lit-eracy Campaign in Ecuador, which has a num-ber of important features and implications,mobilized some 60.000 young students, made153.000 persons literate, produced an educa-tional impact through leaflets designed to fosterawareness of the situation in the country andlaid the foundations for the organisation of anintegrated and interdisciplinary educational pro-gramme, taking into account the recommenda-tions of the Conference in Thailand. The awardof UNESCO's Nadezhda K. Krupskaya Prize toJ A M A L (Jamaican Movement for theAdvancement of Literacy) in 1989 was anaccolade for the multisectoral approach adop-ted in its programmes and for its methods andaction to promote literacy among reluctanta-dults by means of television and special libra-ry facilities. In the field of adult education,special mention should also be madc of theintersectoral and interagency action carriedout under the leadership of the ColombianMinistry of Education by public (national anddepartmental) bodies, NGOS and universitiesbelonging to the Regional Network

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for the Training of Personnel and Specific Sup-port for Literacy and Adult Education Program-mes (REDALF) of the Major Project of Educa-tion in Latin America and the Caribbean, with aview to organizing a national adult educationsubsystem.

The gradual institutionalization of bilingualeducation in countries with a large indigenouspopulation has led to an increase in programmesadopting such an approach. Outstanding ex-amples are the creation of an indigenous educa-tion subsystem in Ecuador with literacy andadult education programmes in which the in-digenous people themselves are the chief deci-sion-makers and the main protagonists, and theprogress made with the Guarani community inBolivia, the Papiamento-speaking communityin Aruba, Bonaire and Curasao and Mee Creole-speaking community in certain Caribbean coun-tries.

Attempts have been made to co-ordinate liter-acy and adult education efforts with one anotherand with formal basic education. A series ofstrategies have been adopted with this end inview, such as the provision of combined basiceducation facilities for children and adults in ElSalvador; the co-ordination of literacy and basicadult education, with provision for equivalentcurriculum content, in Ecuador, Peru and someCentral American countries; the inclusion ofwork components in basic adult education pro-grammes in Argentina and Venezuela; and theorganisation in Ecuador of adult basic educationprogrammes that are complementary or altema-tive to adult primary education and orientedtowards the world of work, with craft trainingcomponents and vocational training.

The diversification of the supply of basic adulteducation (BAE) iS evident not only in bilingualliteracy education but also in the increased useof distance education facilities and the massmedia, especially in literacy work. Worthy ofspecial mention are: literacy teaching by theRadio of the Archbishopric of San Salvador, ElSalvador; programmes that use videos in literacyand post-literacy work with rural communitiesin Peru; and the Shuar radio system (Ecua-

dor), which broadcasts mother-tongue literacyand basic education programmes.

The pilot literacy and civic education projectsbeing carried out on behalf of rural women inthe Andean subregion also deserve a mention.The systematic implementation of projects suchas these has set the stage for a regional debateon the linkage of literacy and civic educationwith a view to safeguarding the underlying legalconcepts to be found in traditional communities.

Most of the countries that have conductedevaluation surveys of their literacy programmesare not satisfied with the results. The compe-tent: authorities are aware of the fact that onlylimited progress has been made towards rea-ching the targets set, and they admit that thequality of the programmes may sometimes be atfault. The problem of relapse into illiteracy isextremely frequently mentioned in this connec-tion, the main reasons for relapse being contex-tual factors that come into play during and afterthe process of acquisition of literacy skills, suchas the lack of publicly accessible places wherewritten material is available and the non-exis-tence of post-literacy programmes that system-atically follow up the learning process.

Adult education is one of the most vulnerablebranches of activity in terms of the socio-eco-nomic context. There is a direct connection inadult education between increasing the supplyand broadening its aims, while at the same timedemocratising the social system. However,some changes of government also lead tobreak-downs in its organisational structures, with acorrespondingly adverse impact on the qualityof teaching.

The obstacles to literacy and adult educationfall into at least five different categories, one ofwhich is persistent failure in formal basic educa-tion. A n o t h e r, is the heavy potential demand foreducational opportunities on the part of absoluteand functional illiterates who have no access toliteracy programmes. A third concerns the prob-lems of programme quality, in particular a failureto allow for the cultural, linguistic and gen-d e r-related characteristics of the target commu-nities, shortageofresources, inadequately trained

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personnel and the lack of back-up researchand evaluation activities. It is also important tomention the limitations imposed by a socio-political and cultural context that is unfavour-able to certain educational initiatives, owing tothe negligible provision made by certain coun-tries for systematic action to maintain and con-tinue the adult learning process. Lastly, atten-tion should be drawn to the problems that learn-ers have in gaining access to programmes andstaying with them, owing to unemployment,work-related demands and otherproblems asso-ciated with the marginal status of such adults.

The objectives set for the programmes are notbased on a careful analysis of the situation or onconsultation of the adults concerned. Program-mes with exclusively educational aims predomi-nate over other activities that are closely boundup with work, health, housing, etc. In basic edu-cation most countries provide only primarylevelinstruction without vocational guidance. In litera-cy education, programmes based on the prin-ciples of functional education predominate. Onlya third of the programmes evaluated link theirobjectives to those of popular education.

In most countries, funds for literacy and adulteducation are very meagre and come mainlyfrom public sources. The problem is more acutein the case of literacy instruction, especiallysince staff costs absorb almost all availablefunds.

A large proportion of the programmes fail tomake full provision for the intercultural dimen-sion of education. Educational content usuallyfails to take local culture into account and theofficial language is used even when it differsfrom the mother tongue. Mother-tongue literacyinstruction is still an unsolved problem, owingto the difficulties presented by languages or dia-lects whose grammars are just starting to becodified and the mistrust of the indigenouspeoples themselves, who are more interested inhaving immediate and direct access to the of fi-cial language, viewed as a 'passport' to higherlevels of education, standards of living andsocial prestige.

The status of teachers, and in particular their

unstable employment situation and poor aca-demic credentials, are very serious obstacles toliteracy and adult education. Teachers in a num-ber of countries are voluntary or dependent onbonuses and do not form part of the regular tea-ching staff. This trend is more pronounced inthe case of literacy instruction. Furthermore,academic qualifications vary considerably fromcountry to country, but the lack of specialisationin adult education is a feature common to all.

Most adult basic education students areyoung drop-outs from formal day schoolingwith unskilled jobs. Neither the teachers nor theeducational content of basic adult educationcurricula are geared to the circumstances andneeds of these young people.

The debate on literacy and adult educationshows signs of reaching saturation point, owingto the continuing divergence between theoryand its practical application through specificprogrammes. In other cases, determination andactivism, which are always warranted by theurgency of the cause, are not supported byanalysis, research and evaluation of results.

A major challenge in adult education is howto design and operate national subsystems thatcomprise literacy programmes and basic educa-tion and training facilities, making co-ordinateduse of both public and private resources andpursuing strategies designed to meet the princi-pal, most fundamental learning needs of youngpeople and adults. Any national adult educationproject depende for its success on having moreeffective means of organizing and mobilizingpeople than the conventional methods. T h echallenge here is that of overcoming isolationand working in conjunction with the manysocial actors involved in the field, chiefly busi-ness firms, trade unions, community organiza-tions, voluntary associations and social organi-zations. In opting for reformed basic educationfor young people and adults, it is essential toseek curricular alternatives that take account oflocal culture and cater for the aspirations andneeds of young and adult participants.

The challenge, where both absolute and func-

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tional illiteracy are concerned, is to devise andimplement national strategies that mobilize allavailable resources for action geared to the cha-racteristics of the target communities, withstrong emphasis on everything relating to theareas of impact of the programmes. It is of vitalimportance that these strategies should link lit-eracy instruction for young people and adultswith action to prevent academic failure in basicschools and should give priority to those youngilliterates whose educational needs are greatestand who are potentially the most strongly moti-vated to acquire literacy skills.

Chapter IV. Improving the quality andefficiency of education systems

In most countries of the region faced with theshortage of resources, it is the quality of educa-tion that has come under pressure. Accordinglyit is in that area that we find the most seriousshortfalls in achieving the objectives of theMajor Project. Two consequences sum up theimpact of the shortage of resources on thisaspect of basic education: the overall decline instandards, and the gradual decline in the qualityof particular branches of the education system.

This gradual decline is the result of a wide-ning gap between the public sector's capacity tomeet cducational demand and that of the priva-te sector and schools located in specific areas.The results produced by quality assessment sys-tems in the countries where such systems existpoint to differences of 50 per cent or more in theperformance levels achieved by children attend-ing different types of school.

In all the countries of the region, the problemof educational standards has become a centralissue in policies and strategies of action. In therecent past, the countries have not attemptedsystem-wide reforms, but most of them havefostered the development of programmes andinnovations intended to improve the quality ofeducation.

Analyses of factors that determine the qualityof means and ends in education usually highlight

such aspects as: educational personnel; pupils;curricula in terms of objectives, content andmethods; teaching materials and resources; theo rganisation of schools; the evaluation anddevelopment of teaching skills. The assumptionon which such analyses are based is that thechildren attend schools which meet the mini-mum conditions that will enable them to benefitfrom the education on offer. Below that mi-nimum level, both situation and strategies showa qualitative change. Nevertheless, there aresome, albeit isolated, cases in which encourag-ing results have been achieved over the years. Acase in point is the Escuela Nueva in Colombia.

A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT:ESCUELA NUEVA (COLOMBIA)

As soon as we set foot in a school on theEscuelaNueva model (Colombia), we seethat it works in a different way. Severalpupils, come up to the visitors and ask themvery calmly and with great interest 'whatthey have come to see'; meanwhile otherscontinue working, engrossed in their tasks.The teacher gives some final instructions tothe group with which he is working and isthen able to talk to the visitors. All thepupils appear to know exactly what theyhave to do, and if the visitors ask can tellthem what they are doing and, more impor-tantly, how they are learning. They knowthat they are using a method: they observe,think and write, first alone and then ingroups; they compare notes for purposes ofs e l f-assessment, make corrections andrewrite, eventually asking for the com-ments and additional suggestions of the tea-cher, to whom they may turn at any timewhen they are in diff i c u l t y. IntheEscuelaNueva, the teacher actually per-forms the role always recommended incolleges of education and teacher-t r a i n i n ginstitutions but never put into practice,n a m e l y, the role of the guide who facili-tates the learning process for the learner,i.e. the pupil.

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There is general agreement on the central role ofeducators in elucidating educational processesand results. The need has thus arisen to reviewthe role assigned to teachers in educational pro-cesses and their responsibility for results.

To uphold the need to review the role of tea-chers is to imply that the problem resides in theinstitutional underpinnings of the education sys-tem and not only in the shortcomings of teachertraining. In most countries it can justifiably beclaimed that the role assigned to teachers hasminimised their responsibility for results, limi-ting their function to that of mere managers ofmethods and techiques, relaying ready-madeknowledge without any need to understand howtheir pupils learn.

The best long -term strategy for giving teach-ers greater autonomy in decision-making andgreater responsibility for results is to conferhigher professional status on their work.

A broad debate has been initiated in this con-text, providing an opportunity to review the fac-tors which assist or hinder the professionali-zation of the teaching role. This analytical ap-proach, which has found expression more par-ticularly in training centres for education per-sonnel, may be summed up in the followingquestion.

How far are the conditions being createdthat will enable teachers to assume effec-tive responsibility for the learning achieve-ments of their pupils, thereby producingteaching-learning process of high quality?A question of this type should be seen inrelation to such problems as aptitude ofteachers, standards imposed in schools andconditions of work and employment in theteaching sector.

There is general agreement that the aptitudeof teachers is directly related to the quality oftraining centres and opportunities for furthertraining to which they have access during theirworking life. This is not to discount the claimthat theiraptitude also depends on many individ-ual and social factors.

Criticism of current systems of traininggenerally focuses on their disregard for pro-blems arising in the classroom, the transmissionof knowledge which has no practical applica-tion and the piling up of knowledge without anyinterdisciplinary grasp of educational processes.Criticism also points to the fact that teacher trai-ning perpetuates the faults to be found in schoolteaching, which means that teachers are unableto improve their work when they enter the sys-tem or to show any interest in so doing. Therelative inadequacy of teacher trainers and trai-ning techniques are further justifications for theclaim that teacher-training centres are goingthrough a crisis.

Recent regional technical meetings on the pro-blem of teacher training have noted that a debateis taking place in most countries on how to impro-ve the quality of training. Many training centresare being restructured and are trying out larg enumbers of innovations. The debate seems tofocus as much on the level at which trainingshould be acquired as on the methods that shouldbe used. Some countries are in favour of main-taining teacher training at secondary level, whileothers wish both to maintain it and to increase thenumber of years of study. Athird group have deci-ded to upgrade teacher training to the level of ter-tiary and university education. There is a widerange of alternatives in the region that can beregarded as a store of experience on which to drawso as to ensure thatdecisions closely match the fea-tures and requirements of each country. One phe-nomenon registered in most countries is thek n o c k-on effect of the deteriorating social, econo-mic and academic status of teacherson the selec-tion of recruits for careers in teaching. The highpercentage of drop-outs during training andamong graduates of teacher-training courses forwork in education confirms the belief that manypeople who fail to embark on another career car-rying greater status or social prestige fall back onteaching as second best.

The number of teachers which each countryshould train is also the subject of debate. Somecountries tend to plan the number of graduationsaccording to the needs of the system and restrict

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quotas. Other countries have opted for a trainingpolicy with no quota restrictions and turn outmore teachers than are needed to meet thedemand. But aside from the question of num-bers, the overriding problem is: what policieswill attract talented young people into the teach-ing profession?

The debate on basic or initial training for tea-chers hinges directly on the existence or non-existence of permanent large-scale systems offurther training on which teachers can rely forprofessional support and advice during theircareers. Some countries are tending to givepriority to reforms in these areas while loweringtheir requirements for the duration of initial trai-ning. The debate on further training and voca-tional training, updating of knowledge andin-service training is based on analyses of thecurrent situation regarding such courses, whichare on the whole few in number, sporadic andirrelevant to the problems of practical teaching.The creation of permanent machinery for furthervocational training and in-service training bring-ing the work of teachers into touch with daily lifeis for many countries in the region a task whichcannot be postponed. There is a need to establishfurther training facilities to enable teachers totackle the problems that they encounter in theirwork, thereby developing new knowledge onwhich to base new methods, which in turn willenable them to be more scientific in their ap-proach to their pupils' learning problems.

With regard to institutional standards, whichhave direct consequences for the role of teach-ers, the debate concerns the degree of autonomythat teachers should be granted and envisagesgiving them more responsibility and setting upthe machinery forprofessional support, supervi-sion and monitoring that they need to help themin their work.

Teachers' conditions of work and employ-ment are spheres in which the worst deteriora-tion has been felt in many countries of theregion. The general view is that these factorsdirectly affect teachers' chances of improvingtheir academic qualifications by concentratingon their professional work without having to

take on other duties and their ability to be recep-tive to culture and innovation. Improvements inthese conditions would not only produce morequalified teachers but would also reduce thenumber of conflicts over social conditions andincrease the number of actual days of schoolingfor pupils . In many studies it has been shownthat the overwhelming majority of teachers can-not afford to acquire the textbooks and otherbooks needed to improve their skills. The sameapplies to the specialized newspapers andreviews that teachers need as background infor-mation to their work.

Improving teachers' terms of work and em-ployment will mean that all action on behalf ofthe teaching sector must be stepped up in thecountries of the region. It should also be recog-nized that the participation of teachers' unionshas a decisive effect on the quality of education.They have indeed raised this problem and ex-pressed their determination to work for im-provements. Teachers' efforts to involve parentsin the running and improvement of schools andto promote community-oriented activitiesshould make a substantial contribution towardsimproving the quality of education.

Besides the role of teachers, the role of pupilsin the learning process also needs to bereconsidered. It is generally agreed that pupilsshould take an active share in their own educa-tion, consciously building up their stores oflearning and knowledge; that their relations withthe teacher and with the subject taught should becontinuously defined in accordance with theirlearning opportunities and requirements; thateducational processes should take account oftheir points of view, drawing on their earlierlearning experience and taking in their interestand motivations. In some countries the pupil'srole has been enhanced through individualizedforms of learning and student managementcouncils which enable them to accept a widerange of responsibilities. As well as promotingbetter standards of education by encouraging theactive participation of students in the teaching-learning process, there is a need to provide satis-factory food, housing, clothing and trans-

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port for underprivileged pupils. Assistance topupils is an important means of encouragingchildren with meagre resources to continue at-tending their schools in poor areas.

Where curricula are concerned, the countrieshave concentrated their greatest efforts on find-ing innovative solutions to the problems in-volved in learning to read, write and calculate,on improving science teaching and on introduc-ing new subjects, especially at the second stageof basic education, such as management andcontrol of natural resources, preservation andreclamation of the environment, prevention ofspecific diseases and drug abuse, populationeducation, peace and respect for human rightsand international co-operation and understand-ing. In several countries, computers are beingphased in as teaching aids. A general trend isapparent in some countries of the regiontowards making curricula more flexible; thist inturn, should require teachers to be more inde-pendent and creative.

Current curriculum policies have been sub-jected to in-depth critical scrutiny at recent mee-tings in the region, which have pointed out theneed to overcome certain built-in obstacles tobetter standards of teaching. The limitations thatmust be overcome as a matter of priority are therigidity of syllabuses, their lack of relevance, at o p-down approach to their application and a uni-formity which makes them difficult to adapt toregional and especially to local circumstances.

Hence the advisability of promoting curricu-lum policies which create the right conditionsfor greater teacher participation, and some at-tempt to achieve greater flexibility, relevance,diversification and assessment. Recommenda-tions have been made for the development ofo p e n-ended, flexible, diversified curriculawhich would combine a universal core commonto the whole country with regional content ofgreater cultural relevance.

The need for flexibility and diversification iseven greater in the area of method than it is inthat of content. In most countries, the choice ofmethods tends to be placed uniformly in thehands of the teachers and institutions concerned.

In curriculum planning, it is assumed that meth-odological considerations are only approximateguides, and head teachers are required to recon-struct and adapt them according to circum-stances . There is more awareness of the diffi-culties involved in producing proposals that areapplicable on a wide scale and bringing suc-cessful innovative experiments into general use.Here, granting the greatest possible degree ofinstitutional autonomy, conferring professionalstatus on teachers and making schools receptiveto the needs and requirements of their surroun-dings are important aspects of strategies tochange the curriculum. To sum up with regardto curricula, it would seem that more emphasisshould be placed on bolstering the innovativecapacity of teachers and educational institutionsthan on attempting to discover innovationswhich are universally applicable.

The preparation of textbooks for pupils' usehas been a subject of discussion at many re-gional and national meetings. As well as recom-mendations for the preparation and mass repro-duction of textbooks both centrally and alongdecentralised lines, several basic criteria havebeen established: with regard to writing, there isa recommendation to include in all activitiesperiods of free writing during which pupilsmust, necessarily, think for themselves. In thearea of decision-making, the suggestion hasbeen made that pupils should have the opportu-nity to select specific learning situations thatwill enable them to reach a certain objective.With regard to local adaptation it is desirable toinduce pupils to identify model situations de-rived from their experience. Regarding commu-nity participation, it would be worth while in-sisting that many experiments make use of eve-ryday facts about health, remedies, productionand work, the family, food, plants, seeds, ani-mals, handicrafts, minerals, simple plans andmaps, educational games, songs, anecdotes, localh i s t o r y, the points of the compass, radio and tele-vision. For purposes of modular evaluation, acti-vities should be arranged in sequence so that thedesired objetives can be evaluated over short per-iods of one or two weeks. As regards the use

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of scientific method, it should be borne in mindthat each activity should include observation, anoral and written description, comparison withthe observations of classmates, experimenta-tion, self-evaluation of results in relation to amodel and a corresponding review of earlierstages with a view to subsequent review by theteacher. With regard to socialisation, care mustbe taken to ensure that each activity includesboth individual and group work. An importantrule to be adopted is the avoidance of extrawork for the teacher, by providing him or herwith all the necessary instructions to enable thepupil/ group to cope with the learning situation,even if the teacher considers it appropriate tointroduce changes.

In most countries, the widespread use of com-puters, quite apart from its financial impli-cations, is entering the debate and is one of thepriorities for investment in the medium term.The countries must define the link between edu-cation and the media in short-term strategies, inview of the very wide access that the populationhas to television, radio and other mass media.

The teaching materials needed for scienceteaching have become a cause for concern inmost countries of the region. The bearing of thisbranch of teaching on attitudes, knowledge andskills provides increased scope for teachers' ini-tiatives to conserve and utilize existing re-sources in each area, involve pupils in the use oflow-cost materials and the construction of ex-perimental apparatus, and to find ways wherebyteachers and learners can link the investigationof local surroundings with their teaching.

The organization of teachers and ancillarypersonnel performing other tasks in schools ispart of the attempt to achieve administrativerationalisation and democratization of forms ofmanagement. New patterns of organizing workin schools are being tried out in several coun-tries through the co-ordination of duties and thedevelopment of work committees in which re-sponsibilities within a single establishment canbe given a social dimension.

Educational projects for individual schoolsare a type of innovation that is in harmony with

local developmentprocesses. These projects aredevised by the teachers and headteachers them-selves, which facilitates the co-ordination ofactivities undertaken by people who usuallywork separately. It has been shown that the suc-cess of such projects depends directly on theleadership shown by the school head in enlis-ting the participation of teachers and maintai-ning the stability of staff within the same insti-tution, this being an essential condition for theformation of working teams.

Excessive turnover of teachers and their fail-ure to remain in the same establishment make itmore difficult to introduce group work as aregular feature.

Teachers' workshops are a form of furthertraining in coping with common problems thatarise in the everyday business of teaching.Working in small groups, the teachers make arigorous and systematic analysis of specific pro-blems in order to develop, test and evaluatealternative courses of action. In various coun-tries of the region this practice is part of the tea-cher's regular working day, and makes furthertraining part of an ongoing, large-scale groupactivity. It has made this activity particularlyeffective as a form of teacher participation inthe introduction of innovations to improve thequality of education with the help of continuousassessment and joint responsibility for results.

Several countries have managed to set upnational systems of learning assessment whichare designed to gauge the effectiveness of theeducation system both nationally and on as c h o o l b y-school basis. Some countries aretrying out new learning assessment techniqueswhich teachers might use. For example, the eva-luation of modules and promotion policies areintended to reduce or eliminate possible causesof drop-out, thus helping to ensure that pupilsremain in school and facilitating the return to thefold of those who have dropped out temporarily.

Methods of assessment are permanently onthe agenda of the current debate in all countrieson the quality of education. Nevertheless, inmost countries, there is a need to tackle assess-

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ment in greater depth and on a more continuousbasis.

The accumulated frustrations generated bythe results of pilot innovations intended forgeneral application tend, paradoxically, to pro-mote the capacity for innovation rather thanindividual innovative experiments. As well asbeing an ingredient in training and further train-ing policies, the development of an innovativecapacity calls for specific policies to strengtheneducational research and its links with the deci-sion-making process. In this connection thedebate on how to improve She quality of educa-tional processes seems to focus on comprehen-sive policies for teachers and synergetic actiondrawing together the various factors that influ-ence those processes. The systemic nature of thefactors involved in educational processes wouldseem to indicate the need for strategies whichadjust and harmonize activities relating to allbranches.

The management of education at the institu-tional level may bring about progress thataffects the quality of education. The build-up ofadministrative structures and multiple responsi-bilities at the centre and apex of the system ofdecisionmaking machinery for the whole educa-tion system, the legal and tax system, and thehuman resources management policies ofgovernment agencies in general and in educa-tion systems in particular, are some of the mainfactors which tend to make management rigid.The result of this trend over time has been a sys-tem whose structure and functioning hinder thedevelopment of two componentes which areessential if the quality of education is to beimproved: firsdy,definition of responsibilityfortheresults of educational action and, second-ly, development of the incentives needed inorder to encourage innovations and ensure thatthey are universally introduced.

The restrictions imposed by the economic cri-sis and the demands of democratisation have inmost countries of the region fostered restruc-turing of the State on a grand scale and the refor-mulation of its role in society in general and ineducation in particular. The deconcentration

and decentralisation of the various componentsand forms of State management are the intendedmeans of implementing this process. The pur-pose of these experiments is to achieve a combi-nation of skills and functions (different in eachcountry) at central, regional and local levels.Current developments indicate that under thisgeneral heading a great many different proc-esses have been launched in curriculum admini-stration aimed at making educational contentmore relevant and also in the funding of educa-tion with a view to achieving a greater mobiliza-tion of resources. It should be noted that theimplementation of these processes is itself cre-ating new situations and generating unexpectedmomentum in a number of areas. Deconcentra-tion and decentralisation need permanent ma-chinery for research, training, evaluation andfollow-up.

Similarly, State reform entails a major shift inthe roles, styles and practices of management ofthe system towards generating a capacity at cen-tral level to trace the broad outlines of educationpolicy, follow-up and evaluation and to developthe machinery necessary for its function of res-toring balance; and also towards giving localadministrative authorities the capacity anddegree of autonomy necessary to improve theeducation service. With these aims in view, aseries of important experiments has been laun-ched in various areas for the purpose of impro-ving the quality of education.

On the basis of specific experiments in pastdecades, several countries in the region havedecided to set up permanent information sys-tems in order to collect and generate data ena-bling them to detect and assess the level of qua-lity of educational services. Nowadays areliable national system of quality control is notonly a means of gauging how efficiently valuesare acquired or knowledge is transmitted, but isalso seen in efficiency terms as a follow-up andmonitoring system providing support for effortsto improve quality on a region-wide basis and inindividual schools. By revealing quality levelsthe systems provides information on progressand problems, raises the awareness of the com-

Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges. Working document / PROMEDLAC IV

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munity and identifies areas for action and areasof responsibility. Within general policy guide-lines for improving the quality and fairness ofeducation, emergency action has been started inone country of the region to improve the per-formance of 900 basic level non-f e e-p a y i n gschools in poorer districts which represent thebottom 10percentof schools nationally in termsof educational attainments. Through a combina-tion of activities focusing on pupils, teachers,methods and infrastructure, the programme seeksto improve the learning performance of childrenin the first four grades in the areas of reading,writing and arithmetic. This programme was pro-perly implemented thanks to the unqualified poli-tical will behind it, and also because there aresystems for measuring the quality of educationwhich can identify schools whose situation is cri-tical, and likewise a system providing in-formation on the state of premises and materials.

In the area of planning it has been necessary toexplore new approaches in an attempt to over-come the limitations of traditional practices.Special emphasis has been placed on trying outstrategic planning models which make it possibleto tackle greater levels of uncertainty and facili-tate linkage with other cultural and economiccontexts. In a more original vein, there is also atrend towards situational approaches whichallow political variables to be taken into accountin planning. Many current experiments in localand participatory planning have highlightedshortcomings and the need to reinforce andexpand micro-planning and school mapping.

Attention is also being focused on simpli-fying the system from within, looking for alter-native forms and rationalising its operation.Here, one priority area has been the formulationof shortand long-term policies for training andthe management of human resources. Priorityhas been given, then, to the development of newtraining techniques, the creation of innovativesystems fortheevaluation of new needs, newjobdescriptions, new systems of promotion andincentives which correspond primarily to crite-ria determined by the changing context ratherthan criteria of seniority. Another issue of stra-

tegic importance which is beginning to emergemore clearly is the need at central, intermediateand local levels for strategies of deconcentra-tion and decentralisation which depend on a cri-tical mass of officials capable of managing thesystem efficiently and of making regularinnovations by introducing both modern mana-gement techniques and the new informationtechnologies.

Such management capabilities are all themore necessary in that the quality of supply inthe public sector is considered to be inadequateand tends to be seen as "everybody'sresponsibility". This view recognizes the emer-gence of a plurality of new actors whose parti-cipation must be co-ordinated with the educa-tional work of the ministries ordepartments ofeducation, and which also mirrors the trendtowards intersectorality and a global approachto priority issues and problems. The mobilisa-tion of extra-sectoral resources and co-ordina-tion with other sectors in the public domain andthe private sector, as well as with private educa-tion, non-governmental and religious organisa-tions, community bodies and parent organisa-tions, calls for attitudes and skills which civilservants must acquire, particularly those wor-king at decentralized levels, such as localgovernment and school management.

The impact of the financial crisis has tended tobe that funds earmarked for education are usedessentially topay salaries. Activities to improvequality therefore tend to be restricted, dependenton external funding or directed towards improv-ing the efficiency of the system; in other words,achieving more with the same resources. There isgrowing awareness of the fact that the ineff i c i e n tuse of educational resources cannot continue. Ifthe efficiency of education systems is to beimproved, new forms of resources managementmust be sought and activities in different areasmust be linked. To that end, efforts are beingmade to reduce the wastage entailed by highrepetition and drop-out rates, to improve themanagement of educational facilities and toreview the criteria for distributing funds amongthe educational levels. New terms and condi-

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tions are also being worked out for the alloca-tion of financial resources according to pupilattendance at the various institutions, thedevelopment of new modalities of educationalfunding and the establishment of new forms oftaxation linked to decentralisation.

Chapter V. The major challenges of the new stage in educational development

The region will have to rise to the challengesdescribed in the preceding chapters if it is tomake progress towards achieving the goals oftheMajorProject of Education in LatinAmericaand the Caribbean, in line with the Declarationof the World Conference on Education for All,whose aim is to meet basic learning needs.

In a context in which education has begun toplay a leading role in new development models,the region faces two major challenges as itembarks on a new stage of educational develop-ment.

The first challenge is to arrive at major na-tional agreements on education from whicheducational policies and strategies can derivelegitimacy and continuity. The second is to infu-se greater vitality into education systemsthrough strategies that will bring education outof its present isolation and give those involvedin the educational process greater autonomy indecision-making and greater responsibility forresults.

The possibility of launching a new stage ineducational development in the region is en-hanced by the existence of a favourable socio-political context for the participation of thevarious social actors in strategies designed toachieve its goals and objectives. A favourablesocio-political context undoubtedly depends onfactors such as the existence of an explicit socialand political consensus on a line of educationaldevelopment that is properly coordinated withnational development trends. Working out na-tional agreements on education is one possiblemeans of providing sociopolitical support foreducational activities and thus fulfilling one of

the conditions for the success of educationalstrategies, namely, continuity.

The countries of Latin America and theCaribbean already have a number of basicagreements on education comparable to thoserelating to other fields of activity. It should bementioned here that the great majority of coun-tries have enshrined the right to education intheir constitutions and have assigned specialresponsibility to the State for guaranteeing theexercise of that right. At the regional level, theMajor Project of Education in Latin Americaand the Caribbean lays down objectives andpriorities for the period up to the year 2000. Atthe world level, the World Conference onEducation for All specified goals and targets formeeting basic learning needs. The call for anational agreement on education implies reacti-vating existing agreements and producing newones that are interlinked in such a way as toreflect the reinforced political will to embark ona new stage of educational development.

The conclusion of a national agreement im-plies the expression in formal terms of a politi-cal will that endorses the commitment of politi-cal and civil society to joining forces in order tomeet the social demand for education. From thepoint of view of form, such agreements mayrange from the enacting of general laws to theconclusion of specific undertakings.

This being the case, the conclusion of a na-tional agreement on education presupposes thelaunching of a debate on the most significantaspects of educational development and its co-ordination with overall development strategies.

Introducing procedures for the formulation ofa national agreementon education is the respon-sibility of governments, political parties andsocial actors in general. Democratic govern-ment structures have appropriate channels fordoing this, both at parliamentary level and in theState's relations with the various political, eco-nsmic and social actors.

The content of the national agreements willvary from country to country; there can be nei-ther prior limitations nor universal validity.Under these conditions, the potential for gener

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ating abasic consensus in education will dependon the circumstances of individual countries, ontheir ability to reconcile interests, build alli-ances, establish short- and long-term socialcommitments, co-ordinate activities and bringabout social co-operation.

In general terms, national agreements couldreinforce, inter alia, any basic consensus thathigh priority should be assigned to education inthe allocation of resources. In this connection,world-level estimates indicate that the equiva-lent of two days of military spending or 2 percent of the servicing of foreign debt would besufficient to finance the universal introductionof basic schooling. At the regional level, theproportions seem to be much the same. A natio-nal consensus regarding the priority to be givento sustained investment in education is a neces-sary prerequisite for attaining the goals of newpatterns of production based on social justice.

In addition, such basic agreements wouldmake it possible to establish priorities for theinvestment of funds allocated to education.National agreement on such priorities is a prere-quisite for ensuring that the activities underta-ken achieve increasingly tangible results and areturn on investment.

Furthermore, basic agreements would lead toa redefinition of the roles of the State and theprivate sector and of central and local authori-ties. Agreements on these points are necessaryfor co-ordinated participation by State and com-munity bodies. They would provide for opti-mum use of resources and would clearly statethe activities to be undertaken and the responsi-bilities to be assumed.

The basic agreements would also make it pos-sible to focus on the need for co-ordination ineducational decision-making and to devise thenecessary machinery for achieving it. Agree-ments on consultation arrangements and theparticipation of different sectors in the runningof educational establishments are essential inorder to guarantee speed in communicating in-formation and adjusting plans of operation.

The second challenge to be met in the implem-entation of educational strategies is that of pro-

viding the systems with stable foundations sothat they can be more dynamic. In this connec-tion, different sources of momentum may beidentified as capable of adding their weight tonational agreements in terms of objectives andnational mobilisation. They are, on the onehand, the factors that produce a direct impact onthe educational process and, on the other, themachinery of regional and international co-operation.

It is no easy task to overcome the immobilityand rigidity of education systems. Action to thatend must be system-wide, although in specificsituations and at specific times individual deci-sion-makers may provide for a particular formof action that favours one aspect over others.What is important, in the final analysis, is to beaware of the different levels of action and theway in which they interconnect. Unilateral orone-dimensional approaches should be avoided.

Isolation, lack of continuity and organiza-tional rigidity are obstacles directly linked tothe administration and management of educa-tion systems. The purpose of administrativemodernization is to make the organisation ofexisting resources more efficient, and that ofdemocratic management is to create conditionsin which managerial personnel can work m oreeff ectivel y. Both the modernization and thedemscratization of management are criteria ofaction aimed at making the human factor moredynamic in education systems so that the lattermay in turn exploit the potential of existingtechnical ressurces and yield more consistenteducational action designed to reconcile respon-sibility with autonomy and creativity with theexecution of national and local education plans.

If educational administration and manage-ment are to play a dynamic role, it is essential toimprove information systems both for adminis-trators and for the general public. Informationhas a decisive role to play in reactivating educa-tion systems inasmuch as it prepares the way formore relevant action and more discriminatingdemand for education. Evaluation of the per-formance of the education system is one meansof bringing it into line with new educational

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demand and identifying ways of enhancing itsefficiency. The establishment of permanent sys-tems of overall and specific evaluation ofresults is a development aimed at breathing newlife into a system that has had very little priorexperience of change.

It is processes such as these that will ulti-mately determine the success or failure ofefforts to attain the goals of the Major Project ofEducation in Latin America and the Caribbean.They are the source of learning opportunitiesfor students and they also have a decisiveinfluence on the educational situations that, inthe last analysis, give meaning to other factorsinherent in the education system.

Prevailing views regarding the inertia or slug-gishness of education systems in the face of theneed for demand-o r i e n t e d d e v e l o p m e n t a r e b a s e dfor the most part on the content and form of theseeducational processes. There is, in turn, a broadconsensus regarding the problems of poor per-formance, failure, repetition, drop-out and theinadequate qualifications of those graduatingfrom the system, all of which confirm the urg e n tneed for systematic action to modernize theseprocesses. It is also clear that the region is notstarting from scratch but has a store of experienceon which it can draw. Most countries have hadexperience with orare a t p r e s e n t i m p l e m e n t i n gcurriculum reforms in an attempt to deal withthe problem. Isolated innovations have beentried, but they have not succeeded in launchinga steady trend towards educational renewal inthe countries concerned. The same may be saidof the decentralization movement. Educationalprocesses have probably suffered hitherto fromthe lack of both an internal and an external envi-ronment conducive to educational renewal. Thenecessary internal environment could be createdthrough administrative rationalisation and thedemocratization of management. A new debateto generate awareness of the importance of edu-cation for individual and social developmentcould help to create favourable conditions in theexternal context.

The complexity of educational processesmakes it necessary to work in a holistic and

synergetic way through a variety of activitieswith a view to sustaining the momentum ofrenewal.

The renewal of educational processes as oneof the pillars of an overall strategy aimed atmaking them more dynamic calls for co-ordi-nated action, geared, inter alia, to:- an integrated policy for educational person-

nel, with training and further training facili-ties designed to enhance the professional sta-tus of teachers;

- more flexible and relevant curricula;- more active involvement by students in the

learning process;- increased production and more effective use

of the media for education and for mass com-munication;

- more and better evaluation students' progressin the learning process;

- fuller and more technical participation on thepart of teachersi organisations;

- reorganisation of teaching work in educa-tional establishments;

- development of teaching expertise.The history of regional and international co-

operation has shown that it is not only a sourceof funding for the countries of Latin Americaand the Caribbean but also a factor conducive tothe dynamic development of education systems.Regional co-operation has played a part inmany drives by individual countries in the fieldsof educational legislation, reform and innova-tion. Countries have derived mutual benefitfrom exchanges of persons and experience. Thewide range of regional and international co-ope-ration that has taken place in the past has invi-gorated and supported national education sys-tems, motivating individual countries to join theregional and worldwide campaign foreducatio-nal development. The closing of borders,depowerment, atomization and isolation are fac-tors that have contributed to immobility, stagna-tion and the hardening of resistance to change.By contrast, the opening of borders, transparen-c y, coordination and joint efforts have proved tobe factors conferring dignity on the action thatpeople take and imbuing education systems with

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new meaning and with new individual and sociale n e rg y.

Infusing new energy into education sys-tems must therefore be seen as a regionaland international cause, with co-operationas a prerequisite for educational develop-ment in each country.

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RECOMMENDATION*

Recommendation concerning the implementation of National Plans ofAction and the Second Regional Plan ofAction forthe Major Project of Education in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean(1990-1995)

Considering the continuing validity of thelines of emphasis, structures and constituents ofthe Second Regional Plan of Action for theMajor Project of Education in Latin Americaand the Caribbean, unanimously adopted at theThird Session of the Interg o v e r n m e n t a lRegional Committee for the Major Project ofEducation in Latin America and the Caribbean(Guatemala City, 26-30 June 1989).

Reaffirming its commitment to the goals ofthe Major Project of Education in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean and to the Project'sgeneral aim of meeting basic learning needs,

Reaffirming the validity and timeliness of therecommendations of the First, Second and ThirdSessions of the Intergovernmental RegionalCommittee,

Bearing in mind the need to co-ordinate theMajor Project with the follow-up to the WorldConference on Education for All, held in Jom-tien, Thailand, from 5 to 9 March 1990, andwith the principles of action set forth, in parti-cular, in the World Declaration on Education forAll and the Framework for Action to Meet BasicLearning Needs, and also in the directives andplans of action of UNESCO, UNTCEF, UNDPand the World Bank and likewise those of IDBand UNFPA,

Mindful of the broad lines of the developmentstrategy based on changing production patternswith equity, which was approved at the twenty-

* Prelirninary version

third session of the United Nations EconomicCommission for Latin America and the Carib-bean (ECLAC), held from 3 to 11 May 1990 inCaracas, Venezuela,

Mindful that equity issues in the educationsystem should be addressed in their qualitativeand quantitative dimensions, and taking intoaccount the extent to which these are trans-formed or maintained by the wider social andeconomic structures,

Considering the results and expected out-comes of International Literacy Year, proclai-med by the United Nations General Assemblyfor 1990 and implemented by UNESCO,

Considering the development potential inher-ent in the renewed efforts aimed at regional andsubregional integration in Latin America andthe Caribbean.

Considering that the countries of the regionhave been making encouraging progress in theplanning and implementation of projects andproposals to give concrete effect to the recom-mendations of the previous sessions of theCommittee,

Adopts the following guidelines for thepreparation, updating and implementation ofNational Plans and of the Second Regional Planof Action for the Major Project in the Field ofEducation in Latin America and the Caribbeanin the second phase of the period 1990-1995.

The need for a new style of educational development

The Committee acknowledges that economic,political and social factors and challenges haveaffected the implementation of national plansand of the Second Regional Plan of Action andwill continue to weigh heavily on the formula-

31

tion and implementation of educational policiesand strategies. They include, on the one hand,the persistence of the adverse effects of theserious economic crisis, whose impact has beenfelt beyond the confines of purely economicstructures, and, on the other, the consolidationof democratic processes in the region.

One of the most adverse effects of the eco-nomic crisis, in most countries, has been thecurtailment of public spending on education.These cutbacks, which have brought budgetsdown to unacceptable levels over a long period,have resulted in a marked deterioration in theeducational services provided by the public sec-tor. The main indicators of this deteriorationare: the working and employment conditions ofteachers and their social status; the educationalfacilities and resources available; school infra-structure and welfare programmes for students.This situation has in turn led to the persistenceof low enrolment rates and high rates of illitera-cy, repetition, academic failure and drop-out; areduction in the rate of expansion of post-com-pulsory education, especially in the case of low-income families; an increase in the internalfragmentation of the system and a deteriorationin the quality of education.

This crisis has also brought to light a deeperunderlying trend in education: the loss ofmomentum and obsolescence of an idea and astyle of educational development that has failedto reconcile quantitative growth with satisfac-tory levels of quality and equity. The salientcharacteristics of this style, which has concen-trated on the valid task of extending coverage,have been: (i) an administration that is central-ized and bureaucratic, often with authoritarianleanings; (ii) a tendency to take the short-termview in decision-making; (iii) considerable iso-lation from other sectors of the State and ofsociety; (iv) uniform educational services fordiverse population groups; (v) educational proc-esses focusing on teaching rather than on learn-ing and (vi) a tendency to place greater empha-sis on teaching aids and curriculum design thanon the professional role of teachers. At the end of; the first decade of the Major Project, the coun-

tries of the region are faced with the challengeof developing a concept and a new style ofeducational development that is effective bothin realizing the unattained goals of the past andin satisfying the demands of the future.

The crisis and the open expression of demo-cratic aspirations have encouraged the formula-tion of proposals -shared by a growing numberof governments- aimed at reactivating econo-mies by changing the structures of production,strengthening regional integration processesand seeking a more equitable developmentmodel as the basis for a new development stra-tegy for Latin America and the Caribbean in the1990s.1 These proposals stress the twofoldcontribution to be made by education, both as akey component of social policy designed to pro-mote a more equitable form of development andin the training of human resources capable ofactive adaptation to a world of work characteri-sed by new qualities of creativity, intelligenceand solidarity.

The Committee is convinced that educationsystems in the countries of the region are at astrategic juncture levaing one stage behind themand embarking on another. Furthermore, itconsiders that both in the external context inwhich education operates and within the educa-tion system itself, a combination of conditions,needs and possibilities has emerged that is cre-ating new types of demand for an end to the tra-ditional lack of alignment between educationand social needs. In view of the foregoing, theCommittee draws attention to the need to em -bark on a new stage in educational developmentthrough a newform of management2which -in acontext of scarce resources- can meet the three-fold challenge of: (i) improving efficiency andeffectiveness, that is to say improving the qual-ity of the system by making it more relevant in

l Proposals contained in the document "Changing Pro duc-tion Patterns with Social Equity". ECLAC, Santiago,Chile, 1990.

2 the temm management, in this context and im a broad sense, denotes the conduct of educational systems and processes.

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cultural and environmental terms and in termsof its usefulness to individuals and society; (ii)enhancing equity in the distribution of educa-tional services, in other words providing high-quality education to priority sectors of the popu-lation, namely, those living in urban fringe andrural areas, thepoor, indigenous groups, women,drop-outs and those excluded from the educa-tion system; (iii) increasing the efficiency of thesystem by developing the capacity to make opti-mum use of resources with a view to its smoothinternal functioning, which presupposes aconsiderable improvement in the quality of edu-cation.

The following proposals concern the strategicoptions that would determine the new style ofeducational development during this stage inthe economic, social and political spheres.

Strategic guidelines for updating and implementing National Plans and the Second Regional Plan of Action.

In order to attain the goals of these plans andgenerate a new style that fosters in peopleappropriate capabilities and qualities for partici-pation in a just, peaceful and mutually supporti-ve society in the twenty-first century, it is sug-gested that the countries of the region undertakea series of activities aimed at boosting the vita-lity of their education systems, following thestrategic guidelines set out below:

Forging a qualitative link between educationand development strategies. On the one hand,education should develop in individuals theknowledge, attitudes, values and skills condu-cive to the mastery of technological innova-tions. In addition, a forward-looking approachwill be necessary in the framing of educationalpolicies that can be linked with medium andl o n g-term development strategies. This willmake it possible to differentiate between res-ponses to emergencies and necessary long-t e r mresponses guaranteeing the continuity of educa-tional activities. On other hand, education shouldbe linked to existing social development policies,which must prepare the ground for equitable

distribution of the gains accruing from eco-nomic growth.

Strengthening the democratic and participa -tory dimension as an educational developmentstrategy. From the standpoint of equity, thisentails ensuring access to formal and non-for-mal education and the priority allocation offunds to the satisfaction of the demands of theleast privileged sectors; from the pedagogicalstandpoint, it involves the promotion of rela-tions, contents and methods that guaranteedemocracy in educational praxis and consolidatethe democratic process; and from the politicalstandpoint, it means guaranteeing active partici-pation by educational agents in decisionmakingand seeking broad national consensus on educa-tion as a vital and priority factor so that it mayenjoy the fullest possible legitimacy.

Building new alliances in education. Nationalconsensus and national agreements should beconducive to the forging of new alliances withinthe State and among States that will foster co-ordination between public bodies and highereducation establishments, non-g o v e r n m e n t a lorganizations, organized groups active in edu-cation, various actors in the private sector andthe community. Such alliances should, amongother things, formulate communication policiesthat will make education-related issues a subjectof interest in all sectors and among the public atlarge.

Modernizing planning and management. Thisshould be linked to the broader processes oftransforming the State, such as deconcentrationand decentralisation, and directed towards newstrategic functions with regard to the formula-tion of development policies. These should in-clude, in particular, compensatory or affirma-tive action policies and policies to follow up andevaluate the performance of the educationalprocess through the introduction of informationsystems and various forms of research thatgenerate the kind of information needed forproblem identification, for central and locald e c i s i o n-making and for the assumption byindividuals and instituions of a larger share ofresponsibility as part of that process, as well as

Recommendation / PROMEDLAC IV

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policies for transparency in information.Adjusting the focus of curricula with a view

to improving the quality of basic education,shifting the emphasis from subject areas tobasic learning needs stemming from thecharacteristics and policy options of each coun-try. These include both needs for the instrumen -tal means of providing access to informationand the ways in which it is processed andexpressed, and the necessity for a transforma -tional ethic, to cope with people's basic needs inregard to their attitudes towards themselves,cultural identity and the environment.

A new concept of literacy education and basicadult education, treating the former as an inte-gral part of basic education and hence of inte-grated educational policies linking youth andadult literacy education to access to, and reten-tion and academic success in, the formal sys-tem; addressing problems not only of total butalso of functional illiteracy; establishing priori-ties and focusing activities on specific groups,including women and young people excludedfrom the formal education system.

Introducing momentum into the educationsystem by fostering unity of purpose amongthose involved, while developing the role of thefamily, schools, community organizations andthe media. Among these educational actors, spe-cial attention should be focused on strength-ening the teaching profession by recruiting can-didates with a marked aptitude for that career,with provision for training and regular inservicetraining, improving their employment and tea-ching conditions, and establishing structures tomotivate them and acknowledge them as pro-fessionals. These factors combined will ensurethat teachers are able to play a sound profes-sional role so that they become eff e c t i v e l yaccountableformeeting theirpupils' basic learn-ing needs, with a view to converting the schoolinto a centre for community cultural develop-m e n t.

Diversification offending sourcesfor educa -tional services. Strategies should seek to mobi-lize and combine the potential of a variety ofsources: public, private, non-g o v e r n m e n t a l,

within the community and, at the internationallevel, bodies engaged in technical and financialco-operation.

Arrangements for using funds shouldbeclose-ly co -ordinated with the financial managementpolicies and criteria in force in each country.Spending should be structured in such a way asto make optimum use of funds, channellingthem, as a matter of priority, into educational in-vestment and innovation. In addition, budgetaryplanning and administration should be subjectto strict financial controls based on cost analy-sis, rates of return and the achievement ofresults. Lastly, the use and channelling of fundsfrom public sources and international co-opera-tion should be better co-ordinated in order toensure that the goals of the funding agencies arecompatible with national policies and priorities.

National Plans of Action

These guidelines provide a strategic basis forupdating both the activities designed to attainthe goals of the Major Project and the follow-upactivities to the World Conference on EducationforAII and the World Summiton Children. Withthese aims in view, the Committee recommendsto Member States that they formulate their Na-tional Plans of Action for the Major Project andtheir National Education-For-A11 Action Plansas a single instrument, covering the followingpoints:

With regard to the new style of educationaldevelopment and the requirements of the newstrategy of changing production patterns in aspirit of equity.- Personal development-in both its individual

and its social dimensions and taking into ac-count the individual's capacity to bring aboutchange- should be seen as the central goal ofthe new style of educational development;

- Consideration should be given to the emer-gence of a wide range of demands on the partof the various social and economic actors:taken together, such demands accentuate theneed for education to be seen as a social prio-rity and for conditions to be created that

BULLETIN 24, Apra 1991 / The Major Project of Education

34

- will encourage all to join in the building of anational educational consensus, based on therequisite fundamental learning needs, on pol-icy-making and policy implementation;

- A national educational consensus on the mainlines of educational policy must be fostered.Priority should be given here to consistencybetween short-term activities and mediumandlong-term policies, the mobilisation of socialresources and strengths in support of thosebroad policy lines and the establishment ofmachinery to link education with other di-mensions of development.

With regard to educational planning and mana-gement for educational change, initiativeswith a high potential for stimulating edu-cation systems should be promoted, plannedand implemented. These include:

- new forms of strategic planning capable ofhandling higher degrees of complexity anduncertainty and conducive to greater flexibil-ity in this area;

- strengthening of the planning and manage-ment capabilities of executive authorities atthe various administrative levels -regional,provincial and local- and in schools;

- new forms of strategic human resourcesmanagement, including, for example, meas-ures to encourage gifted and motivated youngpeople to enter the teaching profession and topromote participation in teaching activities bypersons working in the productive sector andthe media;

- procedures to streamline, deconcentrate anddecentralize administrative structures in orderto foster, where possible, experiments in localeducational development conducive to demo-cratic management that will gradually confera greater degree of autonomy on educationalestablishments and teachers and make themmore accountable for performance.

- a more in tcn sivc u so of in formationtechnologies and the creation of data bases andinformation systems; this means that countriesshould support the national information net-works and the results of educational researchand innovation. Provision should be made,

through horizontal co-operation; for theseresults to be exchanged with centres and net-works in other countries of the region and inother regions; '

- development of intersectoral machinery forthe establishment of special funds, and for thedrawing up of emergency plans for such areasas nutrition and health, in order to make acomprehensive response to the needs of chil-dren;

- introduction of different evaluation methodsso that the individual and social impact ofeducational processes are more immediatelyapparent in order to promote better quality;

- design and operation of funding mechanisms,both to manage scarce resources in periods ofbudgetary austerity and to attract fundingfrom the community, the productive sectorand outside sources;

- experimenting with the organization andmanagement of educational facilities andtimetables with a view to using them to bettereffect and facilitating the improvement ofeducational achievements.

- With regard to literacy and youth and adulteducation:- national strategies should be devised and

implemented to prevent, in the medium andlong term, the emergence of pockets of illiter-acy, by addressing the problems of youngpeople and adults in a comprehensive mannerthrough measures to deal with the causes andeffects of academic failure;

- the real scale of the problem should be takenfully into account by identifying groups of il-literates who, because of their sex, age and in-volvement in productive work or socialdevelopment, have a greater chance of suc-cess in the pursuit of literacy, and giving thempriority where appropriate;

- encouragement should be given to the crea-tion and organisation of national subsystemsof basic education for working children andfor young people and adults that include liter-acy programmes, new basic education prac-tices and approaches, in-service training andtraining for the reform of productive proc-

Recommendation / PROMEDLAC IV

35

esses, based on a strategy of inter-institutionaland intersectoral co-operation aimed at meet-ing the main basic learning needs of the targetgroups in their role of citizens and producers;

- research shouldbecarriedoutas an initial steptowards overcoming the problem of func-tional illiteracy by determining its principalcauses and characteristics in the areas of read-ing and writing, science, mathematics, andsocial and occupational skills.With regard to educational processes, the

emphasis should be on co-ordinated measuresto reduce academic failure and improve quality.These might include the following:- Focusing attention on pupils, placing more

emphasis on learning than on teaching, organ-izing the pupil's work in such a way that he orshe is able to play a more active part in thelearning process, and promoting and imple-menting strategies thatcaterforthewidevarietyof situations in which children find them-selves, as a result either of their culture (suchas membership of a particular ethnic group)or of theirplace in the socioeconomic spec-trum (as members of rural or urban fringecommunities, for instance). In this context,special provision should be made for childrenwith disabilities. Focusing attention on pupilsalso means catering for their parents by offe-ring them programmes that will develop theirpotential to stimulate children in infancy andsupport the learning activities of school-agechildren.

- Fostering educational leadership skills amongteachers through the implementation ofacomprehensive policy to improve their sta-tus, encompassing co-ordinated strategies fortraining, the acquisition of professionalqualifications and further training and betterworking conditions and salaries; the improve-ment of initial training schemes for future tea-chers, with the emphasis on learning; theestablishment of continuing teacher educationsystems in which teachers are able to make a cri-tical assessment of their own work and endea-vour to improve their teaching methods, and areencouraged to keep their scientific and tech-

nological knowledge up to date; the promo-tion of participation by teachers' organiza-tions in bringing about educational changeand building up a core of qualified teachers;the promotion of teacher participation in theproduction of written and experimental mate-rials, and encouragement of creative, innova-tive ideas in teaching; and the development offacilities where teachers can demonstrateinnovative schemes and introduce them on asystematic basis.

- The curriculum should be brought up to dateand made more coherent and more flexible,with a shift in emphasis from subjects taughtto the satisfaction of individual and sociallearning needs. Other requirements include arevision of learning content bearing in mind,on the one hand, the need to provide pupilswith the tools they require for understanding,processing and expressing basic reading, wri-ting and arithmetical codes and, on the other,the need for a transformational ethic relatingto personal development and the refinementof attitudes to others and to the environment;the design of methods of curricular changeallowing for adjustment to a variety of cultu-ral, scientific and technological circum-stances; schemes for bridge-building betweennational and local curricula, beween generaland special aducation, etc.; proposals forintercultural bilingual education policies, notonly for indigenous groups but for theschool-going population as a whole; and theformulation of specific policies to cater forpupils with slight and moderate disabilities.In the field of regional and international co-

operation, intensive use should be made of ava-lable resources, especially by:- consolidating the co-operation networks

REPLAD, REDALF, PICPEMCE andCARNEID and SIRt at the national level,and interlinking them at the regional andsubregional levels, by strengthening theplanning and evaluation of their action pro-grammes and linking them to other net-works, such as REDUC, run by non-governmental bodies;

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- strengthening national capacities for themanagement of financial resources set asidefor the development and qualitative improve-ment of education, the point being that na-tional education budgets are allocated almostentirely to salaries;

- making better use at the national level of thestore of knowledge accumulated at the re-gional, subregional and international levels,both with a view to transferring theoreticaland applied knowledge and in order to pro-mote a more thorough understanding in thevarious education systems of the countries ofthe region, an essential condition for a stron-ger sense of cultural identity and betterintegration in the economic and trade spheres;

- promoting and developing bilateral co-opera-tion between countries by fosteringexchanges of technical backstopping mis-sions, the granting of scholarships, the jointproduction of materials (book publishing,audio-visual materials), the pooling of inno-vative experience; research work and the jointestablishment of data bases.

Priority fields of action under the RegionalPlan of Action

To support the implementation of nationalplans of action with a view to educational chan-ge, the Committee has identified the followingpriority fields of action for this phase of theSecond Regional Plan:

Educationalpolicies,planning, managementandfacilities

To strengthen national and regional capabili-ties for the co-ordination of educational proc-esses with refomms in general public administra-tion in the new contexts of deconcentration anddecentralisation, participation and intersector-a l i t y, it is recommended that steps be taken to: - stimulate support by the international com-

munity for broad consensus-building on edu-cation at the national, subregional and re-gional levels;

- test and develop new planning and manage-ment models that are sufficiently flexible toensure that the processes of educational chan-ge can be managed appropriately in contextsof greater complexity and uncertainty; assess,on the basis of national experience, thedesirability of introducing budgeting systemsbased on results;

- support the drawing up and implementationof emergency educational plans designed tosolve urgent problems in the event of naturaldisasters or social emergencies;

- foster the setting up of flexible administrativestructures that facilitate experimentation inthe organization of schoolwork, interlinkingand co-ordination of the different stages andlevels of education systems, interlinking ofordinary and special education, and co-ordi-nation with other social actors in the develop-ment of innovative models for human re-sources management and greater autonomyfor institutions;

- promote the development of modern tech-niques and initiatives in financial manage-ment to ensure optimum use of available re-sources, while at the same time fosteringcomplementarity between public and privateand national and international resources;

- work out criteria to be applied in assessingbasic learning needs and designing systemsfor the measurement and management of lev-els of achievement with a view to enhancingthe quality of education;

- set up structures to facilitate the formulationof policies and the implementation of strate-gies of deconcentration and decentralisation;promote educational policies geared to localdevelopment which: (i) facilitate the integra-tion and co-ordination of different institutionsand initiatives within a given field and geo-graphical area; (ii) enable individual educa-tional establishments to devise their own edu-cational projects tailored to local needs andnational educational goals;

- support, in the light of the expected outcomesof International Literacy Year, national liter-acy strategies and those specially designed to

Recommendation / PROMEDLAC IV

37

combat indigenous illiteracy;- promote and systematically pursue policies

designed to ease the transition from initial toprimary education, seeking greater co-ordina-tion between them and a reduction in failurerates;

- systematise and expand major policies andinitiatives toredress social imbalancesthrough educational organization, inter alia inareas such as welfare assistance forschool-age children;

- promote national projects designed to offsetinequalities in the access of extremely poorpopulation groups to educational goods andservices;

- raise awareness among groups directly in-volved and the community at large of thesocial and cultural factors that influence sucheducational processes as the educational inte-gration of disabled children;

- promote the development of: (i) prototypesand standards for setting up teaching and as-sistance centres with a view to the creation ofeducational industries; (ii) modelsforthebuilding and renovation of multipurpo-se educational facilities for basic education,giving precedence to a style of architecturethat reflects local culture and caters for theneeds of the community; (iii) appropriatetechniques for the building, maintenance andadministration of establishments that areresistant to natural disasters and can serve assafe havens for thecommunity, while promo-ting exchanges of experience in this field.

Pre- and in-service training, upgrading andrefresher trainingfor key educationalpersonnel

To develop the capabilities of key personnel forthe renewal of educational processes, it is rec-ommended that steps be taken to:- formulate strategies designed to make initial

and in-service teacher training more flexible,enhancingtheirrelevance and introducing newcomponents such as: basic forms of planningand management of human, material and fi-

nancial resources; environmental themes; theability to produce written and experimentalmaterials for science teaching; the rudimentsof education for children with disabilities; thedemocratic and participatory approach; actionaimed at closer co-operation among the coun-tries of the region;

- promote the establishment and developmentof subregional or regional centres of excel-lence in the region, with a view to guarantee-ing the highest levels of theoretical and prac-tical vocational training for key educationalpersonnel, with emphasis on the training ofteacher educators in various fields;

- in the framework of the REPLAD, REDALF andPICPEMCE networks, and with the support ofregional organizations specialising in co-o p e r a-tion, undertake training activities for teacher edu-cators and directors of national projects associa-ted with these networks, and experimenl with dis-tance teaching arrangements in the fields coveredby the different networks;

- promote general pedagogical training foradministrators to give them a deeper insightinto educational problems and make themmore open to innovation.

Experimental testing and evaluation of newpedagogical options

To develop literacy programmes, basic educa-tion programmes for children, adolescents andadults, and non-formal and informal educationprogrammes, it is recommended that steps betaken to:- stimulate, systematize and spread innovative

experiments in reading and writing, elemen-tary science and technology and mathematicswith a view to bringing about a qualitativeimprovement in education and reducing failu-re rates in the early years of schooling;

- promote, as part of adult education, instructionfor parents interested in early childhood edu-cation, whether or not they have themselvesattended school;

- design and test curricula and teaching materi-als geared to the different target population

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groups, focusing on programmes of educa-tional integration for disabled children;

- enhance the flexibility and co-ordinate thestructure and development of programmesdesigned to identify and meet basic learningneeds, taking into consideration those relatingto the natural and social environment andthose of the individual student;

- stress the importance of teaching scienceand the practical aspects of technologythroughout basic education as a key com-ponent of education for living, linking these to the idea of preserving a sustainableenvi-ronmentandplacing emphasis on their usefulness indeveloping logical thinking processes for informa-t i o n-seeking and practical problem-s o l v i n g ;

- promote the use, for educational purposes, ofthe messages transmitted by the mass mediaand those which have a bearing on the contentof school curricula, through such practices asthe incorporation in teaching activities of ananalysis of the press, television and othercommunication and cultural media with aview to developing critical attitudes towardssuch messages;

- stimulate new strategies designed to remedyinequalities in access to education by youngpeople and women, particularly where liter-acy and other educational options for womenare concerned, in the form of programmes toimprove their ability to educate their children;programmes should also be designed specifi-cally for young people denied a place in for-mal education so as to prepare them for adultlife and enable them to become responsibleparents and members of society.

Information and research systems

To develop national and regional capabilitieswith a view to retrieving formation that can beused to produce relevant indicators, it is recommended steps be taken to:- prepare indicators that are reliable and can be

standardised, encouraging, as far as possible,the development of computer programs thatcan be used to analyse: the current situation of,

and trends in, student access to education(scale and opportunities), duration of atten-dance, progress, repetition and drop-out; theefficiency of education systems; disparities ineducational provision for groups and regions;the diversity and range of educational possi-bilitieson offerateach level; academicachievement and other indicators of the qua-lity of education.

- prepare models for the analysis of informa-tion, identifiable by school and by course,concerning the system of staff remunerationand administration, building and maintenan-ce, and statistics concerning enrolment andteachers, supervision and assessment, andfeed this information into a data bank so as tohave more facts to hand for optimal deci-sion-making;

- analyse the results of activities under theMajor Project during the period 1990-1991 inindividual countries and at the subregionaland regional level, circulate the studies in theMajor Project Bulletin and other publicationsand summarize these acitivities in a new re-port for the period 1980-1991;

- stimulate regional impact research and ex-changes of experience in areas such as: iden-tification of basic learning needs; factors andprocesses influencing academic ahievementand other aspects of the quality of education,including innovations in educational manage-ment and technology; studies of functionalilliteracy with a view to identifying its mainfeatures in regard to reading and writing,science, mathematics and social and occupa-tional skills, and studies of demand and inno-vative experiments in basic adult education;

- stimulate and enhance the role of universitiesin the development of educational research onthe Major Project priorities in scientificdevelopment, the search for and constructionof new educational theories and the testing ofnew methodological and educational man-agement options; in particular, urge universi-ties to do their utmost to improve the qualityof teacher-training establishments;

- foster "state-of-the art" assessments on sub-

Recommendation / PROMEDLAC IV

39

jects of common interest to the countries ofthe region where sufficient research, stu-dies and information exist, on the linesof the OREALC/ REDUC publications,forexample, to enable the information accu-mulated on various subjects to be systemati-cally compiled and disseminated.

Educational industries and publicationpolicies

In this field it is recommended that steps betaken to:- compile inventories of educational industries

in the region and seek machinery for co-op-eration with a view to greater integrationamong the countries of the region;

- encourage, with international support, natio-nal, subregional and regional projects for theproduction and exchange of printed materials,teaching packages, audio-visual materials,computer programs and electronic media, andbasic documents for use in upgrading teach-ers' qualifications;

- encourage the development of a policy andstrategy of translation, into the languages ofthe region, of major works in education andrelated disciplines;

- foster the development of publications for theexchange of experience and the disseminationof bibliographies of works dealing with therenewal of educational processes;

- promote activities such as meetings, seminarsand special training courses which tend tofurther educational jorunalism.

Promoting the development of the Co-operation Networks

To enhance the capacity of the horizontal Co-operation Networks (REPLAD, REDALF, PIC-PEMCE and CARNEID), SIRI and REDUCwith a view to introducing educational changeand the new style of education, it is recommen-ded that steps be taken to:- mobilize institutional, national, regional and

other resources so that the Networks can ful-

fill the activating role assigned to them underthe Major Project;

- foster and support the functioning of the na-tional Networks in keeping with the design,implementation and evaluation of the Na-tional Plans of Action; within the frameworkof the Major Project;

- strengthen the links between the Co-operationNetworks and between them and sm andother networks such as REDUC, through jointundertakings. This entails the development ofconceptual frames of reference to stimulateresearch and innovation, both among traininginstitutions and within the formal school sys-tem, concerning specific regional issues suchas the identification of basic learning needs,repetition, dfop-out, the time available forlearning, assessment of achievement and itsrelevance at the local and institutional levels,qualifications of teaching staff and availabil-ity of materials;

- encourage the formation of regional andsubregional groups carrying out similar proj-ects in areas such as research, experimentalwork and innovation;

- promote the exchange of specialists amongthe various countries in order to foster hori-zontal co -operation in the renewal processestaking place both in training institutions andwithin the formal school system;

- evaluate the experience of the Co-o p e r a t i o nNetworks and apply it systematically in orderto ensure that their operations are geared togiving sustained support to educational change.

Technical and financial co-operation insupport of the Programmes and Acavities ofthe Regional Plan

The Committee, recognising that:- the Framework for Action and the Declaration

of the World Conference on Education for A l l ,together with the goals of the Major Project,should constitute an ongoing and joint en-deavour involving the governments of theregion and the sources of technical and financialc o-operation such as UNDP, UNICEF, the

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World Bank, IDB and UNESCO, among others.

Calls for: - encouragement to be given to all possible

initiatives regarding the financial and techni-cal support that international agencies canprovide to governments, in order to facilita-te the development of education for all,within the framework of the Major Projectof Education;

Recommends: - that the necessary efforts be made to ensure

that the States and agencies which signed theJomtien World Declaration on Education forAll actively participate in the implementationof activities relating to the attainment of thegoals of the Major Project;

- that, wherever possible, regional and subre-gional banks, other intergovernmental bodiesand non-governmental organisations be asso-ciated with the implementation of strate-

gies, projects and programmes and with theirfinancing, having due regard to prevailingregulations, with a view to complying there-by with the Framework for Action adopted atJomtien and attaining the goals of the MajorProject of Education;

- that UNESCO considers and proposes anynecessary amendments to the Cownittee'sStatutes so that the agencies which signed theJomtien Declaration can participate moreeffectively in the activities planned for theattainment of the goals of the Major Projectof Education in Latin America and theCaribbean;

- that, with the help of the media, a policy todisseminate this recommendation be pursuedwith the aim of ensuring that its main pointsare brought to the attention of specialists andthe public at large, so that it may serve as anincentive for the organisation of seminars andas a frame of reference for the evaluation andanalysis of the National Plans of Action.

Recommenoation / PROMEDLAC IV

41

QUITO DECLARATION

The Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean, convened by UNESCO to at-tend the Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the MajorProject inthe Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognize the significant progressmade in expanding education in the past decade, despite a background of acute economic hard-ship and social difficulties.

We also acknowledge that, under the traditional strategies in which the region's education sys-tems have evolved, the possibilities of harmonizing quantity with quality have been exhausted.We therefore maintain that we have reached a time of great historic importance, when it will benecessary to embark on a new stage of educational development to meet the challenges of chan-ging production patterns, social equity and political democratisation.

Consequently, having taken cognizance of and considered the reports and proposals submittedat the session,

WE DECLARE:

1 .That in order to overcome the economic crisis and enterthe modern world as active partners,the countries of the region must consolidate their regional integration and bilateral ties, investas a matter of priority in the training of human resources and strengthen their social cohesion.Without quality education there will be no growth, equity or democracy. This is why educa-tion must be the subject of broad national consensus guaranteeing the commitment of societyas a whole to educating its future generations and the continuity of the policies and pro-grammes put under way to attain these objectives;

2.That in order to meet these requirements, a radical change must be brought about in traditionaleducational management, making it possible to link education effectively with economic, poli-tical and cultural demands, bringing educational action out of its isolation and transforming itinto a driving force for economic development, the equitable distribution of wealth and publicparticipation. What the new strategy basically calls for is a response to the demands of socie-ty and not just to those of educational administration as such;

3.That education is the responsibility of everyone, and not just that of one sector or group. It istherefore necessary to devise and develop mechanisms and strategies for consultation amongthe various government sectors and between the latter and non-grovernmental organizations,private companies, the media, church bodies, trade union and community organisations andthe families themselves;

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4.That to guarantee its linkage with social needs and the intersectoral nature of educationalaction, substantial changes will have be made to styles of planning and administration. Thetraditional administration of our education systems does not provide for the full participationof the main protagonists in the teaching/learning process, fails to take responsibility for thesystem's disappointing results, does not focus actions on the priority sectors of the populationand does not encourage teachers to be innovative and creative. In this context, we draw atten-tion to the need to step up moves towards decentralisation, regionalization andReconcentration, to devise streamlined machinery for the evaluation of results, to implementeffective programmes of compensatory education, to boost emergency programmes havingrecourse to exceptional measures to deal with the crises affecting poor and marginal popula-tion groups, and to design information and research systems for decision-making as ways ofimproving management capacity;

5.That changes in management and commitment on the part of all those involved are necessarybut not sufficient conditions of the new educational strategy, so that they must be supplemen-ted by new classroom techniques and more relevant curriculum content. From this point ofview, improving education quality means, stepping up moves to enhance the status of the tea-ching profession and promoting the transformation of the curriculum through measures thatwill meet the fundamental educational needs of the individual and of society. These measuresshould facilitate access to information, enable individuals to think and express themselvesclearly and strengthen their ability to solve problems, analyse facts critically, join forces acti-vely and loyally with other people, and protect and improve the environment, the cultural heri-tage and their own living conditions; and

6.That although the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are prepared to make all thenecessary efforts to bring about internal changes, these efforts should be accompanied byinternational solidarity. The World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien just overa year ago, drew attention emphatically to the need to redress the serious international econo-mic imbalances in order to be sure of attaining the objective of satisfying the basic educatio-nal needs of the whole population. At the World Summit on Children, held in September 1990,the governments of the world endorsed this commitment, stressing the need to provide edu-cational opportunities for all children from birth.

The commitment entered into by the international community highlights the importance ofinvesting in individuals as a guarantee of peace and understanding among peoples. We call uponbodies working in the field of international co-operation to translate that determination intoconcrete proof of support for the programmes of education for all that the countries of the region,individually and collectively, are promoting so that the objectives of the Major Project ofEducation may be fully attained by the year 2000.

We, the Ministers of Education of Latin America and the Caribbean, hereby issue this Dec-laration in Quito on the twenty-fifth of April, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.

Quito Declaration

43

DEVELOPMENT

The clear will to begin a new stage of educa-tional development to satisfy the needs of theirpeople was the dominant decision in the consul-tations of representatives from Latin Americanand Caribbean countries at the Fourth Meetingof the Intergovernmental Regional Committeefor the Major Project of Education, held inQuito, Ecuador, between April 22 and 25, 1991.

Member States representatives analysed themain advances, limitations and obstacles inachieving the objectives of schooling, literacyand quality of education of the Major Project ofEducation for 1989-1990. Forecasts and strate-gies for the next few years, the articulation be-tween education and development and thedirections and priorities of subregional, regio-nal, interregional and international cooperationwere also analyzed.

29 of the 33 Member States participated inPROMEDLAC IV, of which 26 were headed byMinisters of Education, Deputy Ministers orSecretaries of State. In addition, 5 MemberStates from outside the region attended, as did Sagency representatives from the United NationsSystem, 10 observers from intergovernmentalorganisations, 17 from international non-gov-ernmental organizations and S institute andfoundation directors.

The delegations' work was simultaneouslyorganized into the Plenary Session and theWorking Group. In the former, each country'sreport was made known, as were messages fromcooperation agencies. Two round tables wereheld on the technical subjects relating to thedevelopment of the event. In the Wo r k i n gGroup, meanwhile, recommendations to ensue

from the meeting were discussed.The Minister of Education of Ecuador, A l f r e d o

Vera, was elected committee Chairman of PRO-MEDLAC IV. The Minister of Education ofChile, Ricardo Lagos, the Secretary of State ofPublic Education of Mexico, Manuel BartlettDiaz; the Minister of Education of Trinidad andTobago, Gloria Henry and the Minister of Edu-cation of Venezuela, Gustavo Roosen were elec-ted Deputy Chairpersons The Minister ofEducation of E1 Salvador, Cecilia Gallardo deCano was elected Rapporteur. The Minister ofEducation of Peru was named Chairman of theWorking Group, while the Minister of Educationof Colombia, Alfonso Valdivieso Sarrniento, wasdesignated Rapporteur of Chat Group.

There was a main document prepared forPROMEDLAC IVbyUNESCO, entitled "MajorProject of Education in Latin America and theCaribbean: Advances, limitations, obstacles andchallenges" (ED-9 1 (PROMEDLAC IV), aswere two reference documents.

At the opening session, the General Directorof UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zarazoga, calledattention to the importance of the meeting, thefirst of its consequence to be held after theWorld Conference onEducation for A l l(Jomtien, March 1990). In this respect, theGeneral Director indicated that This meetingconstituted an opportunity to embark upon neweducational strategies within the framework ofproductive transformation with social equity andpolitical democracy. He also highlighted the pro-blem of teachers, and called attention to the needto reflect and to take initiatives on policies forteacher professionalisation, in response to the

44

greater demands imposed upon them, whichguarantee them adequate working/conditionsand status.

Referring to the cooperation within the frame-work of the Major Project, the General Directorinvited participants to go on record regarding thechanges that should be introduced into the struc-ture, mechanisms and modes of action of thisProject, from an outlook of greater globality,intersectoriality and shared responsibility.

The President of Ecuador, Rodrigo Borja,opened the Meeting with a speech in which,after welcoming participants, he indicated thatdevelopment of a country required cohesive useof natural, financial, human and technologicalresources. He associated the outdated nature ofeducation in the region with the lack of humanand technical resources. PresidentBorja stressedthat the demand for education for all presup-poses a change in approach within universitiesand in the remainder of the educational system.He placed particular importance on the roleeducation could and should play in consolidat-ing the current political democratization proc-esses in the region. He ended by describing themain educational efforts undertaken in Ecuador,despite the recent economic crisis.

Alfredo Vera, Minister of Education of Ecua-dor and Meeting Chairman, gave an overallreview of the biennium. He indicated that basiceducation in recent years has continuouslyexperienced significant quantitative growth,despite existing problems. He added, however,that this growth, in many cases, has not beenaccompanied by the required levels of effective-ness, quality and equity. This has meant theexhaustion of traditional educational develop-ment, and poses the challenge of pursuing newstyles and strategies for this decade.

After mentioning new prospects within theframework of the Declaration on Education forAll and the importance of the ECLAC proposalon productive transformation with equity, hereferred to the need to pay greater attention topreschool education, whose coverage is stilllacking in Latin America and the Caribbean,particularly in rural and urban marginal areas.

He highlighted the trend observed in all coun-tries of the area towards use of a flexiblecurriculum that takes into account the popula-tion's needs, interests and problems. He went onto indicate that progress has been made in spe-cial education, with greater attention beinggiven to its scope and quality in legislativeterms and in the preparation of specific strate-gies. He also reminded those present that effortsto decentralize and deconcentrate educationalsystems and processes were maintained duringthe biennium and that national and regionalcooperation courses in educational planning andadministration have been developed. T h eMeeting Chairman ended by pointing out inter-national cooperation and expressing his thanksto UNESCO and other agencies and coopera-ting governments that have accompanied thedevelopment of the Major Project of Education.

Sessions

During the plenary sessions, among the manytopics discussed various speakers acknowled-ged advancements made in broadening thecoverage of primary education. They agreedthat the greatest problem lies in dropping outand repetition, which becomes acute in ruraland marginal urban areas. For the most part, thedelegates considered that, in order to overcomethe problem, the quality of education needs tobe improved. The need was also expressed for abroader preschool education policy, extendingthis stage primarily to five and six year olds.The Declaration of Jomtien was seen as havinginspired comprehensiveprogrammes, withstrategies that include new alliances in literacybetween various public and private sectoragen-cies and non-governmental org a n i s a t i o n s .Various countries stressed that they are substitu-ting the conception and implementation of lite-racy as an exclusive state action for one that isnational, in which central public agencies progres-sively become institutions involved in planning,encouraging and supporting a task shared withotherpublic institutions and NGOs. This trend isc o n f i r m e A by the creation of national education

Development / MOMEDLAC IV

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systems for youths and adults, starting from thecoordination of interinstitutional policies andactions, the creation of new basic education pro-grammes for all, the decision to combine litera-cy and citizen participation in long term pro-grammes, etc.

Various speakers pointed to attempts beingmade by their respective countries to offer in-digenous populations an education that takesinto account their world and cultural view, high-lighting intercultural and bilingual educationprojects.

In terms of quality of education, delegatesindicated that qualitative improvement is a pri-ority and will continue to be so in plans for thenineties. In this respect, curriculum renovationand its innovations have been suggested as keyaspects in the quality of education, with particu-lar emphasis on the need to include or reviewprimary schools subjects in science and technol-ogy, human rights, education for peace and theenvironment, among others. Professional train-ing of teachers was also considered to be a keyelement in improving the quality of education.To this end, concrete and relevant actions weresuggested that relate to the situation and work-ing conditions, as well as to the creation of stra-tegies that attract high school graduates to tea-ching and to promoting work in difficult-to-reach areas. A number of delegates indicated theimportance in this respect of preparing teachingmaterial as teaching aides. Mention was madeof the need to prepare, publish and use text-books, among other materials, for students andteachers in primary or basic education.

Administrative decentralisation and the trans-fer of resources towards rural areas have re-sulted in significant improvements, and it isforecast that the trend will continue. It was ack-nowledged that decentralisation has generatedinnovative actions and has fueleA o t h e rchanges.

From a financial point of view, existing limi-tations in the support of educational develop-ment were mentioned. For this reason the needfor an in-depth study and treatment of projectsand strategies with new financial approaches

was emphasizeA. An example would be usingstate resources to sponsor free private educa-tional centres which prove effective and effi-cient and offer quality in learning.

A number of delegations expressed the needfor continued international support and under-scored the fundamental role of UNESCO in thiscooperation as a privileged forum for educa-tional debate and for the search for solutions.Mention was made of the need to rescale bothinternational and regional technical and finan-cial cooperation, acknowledging the key role ofeducation in development and in the democraticprocess. Likewise, reference was made to theimportance of agencies and sources of funding,and the wish was expressed for greatercoordination in all such efforts in order to obtaingreater effectiveness.

UNICEF announced that it will devote 25%of its resources to education and health duringthis decade and that it will enter into an agree-ment of cooperation with UNESCO. In turn, thedelegation of the Government of Spain expres-sed its intention to continue its cooperation withthe Major Project, while the StandingCommittee of non-governmental organisationsassociated with UNESCO offered its completesupport in achieving the objectives of the WorldConference on Education for All.

Round Tables

Improving the quality of education in a crisiscontext (Round Table No. I)

Moderated by the Secretary of Public Educationof Mexico, Manuel Bartlett, participants in-cluded Claudia Davis from the Carlos ChagasFoundation of Brazil, who spoke on Advancesand challenges of measuring quality; DonaldHolsinger, of the World Bank, United States,who presented the topic Research undertaken b ythe World Bank to improve the quality of eAuca-tion; Fernando Fajnzylber, from ECLAC, Chile,who dealt with educational Demands of economicdevelopment and productive transformation with equity; Hazel M. Salmon, University

BULLETIN 24, Aprd 1991/ The Major Project of Education

46

of the West Indies, Jamaica, who presented thetopic, Training of teachers for better education;Vicky Colbert, from the UNICEF RegionalOffice, Colombia, who spoke on How the Es-cuela Nueva has succeeded in raising the quali-ty of education in Colombia; and the Minister ofEducation of Argentina, Antonio Salonia, whopresented the topic Global political view of res-trictions on raising quality.

Lecturers made known the advances in termsof measurement of quality and the stages thatmust be faced in the decade. In this respect, theyidentified a dozen factors that could be modi-fied, having a positive effect on the quality ofeducation, such as textbooks, relating content topopulation needs, increasing the time allocatedfor learning, training teachers in reading tech-niques, bilingual education and increasing chil-dren's capacity to receive education upon enter-ing primary school. Innovation in these factorswas said to be closely linked to changes in thesocalled "frontal method of teaching" in whichthe teacher spends all his time conveyingcontent and instructions to students. This modi-fication seems to be politically feasible, butrequires certain conditions such as theexisten-ceofprinted materials which, by their contentand routine instructions can be read directly bythe student, leaving the teacher time for the edu-cational task itself. The results of the EscuelaNueva in Colombia, appear to suggest positiveresults in this respect.

The construction of nalional agreements ineducation (Round Table No. 2)

Moderated by the Minister of Education ofJamaica, Carlyle Dunkley, participants includedthe Minister of Education of Chile, RicardoLagos; Marvin Herrera, Minister of Educationof Costa Rica; Elbia Palomera, Technical Secre-tary of the Business Sector Education Commis-sion of the Instituto de Proposiciones Estrategi-cas de Mexico. (IPE); Rev., Antonio Bachs, Ex-ecutive Secretary of "Fe y Alegria" for LatinAmerica; Jose Joaquin Brunner, FLACSOsocial scientist and Andres Cardo Franco,Senator and President of the EducationCommission of the Senate of Peru.

Speakers agreed on the importance of thetopic for creating conditions of legitimacy andcontinuity of future educational policies andstrategies in the region. There was also consen-sus on the need to coordinatc between decen-tralizationand managementof sectorial,intersectorial, regional and local agreements.The interdependence was established betweennational agreements and the possibilities ofrelying on new resources and support for sustai-ned educational development in the region andwithin each country. Participants expressedawareness of the fact that contents, mechanismsand other components of a national educationagreement will have to be differentiated accor-ding to the particular conditions of each case.

Development / PROMEDLAC IV

47

The clear trend towards equal education oppor-tunities for both sexes confirmed in this studycalls attention to the potential role of educationvis-a-vis social change. After two decades inwhich experts from developed countries stres-sed the reproductive nature of pedagogicalactions, the figures finally bear out thoseauthors who expressed doubts as to the validityof these propositions forLatin A m e r i c a s ' .However, there is no doubt as to the fact thatneither women (nor men) from marginal urbanand rural areas have 2

1 We wish to thank our colleagues J.C. Tedesco and R.Vera for their comments and suggestions, which pemmit-ted this new version of the report to be prepared, and theOREALC Documentation Centre for their collaboration.

been able to formulate coherent demands interms of the quality of education they are toreceived For the time being, this inability maybe seen as being due more to a lack of bettereducational models which offer higher qualityof education (or to a lack of access to thosewhich appear to have been successful in Latin

2 J.C. Tedesco, "El reproductivismo educative y sectorespopulates en America Latina", Revista Colombiana deEducaci6n, NQ 11, 1983, p. 50.

3 E. Schiefelbein, J.C. Tedesco, R. Ruiz and S. Peruzzi, "La en sefianza basica y el analfabetismo en America Latina y el Caribe: 1980-1987", Bulletin of the Major Project of Education, No. 20, December 1989, pp. 4856.

49

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN. THE CASE OFLATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN

E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi1

Education has reached a balance in opportunities for access by menand women to the various education levels. Reaching this balance hasprobably been one of the greatest achievements of Latin American andCaribbean education systems as a whole, during the latter part of thetwentieth century. Population censuses in the eighties confirm not onlythe disappearance of major sex differences in schooling levels observedin the fifties, but that the opposite exists in half the countries wherewomen have gained an edge in access to primary and secondary schoo -ling, although they still have to obtain that equality in higher educa -tion. School enrollment in the nineties permits one to declare that thetrend towards equality in education opportunities for women is beingmaintained in the region (table 1). Schooling data are corroborated bythose on literacy. Lastly, fragmentary information permits one to assertthat women are also making good use of education opportunities interms of academic achievement and grades passed. This evidence isimportant both for the overall analysis of education development in theregion andfor specific policy design.

Table 1

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: YEARS OF SCHOOLING IN THEPOPULATION AGED 15 AND OVER, BYAGE GROUP

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Source: Population census data circa 1980 for all countriesexcept Bolivia,for which the 1988 national population andhousing survey was used.a Estimated assuming that incomplete education in each

level corresponded to half the grades of that level and an ave-rage of two years of post -secondary education

b Quotient between years of schooling of male and femalepopulations

A m e r i c a )4, than to system inertia. But thishypothesis remains to be proven over the next-decade.

Although this study only describes women'srelative situation and its trends over the pastdecade, it has clear implications for educationalpolicy and for the theory of reproduction. A naccurate description permits one to discard someof the myths on opportunity discrimination levelsthat tend to be increasingly reduced and thus,permits one to focus on the problems of certainminorities (e.g. peasant women in certain in-digenous communities)5 and on the quality ofeducation per se (e.g. roles assigned or rein for-ced by schools for each sex). As there is littleinformation on this, studies are designed and car-ried out on the basis of: (i) sex stereotypes intextbooks6; (ii) procedures and results of theselection of directive teaching staff and (iii) thecharacteristics of each society's deprivedgroups.7 If more support is given to this type ofresearch, one will eventually obtain a criticalmass of studies necessary for regional analyseson these and other aspects of decision-m a k i n g .

4 See, for example, mEP, Redefining basic education forLatin America - lessons to be drawn from the Colornbian Escuela Nueva, Paris, 1990 (mimeo).5A good example of this approach is the report byCanmen Llanos de Vargas, Mujer campesina Aymara:una aproximaci6n a la situaci6n de la mujer campesinaen el altiplano de La Paz, CEPROMU, La Paz,1988.

6 In 1971, UNESCO undertook a survey in eight countrieson lags in textbooks to reflect changes in women's lifestyles. Evidence of prejudice and stereotype fommation was observed in all countries, although in mostcases it was involuntary For a review of values affecting equal opportunities for women, see Maria TeresaSirvent, La Fiery el Proyecto Principal de Educaci6nen Ame'rica Latina y el Caribe, UNESCO/OREALC, May1983, pp.65-71. A pioneering study was prepared by S.Magendzo, Relaci6n entre estereotipos de roles sexualsles y libros de ensenanza, in CEE (eds), Educaci6n yrealidad socioecon6mica, CEE, Mexico,1979, pp. 477486.

7 Differences within each country tend to be greater thanthose observed between countries. See Carolyn M.Elliot and Gail P. Kelly, "Perspectives on the Educationof Women in Third World Nations". Comparative Education Review, Vol.24, No. 2, June 1980.

Equality in years of schooling

While females enrolled in the LAC school sys-tem during the eighties could expect to comple-te over five grades of education, those enrolledin the early fifties barely completed three gradesor less (see table 1, age groups "20-24" and "45and over"). Increases by women in years ofschooling meant that, for the same period, thenegative 0.4 grade difference with respect tomales in the fifties was eliminated (3.3 vs 2.9for the "45 and over" age group) and was final-ly surpassed by 0.2 grades (4.5 vs 4.7 for the15-19 age group)8.

There have been differences in advances inequal opportunities and in absolute levels ofschooling between the various regions, and thedifferences are greater still when comparingcountries, particularly those in which access toprimary education is far from universal.9 In1980, women enjoyed greater levels of school-ing among young age groups in South Americaand in the English-speaking Caribbean, but fellslightly below that of males in the other twosubregions (table 1). In the past, the situationwas more homogenous, since in all regionswomen in the "35 and over" age group achievedlower levels of schooling than males. It is inter-esting to note that the difference between malesand females in the "45 and over" age group isslightly less than that for the "35-44" age group(3.3-2.9 vs 4.3-3.8 for the region and similardifferences in each subregion). This suggeststhat in the fifties there were less differences ineducation between men and women in upperlevels of society (since better educated personstend to have a longer life expectancy).

8 The "15-19" age group tends to be the youngest age groupthat reflects the greatest access to primary educationtincluding those entering for nal night school. The "20-24"age group reflects the majority passing through seconda-ry school and the "25-34" age group reflects those passingthrough post-secondary education.

7 For an analysis of access by country seeUNESCO/OREALC, Situacion educativa de A m e r i c aLatina y el Caribe , 1980-1987, UNESCO, Santiago,1990(Cuadro 14,p.476).

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Source: National population and housing censuses of theindicated years for Bolivia, was used the document: "1988Nationaipopulation and housing survey. Final results. LaPaz, Bolivia,July 1989" from INE and UNPPA/ DTCD,UNESCO. Statiscal Yearbook 1990. Paris,1990.

a Female population used for calculation cor esponds toestimates from CELADE.

b Males and Females figures correspond to 14-19 agegroup.

c Incomplete primary corresponds to those students whostudied some grade of basic primarv; complete primary, tosome year of intermediate primary,65 and over was inclu-ded m non declared age.

d De jury population.

e Estimated figures for 15-19 and 20-24 age groups. f The distribution of the educational level is estimated im

"complete" and "incomplete". g Estimated figures for 20-24,25-34 and 45 and over age

groups. h The secondary level includes UTU, teaching education

and military instruction; ignored level was included in ,non-schooling.

i The distribution by level of instruction of the populationby sex was estimated.

J Non-schooling includes "ignored lever'. k Population used for calculation, estimated by CELADE. l Non declared age, included in 65 and over age group;

"non declared level, included in "non -schooling".

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LAT N AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: YEARS OF SCHOOLING INPOPULATION OF 15 YEARS AND OVER, BY COUNTRY AND AGE GROUP

Each country shows progress in equal oppor-tunities and in absolute levels of schooling inrecent decades. During 1950-1980 this progressis corroborated by schooling figures for agegroups from population censuses around 1980.Only three countries obtained higher femaleschooling (or at least equal to that of males inthe "45 and over" age group (Arg e n t i n a ,Jamaica and Uruguay), while this occurred in24 of the 30 countries for which information isgiven in table 2.

However, differences still persist in schoolinglevels between countries and this can be seenmore clearly when one confirms that women inthe region as a whole, still do not obtain thelevels of schooling reached by women in themost advanced country during the fifties.Women ' s schooling grades range from 2.4 to9.5 grades (2.4 to 8.9 for males) for the region,but are lower in subregions of South America(3.77.1 and 3.5-6.9) and in the Caribbean(4.2-6.4 and 4.1-6.3).

Advances in women's schooling have allowedthe region's average in the eighties to approachschooling levels of the most advanced countriesof the region in the fifties. Although schoolingfor women of the region (which reached 4.7grades in 1980 for age group "15-19") is lowerthan the 5.3 grades reached by age group "45 andover" attending school in A rgentina in the earlyfifties, it is equal to levels of the other two coun-tries with the highest schooling in the fifties(Chile and Uruguay) . However, it is necessary tobreak down schooling averages in educationallevels in order to evaluate education conditionsmore accurately for women in the region.

Equal access to education levels

LAC women now have greater access to prima-ry and secondary education than rnales, but theystill have less access to post-secondary educa- l otion and quit studying before males do. The grea-ter access to education achieved by young womenalso suggests that they will achieve l lower illite-racy levels in the future.10 Only 11.8%of females aged "15-19" lack schooling, as op-

posed to 12.8% of males in this situation (table3), which suggests that absolute illiteracyshould tend to be of that magnitude in the futu-re. This reflects important headway made inconnection with the high percentage that lackschooling (over 30%), which corresponds to the"45 and older" age group.

Over half the women in LAC complete pri-mary school or higher, which has doubledwomen's achievements in the "45 and over" agegroup (50.6 vs 23.8%) exceeding those of men,since less than half of them reach those educa-tion levels (50.6 vs 49.3). However, femaleenrollment in technical secondary schools (par-ticularly industrial) is low even in those coun-tries which have opened up this type of educa-tion to women. During the 1975-1986 period,the percentage of women in technical schools inArgentina rose from 6.9% to 12.5%, even whenone includes management where women arepredominant 11.Women who do attend, in lunl,are apparently subject to various kinds of dis-crimination.l2

Despite advances in access to the first twolevels of education, as mentioned in the preced-ing paragraphs, and despite progress in terms ofcontinuing on to post-secondary courses, LACwomen still do not achieve as high post-secon-dary education levels as males do (table 3). Inthe " 15 - 19" age group, the percentage ofwomen in post-secondary education is greaterthan that of males (2.6 vs 2.3). They lose thisedge in the "20-24" age group when males gaina considerable lead (7.5 vs 8.5), and then, themajority of women quit studying while 2.2% ofmales continue on to post-secondary education,so that 10.7% reach this type of studies as oppo-sed to 7.8% in the case of women. Perhaps theresponsibility for maintaining a family, the grea-ter possibility of continuing in night school and

10 There is a correlation close to I between knot having hadaccess to school" and declaring oneself "illiterate" inpopulation censuses.11 A. Birginand M. Kisilevsky, gAsisten lasninasa escuelas Sara varones? PLACSO, Buenos Aires, September1989,p 47.12 Ibid., pp. 6-76.

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53

cultural traditions may explain this greaterper-sistence of males towards 1980. As we shall seefurther on, this trend appears to be changingandit is very likely that censures in the ninetieswill confirm an advance towards equality inpersistence.

What census data do not show, but which comes tolight in case studies, is the channelling of femaleapplicants into post-secondary careerswith more flexible schedules (which are morepatible with a greater dedication to work intence.thehome) and where there is less chance of wage

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Table 3

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN:BYYEARS OF SCHOOLING COMPLETED AND SEX.

Source: 1980 national population and housing census data, except for Bolivia where used mformation from "INIVUNFPA /DTCD. 1988 National population and housing survey. Final Results. La Paz, Bolivia, July 1989"; A rgentina,1980; Bolivia,1988; Brazil,1980; Colombia,1985; Chile,1982; Ecuador,1982; Paraguay,1982; Peru,1981; Uruguay,1985; Ve n e z u e l a ,1980; Costa Rica, 1984; Guatemala, 1981; Honduras, 1983; Panama, 1980; Cuba, 1981; Haiti, 1982; Mexico, 1980;Netherlands Antilles,1981; Barbados, 1980; Belize, 1980; British Vi rgin Islands, 1980; Dominica, 1981; Grenada, 1981;

discrimination by sex.l3 This is the only areawhere no major changes were observed over thepast decade While in the seventies only 10% of

3 E. Schiefelbein and J. Farrell "Women, schooling andwork in Chile". Cornparative Education Review, Vol. 24,No.2, June 1980, pp. S160-179.

female students in Latin America were in engi-neering and 34% in law, over 60% were in socialsciences and in education l 4 These proportions

14 C. Braslavsky, Muger y Educaci6n, UNESCO/OREALC,August 1984. The figures in table 5 differ somewhat tothose of Braslavsky in Social Sciences and Teaching dueto having taken a greater number of countries intoaccount.

Education opportunities for women. The case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peru2zi

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DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION AGED 15 AND OVER.1980 CENSUS DATA

Guyana,1981; Jamaica,1982, Montserrat,1980; StKitts-Nevis,1980; St. Vincent and theGrenadines,1980; St. Lucia,1980;Trinidad and Tobago, 1980. See Table 2 footnotes.

Table 4LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN IN FOUR

FIELDS OF HIGHER EDUCATION, 1975, 1985

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56

Source: UNESCO. Statistical Yearbook 1989, Paris 1989a Weighted based on 1986.b Excludes Brazil and Ecuador.c Information for Central America only corresponds to

Honduras and Panama, for comparison with 1985 infor-mation.

have remained constant for a decade, since therewas only a small increase in the eighties (10percentage points) in the proportion of studentsin law.A 1982 study shows that conditions inLatin America are fairly similar to those observed in developed countries.15 A similar situ-

15 Division for the Advancement of Women, Centre forSocial Development and Humanitarian A ff a i r s"Comparaci6n entre la escolarizaci6n de mujeres y hom-bresen diferentes sectores de estudio' Perf yes Estad tsti-cossobre la Muder N° 10, United Nations Of fice inVienna, April 1990.

d Infommation for Central America corresponds to fourcountries where data are available.

e Excludes Honduras.f 1977.g Career nonexistent.

ation was observed in France, where 75% offemale university students studied arts andhumanities and where only 6% of universitysubjects were given by women.'6 These casestudies have shown that the lower the entry re-quirements for careers chosen as compared toothers, the lower women's performance in uni-versity entrance exams is likely to be as com-pared to that of males.

16 UNESCO, UNESCO'S Programme for Wo r n e n ' sProgress, Paris, July 1985, p. 13.

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Table 5

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN:COMPLETED SCHOOLING AND SEX.

Source: National Census data except for Bolivia where used the 1988 National Survey.a Corresponds to 14-19 age group b Netherlands Antilles and Barbados had no information for 15-19 age group

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58

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION AGED 15-19 BY LEVELOF1980 CENSUS DATA

c No data breakdown for "completed" and "incomplete" is available hllt the majority completes primary school See Table 2 footnotes.

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D i fferences by subregion and country are con-siderable, both in terms of the age one studies inas well as in the years of schooling completed ateach level of education. While in three subre-gions greater schooling in post-secondary levelsis reached between ages "25-34", in the Gulf ofMexico subregion this is achieved between ages" 2 0-24". There are also major differences inp o s t-secondary schooling where the range forthree regions is 6.1-8.7 years, while in the Eng-l i s h-speaking Caribbean it is only 2.7 years.

An analysis by country of the youngest agegroup "15-19i' shows that only in five cases didthe percentage of females "lacking schooling"exceed 10% (Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haitiand Mexico) circa 1980 (See table 5). In fourofthese countries more females lacked schoolingthan males.'7 Five countries reached levels inthe 5- 10% range (Colombia, Peru, Venezuela,Honduras and Panama) and the remainder wereunder 5%. As mentioned above, these figuresare closely related to future illiteracy levels infemales. In most countries future illiteracylevels for women will be lower than for men.

Progress in post-secondary schooling is moreapparent in the analysis by country (table 6).Among those in higher education early in theseventies, which corresponds approximately tothe "25-34" age group in 1980, only in Uruguaydid women have an edge over men. Already inthe "20-24" age group women's situation im-proved and in 10 countries (out of a total of 30)women had a lead in post-secondary schooling.Onealsoobsenes thatin the"l5-19" agegroup,women's situation is better in an even greaternumber of countries. However, given the com-ments on persistence in post-secondary studies,it is possible that even in these countries womeneventually lose this edge in subsequent years. Itwill therefore be necessary to continue studyingwomen's situation in highereducation with morerecent data, and to complement this with case

17 In Haiti, schooling levels for males and females aresimilar, despite the low absolute levels of schooling. SeeUNDP, "Participaci6n de la mujer en el desarrollo", Es-tudio de Evaluacion N° 13, New York, June 1985, pp.92-93.

studies on the way women can participate ineach type of training.

Differences within each country tend to begreater than differences in averages observedbetween countries (table 7). "School attendancerates" for the case of Argentina according to theoccupation of the head of household" are pre-sented as an example of these major internal dif-ferences.'5 Although women's attendance ratefor each level of education is somewhat higherin all cases than for men - except for the groupattending with delay at primary level - there aremajor differences between the various "occupa-tion" categories as seen in table 7 (17 vs 73.7) atsecondary level and 1.2 vs 25.6 at higherlevels).

Equality in class attendance

Data on education system attendance showthat similar opportunities for both sexes arefinally being provided in the region, and that, asa result, trends favouring equity observed incomparisons of age group schooling (table 8)will be maintained. There are less females thanmales in age groups "6-9" and " l0-14" notatten-ding schools (28.0 vs 30.8% and 26.2 vs 27.0%,respectively, in the region total of table 8), andthe difference in age group "25 and over" isvery small (95.5 vs 95.9%). The similarity inthis age group is particularly important since itreflects equality in attendance of post-seconda-ry institutions where it had been observed thatwomen were clearly lagging. This is consistentwith the increase in the percentage of womenover time. For example, Argentina increasedfrom 38% of women in higher education in1963 to 54% in 1983, and Brazil increased from30% in 1965 to 49% in 1982, although the per-centages of women in university per se aresomewhat lower.l9

18. Torrado, E.C. Amadasi, M. Marino, M.E. Arrieta et al,Estructura Social de la Argentina, Consejo Federal dekversiones and ECLAC, Buenos Aires, August 1988,p.98.

19. Winkler, "Highereducation in Latm America. Issues ofEfficiency and Equity". World Bank Discussion PapersNo. 77, 1990, pp. 56-7.

Education opportunities for women. Tne case of Latm

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Table 6

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: PERCENTAGE O1; POPULATIONAGED 15 AND OVER REACHING POST SECONDARY LEVEL, BYAGE GROUP.

CENSUS DATA 1980

Source: National Population Census data except for Bolivia where used the 1988 National Population and Housing Survey. SeeTable 2 footnotes

America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi

61

Although attendance by sex is very similar ineach of the three subregions for which informa-tion is available, females in Central America20,still face some constraints in entering primaryschool (33.7 vs 30.5% in the "6-9" age groupand 34.3 vs 27.5% in the "10-14" age group), al-though those who succeed in doing so remain inthe system in equal proportion to males (see thesimilar percentage distribution of both sexes intable 8).

20 Table 8 only includes infommation of Guatemala andPanama for Central America.

There is a relatively homogenous situation ofattendance by sex by country that tends to varymore than the subregional averages (table 9).Although in the "6-9" age group the predomi-nant countries are those in which females havelower rates of "school absenteeism", there is asimilar number of countries in the "10-14" agegroup where lowerrates correspond to one orthe other sex. In ten out of thirteen countries,females between ages 6 to 9 have lower schoolabsenteeism, and in the cases of Peru (32.4 vs31.1), Guatemala (41.5 vs 36.6) and Haiti (65.0vs 64.0), the higher rates of female absenteeismdo not exceed those of males by that much (table

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Table 7

ARGENTINA. TO TA LC O U N T RY. HOUSEHOLD POPULATION: RATE OFSCHOOLING BYL E V E LATTENDED, SEX AND AGE GROUP, ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION, INACTIVITY

OR EDUCATION OFHEAD OFHOUSEHOLD, 1980

Source: S. Torrado, E.C. Amadasi, M.Marino, M.E.Arrieta em al, "Estructura social de la Argentina", Consejo Federal deInversiones and BCLAC Buenos Aires, August 1988, p.98

9) . In the " 10-14" age group females have lowerschool absenteeism in only seven of the thirteencountries, and in most of the remaining countriesthe highest absenteeism does not exceed two per-centage points except in Peru (17.9 vs 13.5%) andGuatemala (40.2 vs 31.7%).

The analysis of future trends presented aboveis also corroborated when using figures pub-lished by the Ministries of Education to theextent that they are consistent with attendancedata from population censuses. Women's par-ticipation in enrollment at all education levels

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Table 8

LATIN AMERICA: SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OF POPULATIONAGED 6 AND OVER, BYAGE GROUP. CENSUS DATA 1980

Source: National population census data except for Bolivia where 1988 National Population and Housing Survey used. Finalresults; Argentina, 1980; Bolivia,1988; Brazil, 1980; Chile, 1982; Colombia, 1985; Ecuador, 1982; Peru, 1981; Uruguay, 1985;Guatemala,1981; Panama,1980; Cuba,1981; Haiti,1982; Mexico,1980.

amounts to49% in theregion (table 10). Only insix countries do participation levels drop below48%, reaching a lower limit of 44.2%.2 1 I nhigher education, participation rose from 42% in1975 to 45% in 1982 and it is estimated that itcontinued to do so during the remainder of thed e c a d e .2 2 As in previous cases, it is necessary toexamine whether these percentages vary signifi-

21 The greatest underestimation of enrolment was con-fimmed im Guatemala, according to attendance figuresfrom the population census (See table 8).

22 UNESCO, Female Participation in Higher EducationDivision of Statistics on Education, csR-E-50, ParisFebruary 1985, p.37. A summary in Spanish of the mainoutcomes was published by the Division for the Ad-vancement of Women, Centre for the Development ofSocial and Humanitarian Affairs (See BComparacion

cantly in some of the levels. This can be done byexamining participation rates at each level23

which could be affected by differences in popu-lation or by examining the rates of schooling.We prefer the latter due to its greater accuracy.Net schooling rates in primary education showthat females have less opportunities for primaryeducation (differences over 2 percentage points)

entre escolarizaci6n en mujeres y hombres en diferen-tes sectores de estudio", Perfiles Estadisticos sobre laMujer No.9, United Nations Of fice in Vienna, March1 9 9 0 ) .

23 1980 figures show small differences in preschool, primaryand secondary drop in many countries for higher educa-tion. See C. Braslavsky, Mujery Educaci6n. De-sigualdades educativas en America Latina y el Caribe,UNESCO/OREALC, Santiago, August 1984, p. 27.

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Table 9

LATIN AMERICA. SCHOOLATTENDANCE BY POPULATIONAGED 6-9 AND 10-14. CENSUS DATAAROUND 1980.

Source: National Census foryearindicated, exceptforBolivia where infommation is from the 1988National PopulationandHousing Survey. Final results.

h Female enrollment figure in higher education was estimated based on percentage of previous year

i Highereducation enrollmentfigure corresponds to 1983.Female enrollment figure for secondary education wasestimated using a percentage of general secondaryeducation enrollment

j Female enrolment in higher education figure was estimated based on percentage of female enrollment inuniversity

k Subregional figures and the total for the region onlyapply to countries appearing in table

reflected in the difference (65 vs 64%).Net schooling rates in secondary education

suggest that females have good possibilities o fcontinuing on into secondary school and thatin virtually all cases (11 out of 12 cases) theysucceed in regaining ground at this secondarylevel and in improving the relative participa-tion they achieved in primary education (table 11)

Education opportunities for women. The case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi

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LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: ENROLLMENTBYSEX,LASTYEAR AVAILABLE

Source: UNESCO. Statistical Yearbook 1990. Paris, 1990a Includes primary, secondary and higher educationb Higher education figure included corresponds to 1986c Excludes higher educationd Female enrollment figures were estimated based onpercentages of previous yeare Higher education figure corresponds to 1987f Female enrollment figure in higher education only cor-responds to Universityg Female enrollment figures for secondary and higher

education were estimated on basis of percentages ofprevious years

in 3 of the 16 countries for which information isavailable(table 11). InBolivia,thedifference issubstantial (78 vs 88%). However, Bolivia isone of the countries in which enrollement ratesof the Mininstry of Education underestimateactual school attendance, particulary in the caseof females.In Haiti, the difference is quite small(53 vs 56 %) and indicates the same situation

Unfortunately, information is only available for examining aspects of quality of education, andhalf the countries of the region, since in order to which is not always gathered. Hence, one has toestimate net schooling rates one needs to know resort to the analysis of gross schooling rates asenrollmentby age, which is key information for an alternative.

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Table 11

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: NET SCHOOLING RATES,LASTYEAR AVAILABLE

Source: UNESCO. Statistical Yearbook 1990. Paris, 1990a Net rate of secondary education corresponds to 1984

Although information available on grossschooling rates suggest small differences unfa-vourable to females at a primary level (118 vs120 in the last line of table 12) and favourableat the following levels (65 vs 62 and 28 vs 27,respectively), these conclusions are tentativesince gross rates only constitute approximationsof attendance levels In fact, comparisons in theextent of gross schooling rates for males andfemales do not permit clear and accurateconclusions to be drawn, given that gross ratesfor each sex can be affected by differentials inschool performance. Better performance tendsto reduce grade repetition and to increase thespeed with which one advances on to highergrades of the system, which eventually reducesthe magnitude of gross schooling rates.34Hence lower gross schooling rates can indicateboth lower attendance and better performance.

Access to campaigns or nonformal types ofliteracy programmes

Although information is indirect, it suggeststhat women did not take as good advantage asmen did of opportunities offered in campaignsand other nonformal means of literacy program-mes undertaken in the previous decade. 4.1 ofwomen and 6.2% of men, corresponding to agegroups which were between ages 25-34 in theearly eighties and ages 15-24 in the seventies,became literate in campaigns, nonformalcourses or by self-teaching. (The same differen-ce favouring males occurs in all subregions, butis somewhat higher in the English-speaking Car-ibbean). Somewhat less than 4% of those thatwere in the 35-44 age group in 1980 (and 25-3 4in 1970) for both sexes, became literate in theseventies, with a slight edge for women's total(3.8% vs 3.5%), but dropping the lead in three of

24 A comparison of male and female repetition levels has notallowed clear trends to be established. See E.Schiefelbein, "Repetici6n: la ultima barrera para univer-salizar la educaci6n primaria en America Latina", Bul-letin No.18 of the Major Project of Education, UNESCO/OREALC, April 1989.

the four subregions. There was a drop in litera-cy for both sexes in relation to age group (4.1 %to 3.8% in the case of females and 6.2% to 3.5%in the case of males) . The decline is less in thecase of women, which could indicate greaterrelative interest on the part of illiterate womento improve that condition (despite therebeing agreater proportion of illiterate women, as weshall see in the next paragraph). This hypothesisis reinforced when one confirms that in only oneof the four subregions, percentages of newlyliterate women from the youngest group exceedthose of the older group (4.4 vs 3.9%), and theopposite occurs with the group of males wherepercentages of newly literate males in the youn-ger group exceed older age groups in all subre-gions except the English-speaking Caribbean(12.2% vs 14.0%). The number of "newly lite-rate" per country was estimated for each agegroup by subtracting the number of "literatepersons in the beginning year - minus the litera-te persons that disappeared from the populationduring the period- from literate persons in thefinal year".25 The percentage was estimatedwith respect to the population in the final year.

Illiteracy

As a result of schooling and of the variousforms of literacy programmes, women haveeventually obtained better literacy levels thanmales (table 14). In 1980, females of the regionin the 15-24 age group for the first time achie-ved higher literacy levels than males (10.7 vs11.0). As usual, there is greater heterogeneity ofsituations in examining each subregion, both inlevel and in the sign of differences, since theprocess still remains to be completed in the Gulfof Mexico (12.1 vs 9.7%) and in Central Amer-ica (4.2 vs 4.0%). Regional differences have

25 "Literate persons that disappeared during the period"were estimated by applying the percentage of literatepersons at the beginning of the year to the "total num-ber of persons that disappeared from the population inthe period".

Education opportunities for women. Ilre case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi

67

Source: UNESCO. Statistical Yearbook 1990. Paris, 1990 b Higher education rate corresponds to 1986c Higher education rate corresponds to 1987

a Figures by subregion and total region correspond to d Higher education rate corresponds to 1985

weightedaveragesforcountrieswithinfommationavail- e Higher education infomnation by sex corresponds toable 1985

BULLETIN 24, Aprd 1991 I The Major Project of Education

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Table 12

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: GROSS SCHOOLING RATES,LASTYEAR AVAILABLE

Table 13

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: NUMBER AND PERCENTAGE OFNEWLY LITERATE IN THE INTERCENSALPERIOD

Source: Estimates based on data frown: UNESCO. Cornpendio de estadisticas relativas al analfabetismo - Edici6n 1990. No.31. Prepared for the International Education Conferences Geneva. September 3-8,1990

a The number of newly literate was estimated adjusting for the lower number of persons in the 15-24 age group for basic yearand in the 25-34 age group for the final year. The percentage was estimated for population in final year b Corresponds to countries appearing in tnis table. Averages are weighted c Excludes Peru, information unavailable d Footnotes on subregion apply.Averages are weighted.

Education opportunities for women. The case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbeie with S. Peruzzi

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Table 14

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: TRENDS IN ILLITERACY RATES INTWO CENSALPERIODS BY SPECIFIC AGE GROUPS AND SEX

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Table 14 (Continuation)

Education oppOnunities for women. The case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi

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Table 14 (Conclusion)

Source: uNesco Compendio de estadXsticas relativas al anal-fabetismo, 1990 Edition No. 31. Prepared for theInternational Education Conference, Geneva, September 3-8, 1990

a Includes 1970 cohort dataforBolivia and estimated datafor Brazil

b Includes 1985 cohort data for Colombiac Includes 1964 and 1985 cohort data average (25-34 age

group) and 1964 cohorts (age group 35-44) for Colombia and 1981 cohort data for Peru

d Excludes Bolivia and includes estimated data for Brazile Includes 1972 cohort data for Peruf 1970 information is based on survey of census bulletin

samplesg 1976 census data have not been adjusted according to

subdeclaration index, estimated at 6.99 %. 1988 datawere taken from UEncuesta Nacional de poblaci6n yvivienda 1988. Resultados finales. La Paz, Bolivia, July1989 from INE and UNFPA/DTCD

h De jure population for 1970i For 1973 according to 4% samplingj Excludes nomad indigenous tribesk Excludes indigenous jungle population. For 1961 ac

cording to 15% sampling of census bulletins; for 1971and 1981 information not adjusted according to subdeclaration indexes, estimated at 3.86 and 6.99% respectively

l For 1971 excludes indigenous jungle population m Includes 1972 cohort data for Haiti

gradually declined in the preceding age groups,since these were 3.2 percentage points for the25-34 age group (17.0 vs 13.8%) and 6.7 per-centage points for the 3544 age group (25.5 vs18.8%). And to varying degrees, these declinesoccur in each subregion. These data confirmequal access to education achieved by women,

n Includes 1972 cohort data for Haiti and estimated data forMexico

ñ Excludes data for Haiti and includes estimated data forMexico ° Includes 1960 cohort data for Mexico

p Excludes the Dominican Republic q Includes 1970 cohort data for the Dominican Republic r De jure population for 1971 s De jure population for 1971 t Corresponds to Costa Rica and Panama u Includes 1970 cohort data for El Salvador, Guatemala

Honduras, Nicaragua v For 1963 according to 5% sampling. For 1973 de jure

population w For 1961 includes persons whose reading and writing abi-

lity is unknown x Data based on 5% sampling. For 1973 de jure populatlon y De jure population for 1974 z For 1963 data according to 5% sampling. For 1971 de jure

population aa For 1960, data according to 5% samplingab Includes 1970 cohort data for Trinidad and Tobago ac Excludes Trinidad and Tobago ad Applies only to Trinidad and Tobago ae Includes 1960 cohort data for British Virgin Islands af Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis For 1970 persons lac-

king in schooling have been rated ag illiterate as Subregion footnotes apply to region

using a different indicator than has been used upto now.

Academic achievement

Detailed information on school performanceby sex is unavailable, but at least one can say

BULLETIN 24, Apra 1991 I The Major Project of Education

72

Source: UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook 1989, Paris 1989a Only includes countries with information available.

Averages weighted.

b Figures estimated at source; c 1986; d 1983; e 1984; f

1988; g 1981;h Applies to "equivalent universities and institutions";

i1980; jl985; kApplies to "general education"; l1982; m 1975; mCorresponds to category "general education" except forBelize, British Virgin Islands and Grenada; o1987.

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Table 15

LATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN: FEMALE PARTICIPATION RATES (%) INFORMALTEACHING STAFF, BYLEVELS. LAST YEAR AVAILABLE

that both sexes are promoted in similar propor-tions, since there is a similar percentage ofenrolment in secondary school and, recently, inhigher education. Additional tabulations of cen-sus data would be useful for studying entryopportunities in greater detail, or results bysocioeconomic level. For example, in the caseof Argentina it is possible to confirm that thereis less of a lag for women. Argentina's situation,illustrated in table 7, shows that a greater pro-portion of males are enrolled in primary educa-tion than women for the "13-15" age group,while the opposite is true for the "6-12" agegroup, which corresponds to the normal levelage (28.7 vs 33.9 and 90.8 vs 90.6, respective-ly). Something similar has been observed in astudy on Chile.2°

Access to teaching and administrativeteaching posts

Despite all this remarkable progress, womenhave trouble in achieving proportional partici-pation in employment opportunities in educa-tion (table 15). Both in teaching and in admin-istrative work one observes that women haveless opportunities of reaching higher positionsin the academic or administrative hierarchy.While virtually all teachers at pre-school levelsare women, around three-quarters of primaryschool teachers are women, with around half insecondary school and a third in higher educa-tion. As each education level tends to havehigher remunerations, it is evident that womenhave more difficulties in obtaining better payingteaching positions than men.

Something similar occurs in administrativepositions. Although a great majority of womenare found in the first two levels, they do notoccupy executive positions in these levels. Ifone assumes a "normal" distribution of talentat the time of entry, it would be reasonable to

26 E. Schiefelbein, "La mujer en la education primaria ymedia", in P. Covarrubias and R. Franco (eds), Chile. Muier y Sociedad, UNICEF, Santiago,1987, p.701.

expect a similar proportion of administrators.If there is a bias it should favour women. In fact,there tends to be a greater supply of female tea-chers, for which reason, in effect, one shouldexpect a greater average level of talent amongwomen than among men. Possible explanations,then, might be due to differences in the length oftime they are willing to work, differences in thenumber of workdays attended due to illness, thedifficulty of working with subordinates of thesame sex or simply, to prejudiced This is un-doubtedly an area which needs more and betterresearch, in order to demystify the grounds onwhich decision-making currently occurs.

Discussion of results

The causes underlying the major progress ineducation opportunities for women observed inall the information available on the subject, aremost likely complex and interrelated, and atpresent can only be presented as hypotheses.Analysis of census data results, and enrollmentsprocessed by the Ministries of Education, aswell as the more general conclusions drawn inthe study of Education Conditions in LatinAmerica, in which it was confirmed that around100% of the population had access to primaryschool, all agree in that women are totally incor-porated into school. This success of the regionin including women has to do with: (i) pro-cesses of social change such as urbanization,cultural interaction, their incorporation into thework force, their incorporation into citizen's lifewith a right to vote and the valuation of educa-tion as a means for social mobility, which insome countries has led to the creation of schoolswith private funds and then to a pressing forpublic resources; (ii) analysis and stimulation proc-esses such as the international women's decade,international conferences, mass communicationssystems and more accurate systems for handlinginformation and describing education system

27 Other possibilities are explored in Birgin and Kis

ilevsky, of cit. pp.34-37. (quoted in footnoted11)

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conditions, and (iii) pedagogical changes in-cluding coeducation, the availability of degree-holding teachers, reductions in teachers' wages(due to the incorporation of women into thatactivity). It would be interesting to researchthese processes and interactions in order to bet-ter understand the capacity of education to in-corporate women.

Each process of social change mentionedabove bears a positive relation with greaterparticipation by women in education. Forexample, today there is a close relationship bet-ween the possibility of obtaining work and thepressure for more education. For a long timenow one has observed the positive effect of edu-cation in obtaining work and achieving betterpay for the same type of work.25 Therefore, asgrowing numbers of women have pressed forentry into the labour market, there also musthave been a similar pressure for greater educa-tion opportunities. Replies to some of the ques-tions that now remain unanswered could beobtained by processing new tabulations of avai-lable information or by obtaining new informa-tion. It would doubtless be interesting to knowin greater detail whether there are differences inthe pressure exerted by men and women toobtain higher education, generated by each typeof work engaged in. Cross-tabulation of censusdata on work and school attendance could shedlight on these and other questions.

International agreements on women's rights,the instantaneous nature of communications andthe impact of electronic data processing are alsodirectly related to greaterparticipation by womenin education. Education opportunities for womenhave undoubtedly benefitted from internationalpressure sparked by the United Nations Women 'sDecade (1976-1985), the meetings org a n i z e d b yU N E S C O2 9 and the great number of studies that

28 Blaug, Mark. Education and the employment problem indeveloping countries. Geneva, International Labour Office, 1973. See also E. Schiefelbein, bLa education y elempleo en diez ciudades de America Latina". Revista delCentro de Estudios Educativos, 1976.

29 UNESCO/OREALC, Informe Final Reunion Te'cnica Regional sobre desigualdades ed ucativas de las j6venes y

have been carried out on the differentials whichgenerally discriminate against women.30 Therole of information is tautological: it is neces-sary to estimate schooling rates by sex in orderto draw attention to the differentials. But dis-semination through innumerable media is defi-nitely what seems to bring about changes inpublic opinion.

Changes in teaching processes, including theextension of coeducation in the second half ofthe century, and the massive entry of womeninto teaching have also contributed to the suc-cess of the system in including women. Theexpansion of agriculture to new lands has en-couraged the creation of coed schools for dis-persed populations, built and maintained byparents who have then obtained resources fromthe State. Bilingual education has forced atten-tion to be drawn to the discrimination that existsin connection with indigenous women31, andmuch of the research done shows the veiledways in which women are discriminated againstin the classroom.32For their part, the possibili-ty of going into teaching has encouraged manyfemale youths in higher education to earndegrees as teachers. But it is also important toknow the causes underlying differences inpreferenceopportunities for higher educationcareers. Information on access to careers (andentry requirements) could shed some light onthese subjects.

Having information available on the distribu-tion of teaching staff and the selection of execu-tive teaching personnel could permit one to ana-lyze the apparently unequal distribution of staffat various levels and positions. For the time

mujeres en Ame'rica Latina y el Caribe, Panama, July 11to 15,19S3, Santiago, November 1983.

30 World Bank, Women in Development. A progress reporton the World Bank Initiative, Washington D.C. 1990, p.40.

31 Anna Lucia D'Emilio, Mujer ind~gena y educacion enAme'rica Latina, OREALC, 1989, p. 489.

32 See articles by M. Subirats, Reintreducir lo femenino enla cultura, and by Diosma Piotti, La ideologia patriarcal:el rol delaeducad6n, in Mujeres enAcci6n, N°21, July-September, 1990, Santiago, pp. 3-7.

Education opportunities for women. The case of Latin America and the Caribbean / E. Schiefelbein with S. Peruzzi

75

being, it can be presented as a hypothesis thatwomen appear to be in charge of educationduring childhood and prepuberty, while men arepredominant in the teaching of adolescents, andappear as the depositaries of science and tech-nology in the adult world.33 Thus an organiza-tional climate is generated that is congruentwith the prevalence of formal leaders of one sexor the other.34

Regardless of the causes underlying the chan-ge, the most important conclusion is that educa-tion has ceased to play a role in determining thestructure of the labour force by sex, i.e., it ceasesto be the sieve that stratifies supply by virtue of

33 UNESCO/RBDALF, Tendendas educativas observadasen la poblaci6n femenina chilena, OREALC, mimeo,Santiago, August, i990.

34 The analysis of the effect of education on access to thelabour market and on the progress that of employmentwill be undertaken in a study prepared by the RegionalEmployment Programme in Latin America and theCaribbean (PREALC).

school selection.35 The marked quantitative ex-pansion of education and the growing rigidnessof the labour market are producing a homogeni-zation of the labour supply. Thus, it is the mar-ket which develops its own diff e r e n t i a t i n gmechanisms, totally independent of the educa-tional variable. This makes it evident thatdiscrimination against women is based only onthe fact of being a woman and not due to havingless education. Given the irrational nature ofdiscrimination it is possible to hope for eventualchange in these biases in the operation of thelabour force.

35 J.C. Tedesco, op cit. (see footnote 7), pp. 51 and 53.

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RegionalActivities

Field of action: Adult EducationREDALF Regional seminar-workshop on Research on AdultBasic Education

This meeting had two mainobjectives: i) Analyze theresults of national studies andtheregional study: characte-ristics of AsE supply anddemand, both in participatingcountries and on the whole,likely to be extendedto theregion: ii) generate inputswith respect to follow-u pactions within the frameworkof the Project for A s EImprovement, sponsored bythe Government of Spain.Two round tables were held atthe time, on the coordinationbetween supply and demand,and innovative experiences inAsE were presented (thecases of A rgentina, ElS a l v a d o r, Mexico and Ve n e-zuela). Also important wasthe analysis of the draft onAsE improvement and thecontribution of possible prio-rity actions required by themode in each country. 26 spe-cialists from the region and aMEC representative fromSpain attended.

The final report of this regionals e m i n a r-workshop was subsequentlyprepared in OREALC. It was distri-buted among all participants

at the Seminar-workshop inAntigua during A p r i l .

Field of action: Adult educa -tionLatin American Workshop"University, Adult PopularEducation and Social Contexts"

Held in Quirama, Colombia,from March 25 to 28, 1991and organized by theColombian Govemment, thisworkshop covered the follo-wing subject areas: i)systematization andresear-chon adultpopular education;ii) education in indigenouscontexts; iii) training and fur-ther training of adult educa-tors; iv) education and work.

Workshop conclusions wereas follows:

• Acknowledgement of themajor progress in popular andadults education in theregion, noting the initiativeof Colombia in creating theNational System of Basic andContinuing PopularEducation for Youths andA d u l t s .

• The existence of a theoreticalbody in the region, both in termsof conceptualisation of populareducation as well as in thesystematization processes.

• Acceptance of the fact thatpopular education has to reach allthe way to university, which, in turn,must provide social and culturalprojects with critical room for

pursuing, above all, abetterquality of life.

• Agreement to promoteactivities which i) create andstrengthen working networksand the fommation of nationalpopular education systems; ii)support REDALF; iii) empha-size education decentraliza-tion in the region; iv) boostthe thinking process behindUniversity/social contextrelations in the region.

Field of action: Adult EducationIV REDALFRegional TechnicalMeeting

Since January 1991, prepara-tions have been underway forthe IV REDALF Te c h n i c a lMeeting to be held in BuenosAires (May 28 to 31, 1991). Itsmain objective will be to analy-ze and evaluate activitiesundertaken to fulfill REDALFSOperating Plan (1989-1 9 9 0 )and to define the IV O p e r a t i n gPlan (1991-1992), taking intoaccount the results and recom-mendations of She PROMED-LAC IV meeting (Quito, A p r i l1 9 9 1 ) .

The meeting is being joint-ly organized by OREALC andDINEA, focal REDALF insti-tution in A rg e n t i n a .R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m n a t i o n a lnetworks and regional andintemational agencies such asOELCEAAL, CARCAE andc R E FALwill attend, as

OREALC Activities

REDALFRegional network for training of personnel and specific support in literacy and adult educationprogrammes

77

will a representative of theMinistry of Education andSciences of Spain.

Subregional Activities

Field of action: LiteracySubregional project competitionon literacy for Indigenous andPeasant Wornen

24 projects were submitted toOREALC for this subregionalcompetition, from Bolivia (6),from Chile (4), from Ecuador (3)and from Peru (11). The deadlinedate was February 28. The awardcommittee will meet in May toselect the winning project.

National Activities

Field of action: Literacy UNI -CEF/UNESCO national compe -tition to encourage the designand development of a researchproject on the characterisationof illiteracy in Chile

Two projects were submitted forthis competition. The award com-mittee met and chose the researchproject "Illiteracy in adultChilean women", submitted byShe Taller de Acci6n Cultural(TAC).

Field of action: Literacy UNI -CEF/UNESCO national compe -tition on literacy projects andexperiences in Peru

This national competition was joindycoordinated by UNICEF, Lima andFOMCIENCIAS (Asociacion Pe-ruana para el Fomento de las Cien-cias Sociales). 15 proposals werereceived, and She project selectedwas "Development, culture andgender in literacy programmes",

submitted by the sociologist,Patricia Ruiz Bravo.

Field of action: Literacy UNI -CEF/UNESCO national competi -tion for research on the characte -risation of Illiteracy in Peasantand Indigenous Women inEcuador

The national competition in Ecuadorwas held by the UNESCO Of Vice inQuito in coordination widh UNICEF,Quito and DINAMU (Direcci6nNacional de la Mujer). The awardcommittee decided to extend thedeadline for project submission. T h ename of She winning institution willappear in the next Bulletin.

Activities of the Subre g i o n a lOmce in Kingston (Jamaica)within the framework of ILY

Field of action: LiteracyRegional Conference on"Literacy in the Region: strate -gies for the nineties"

J A M A L (the Jamaican Movementfor the Advancement of Literacy),sponsored by UNESCO, org a n i s e dthe regional conference on "Liter-acy in the Region: Strategies forthe Nineties", held from December2 to 7, 1990. An outcome of thisconference was the final report anddraft of the Action Plan for the era-dication of illiteracy in the Car-ibbean prior to the year 2000". T h epreparation of this Plan was theunderlying objective of the meet-ing, and was the main task withinthe framework of the InternationalLiteracy Ye a r. This plan includedspecific proposals on: the estab-lishment of a Regional LiteracyO ffice for the English-s p e a k i n gCaribbean; research and evaluationat national and regional level; in-

frastructure for national plansand for the establishment of adata bank and knowledge;methodology and contents; finan-cing and mobilization of interestand, public awareness.

Projects

Field of action: Adult EducationProject: Regional Project ofBasic Education for Youths andAdults

During this period, the "RegionalProject of Basic Education for Yo u t h sand Adults" was prepared, reviewedand improved. It was based on theresults of homonymous research, andtook into account the interest ofvarious countries of the region to formintegrated adult educationsystems. Onthe otherhand, itwas a follow-up to theWorld Conference "Education forAll" (Jomtien, 1990), in which theneed was affirmed to promote basiceducation in the population as a whole(children, youths and adults).

A national Colombian consultantand a representative from the Ministryof Education and Sciences of Spainparticipated in its design, along withthe working team designated byOREALC. The Project was presentedat a meeting-workshop of expertsconvened by OREALC in Santiago,on April 12,

The operating possibilities of t h eproject will be based on REDALF,on resources initially contributed bythe Government of Spain, on thereaching of new agreements withgovernments and internationalagencies and on national resourcescontributed within the frameworkof REDALF by governments of theregion interested in participating inthe project.

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Information/Documentatation/Publications

During this period, the docu-ment "Identidad y Ciudadania.Educaci6n Civica y MujerRural en la Subregi6n Andina"(Identity and Citizenship.Civics and Rural Women in theAndean Subregion), compiledby Elizabeth Dasso and SoniaMontano, was published byOREALC/UNESCO inconjunction with UNICEF,Bolivia. It was based on theresults of the subregional work-shop on the subject co-spon

Project 1. Training of key personnel

Training for central level staff

Regional Projectfor theTraining of Trainers

Il Regional Seminar-Workshop ofTraining of Trainers inEducational Planning andManagement

As announced in Bulletin 23,following is an in-depth eva-luation of this RegionalS e m i n a r- Workshop, held inSantiago, Chile at OREALCheadquarters, between October1 and 31, 1990.The Seminar was conducted asplanned and, in the opinion of par-ticipants, presentations were notonly of high quality, but also of

sored by both institutions inCochabamba, Bolivia, inOctober 1989.

Publication of the followingis under way:

• "Desde la Oralidad a laEscritura: Africa y A m e r i c aLatina" (From Oral Tradition toWriting: Africa and LatinAmerica), by Antonio Faundez.

• "Radio, Video, T V,Impresos. Medios al servicio dela alfabetizaci6n, postalfabetiza-ci6n y educaci6n de adultos",(Radio, Video, T V, PrintedMaterial. Media at the service ofl i t e r a c y, postliteracy and adulteducation), by Dina Kalinow-

great relevance to the Seminartopic and to the professionalwork of each..

With regard to the Workshop,one of the innovations introducedinto the design of the Second Re-gional Workshop in relation tothe First, held in Santiago in1989, was to substitute the rea-ding of a set of texts by partici-pants in their countries of origin,for the preparation of a paper ona topic selected by them, to bepresented at the plenary sessionduring the first week. The ideawas to take full advantage of theknowledge and experience ofparticipants right from the start ofthe Seminar-Workshop and tobring about an exchange of suchknowledge and experienceamong participants.

The papers were used by theAcademic Coordinator,Edmundo

ski and Maria Luisa Cuculiza.The educational primers F°-

duced at the "Course-Workshopon production of educationmaterial in postliteracy pro-grammes and civics withwomen of the Andean subre-gion (Lima, November 1990),were edited and disseminated.This work was carried out byNGOS participating in thecourse: CIDEM (Bolivia),Oficina Juridica para la Mujer(Bolivia), Instituto de la Mujer(Chile), Peru Mujer (Peru) andCESAP (Venezuela).

F. Fuenzalida, to divide partici-pants at the outset into subjectgroups. These groups worked inthe workshop format during theafternoons, while lecturers gavetheir presentations during themornings.

At the end of the presentationperiod, the groups of partieipantshanded in works on the followingtopics to the Academic Coordina-tor:

Training in planning and eduea-tional administration IEfrain Ramirez (Costa Riea)Piedad Vallejo de Del Pozo(Ecuador)Esther Martinez de Goncalves(Uruguay)

Training in planning andedueational administration II

Victor Lopez Mayora (Bolivia)

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REPLAD Regional network for the training, innovation and research in the fields of planning and administration of basic education and literacy programmes

Jorge Alberto Gutierrez(Honduras)Aldo Acuna Flores (Peru)

The demythification of the roleof educational planning andadministration: a challenge forachieving education with qualityand equity.Jose Argemiro Laverde(Colombia) Claudio Figueroa(Chile) Ricardo Miguel Flores(Mexico) Vilma HemandezSilverio (Cuba) Sara Oliveira (Brazil)E y r a A l v a r e z Ayeste (Ve n e z u e l a )

Centralization versus decentraliza-tion: a false dilemma.

Maria Esther Rodriguez de Arrieta (Argentina)Marcelino Zabala Espejo(Bolivia) Ana Lofrano Alvesdos Santos (Brazil) VirgilioMardnez Lopez (Costa Rica)Gonzalo Diaz Rodriguez(Ecuador)

General guidelines for decentraliz-ing educational organization inLatin America

Maria del Carmen Chada de Santagata (Argentina) Cleyton de Oliveira (Brazil) Milagros Pena de Perez (Dominican Republic) Carlos Menotti (Panama) Elva Solorio de Romero (Peru)

A re a: Qualitative and statisticaleducational inforrtlation database.Course of action:Educational sta -tistics base by country

Elizabeth Sojo de Ortegano (Venezuela)

Comprehensive infommationsystems for educational planningand administration.

Enrique Femandez Conti (Argentina)Maria CandelariaRodriguez Rodriguez (Colombia)Maria Isabel Valladares Vilches (Chile) Amelia Cortes Diaz (Mexico) Juan Carlos Palafox (Mexico) Jesus Gilberto Balderas(Mexico)Tomasa MargaritaGonzalez Lopez (Venezuela)

Individual works by participantswill deal with some of the aspectscovered by the working groups.Those that elicit the most interestwill be published by OREALC.

National coursesChile

The Universidad de Playa A n c h ade Ciencias de la Educaci6n( Valparaiso), through its Faculty ofEducation Science, has organized aSpecialization Programme inManagement and Administration ofEducational Systems. The Pro-gramme aims at providing in-s e r v i c etraining for teachers, with strongemphasis on the management and

26 countries provided SIRI with thenecessary infommation for prepa-ring analyses on the eff e c t i v e n e s sof basic education performance. A

perfommanceofeducational systemsin direct relation to the issue they arei n t e r e s t e d i n r e s o l v i n g .Themain empha-sis of the programme is on trainingspecialists committed to the nationaleducational project who are orien-ted to creatively applying educatio-nal management, which is unders-tood to be an instrument for suppor-ting the maintenance and improve-ment of educational excellence.

The Study Plan includes:ModemAdministration, Leadership andD e c i s i o n-Making, Research Meth-o d o l o g y, Educational Management,Human Resource Management,Education Systems Evaluation,Curricular Management, FinancialManagement and Education Policyand Planning. Participants must alsotake additional seminars.

The teaching body includes Pro-fessor Claudio Figueroa, who par-ticipated in the Second RegionalS e m i n a r-Workshop of Training ofTrainers in Planning and EducationalAdministration. (Santiago,OREALC, October 1990)

Personnel changes in REPLADm e m b e r-i n s t i t u t i o n s .

Peru. The new director of INlDe isM r. Cesar Vi g o .

Nicaragua. The new GeneralDirectress of Educational Planningand Development is Mrs. VioletaBarreto-Arias.

report was prepared for each coun-try and submitted at the PROMED-LAC IVmeeting.Once corrections tothe reports are received, SIRI will

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SIRI Regional Information System

prepare a regional report and willpublish a book on "Education Con-ditions in Latin America and theCaribbean. 1980-1 9 8 9 " .

UNICEF is interested in estimat-ing key education system indiea-tors in order to carry out a follow-up of the "World Summit for Chil-dren in the 90's in LAC". SIRI eol-laborated with E. A r a n i b a r, Re-gional Adviser on Planning andEvaluation, UNICEF (regional), inanalyzing the indicators and modesfor undertaking the follow-up.SIRI hopes to contribute in establi-shing the "base line" for determi-ning indieator trends.

Preparation of phase two of thesurvey on literacy undertaken bythe UNESCO/SIDAproject is cur-rently under way. G. Naiscimentovisited Managua in March 1991 toexamine the possibility of inclu-ding a module on literacy in house-hold surveys to learn about demo-graphic and social conditions. Healso visitedMexieo andCubato dis-cuss background information onliteraey and adult education withstatisties bureaus.

Information available on publicand private education expenditurehas been gathered for a UNESCO/ECLAC study to be undertakenthis year. Once this information issystematized, it will be available toother researchers interested in thes u b j e c t .

A re a : Analysis of statistics anddocumental informationCourse of action: P u b l i c a t i o n s

The second Monothematie A b s t r a c t"Adult Education and Literacy " waspublished in CIDE_REDUC undernumber 5712, and is available forconsultation in the capital cities ofeach country, at the correspondingR E D u c-assoeiated centres. T h o s einterested may request the p u b l i c a-

tion mierofiche from REDALF atCasilla 3187, Santiago, Chile".

332 reports and documentshave been elassified in theJuly-Deeember 1990 issue of theBibliographic Bulletin of theOREALC Documentation andInformation Centre. Those inter-ested inobtaining itmay write tous. The next issue will containrelevant review articles. It is pos-sible to prepare bibliographiesfor 1987-1990 with the 2500references Included to date in thedata bank.

It is necessary to improve the distri-bution of publications to docu-mentation centres and libraries. JohnHall, in charge of IIEP p u b l i c a t i o n s ,visited various countries, and is loo-king for a way to identify thosecentres which can best disseminateuse of publications. He also publishesa Newsletter in Spanish, English andFrench. Interested centres may write to himat "7-9 r u e E u g e n e-D e l a c r o i x , 7 5 116, Paris,France" FAX (33 1) 40 728 366.

A set of slides and transparenciesaimed at facilitating the presentationof research results on basic educationwere submitted to the Ministers ofEducation during the recent meetingheld m Quito. This material was pre-pared in eollaboration with V. Colbert,UNICEF regional advisor in educa-t i o n .

The results of the Jomtien Con-ference and some descriptions ofcooperation agency activities aredescribed m NORRAG NEWSNo. 8. The list of seminars andworkshops may also prove usefulto specialists intherelevant sub-jects. Those interested may write toK. King, Dept. of Education. Univ.of Edmburgh, 10 Buecleueh Place,E d i n b u rgh, EH8 9JT, Scotland,U . K .

There is a new SIRI publicationcontaining descriptions of Colom-bia 's Eseuela Nueva, a summary o f

available evaluations and its guid-ing principles. Those interested inobtammg it may write to us.

A re a: Analysis of statistics anddocumental informationCourse of action: Information pro -cessing and re p o rt pre p a r a t i o n

The World Education Report is cur-rently being prepared by UNESCO,and its distribution is expected formid year. SIRI took partinreviewingthe firstversion in January 1991. Anew series of statistics indicators oneducation development is bemgprepared, along with the UNESCOStatistics Division report. In particu-l a r, it is hoped that information willeventually be accessible on the timeavailable for learning (class days inthe year and percentage of dailyattendance) and on learning levels(standardised test scores).

Reports on the effectiveness ofprimary education in Costa Rica,El Salvador, Nicaragua and Pan-ama were prepared at the requestof the World Bank. These reportscontribute to the process under-taken periodically by the Bank ofidentifying the need for carryingout projects to raise the eff e e t i v e-ness of education systems.

SIRI prepared a report on theprimary education system in Peru.The former, along with two otherreports, served as a base for workby the uNEsco-World Bank mis-sion which visited that country inthe latterpart of April 1991. slrl-hopes to continue to collaborate mthe next stages in which a develop-ment projectmustbeprepared withinternational agency funding.

Information on educationsupply and demand for oneregion of a country (in this casethe fourth) is currently beingprocessed by the Universidadde La Serena (Chile).

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SIRI provided advisory assistancein designing the research requestedby the Regional Governmentto thatU n i v e r s i t y. Pilot testing of ques-tiormaires has begun.

A re a: Exchange and use of infor -mation and documentationCourse of action: Identif cation ofinformation needs

38 questionnaires prepared byChilean public officials on "theneeds of UNESCO Member Statesfor information services" were col-lected. Denisse Pelissier, at theUNESCO Clearing House, willprocess them, along with 2000others, in order to have backgroundinformation available to eventuallyfacilitate the operation of a worldinformation exchange network.

Possibilities are being exploredfor training personnel in the regioncapableofusing informatics forthedissemination and betterknowledgeof all existing information on edu-cation in our region and in others. Z.Zachariev of the BIE Documentationand Information Unit (Geneva) isundertaking initial studies.

A re a: Exchange and use of infor -mation and documentationCourse of action: Informationsub -n e t w o r k s

M.A. Emiquez Berciano, UNESCORepresentative in Brazil, will coor-dinate activities m correction withinformatics m the region. He will bethe permanent link with units inEducation, Communications, Sci-ences and other specialized projects.Inthelastfiveyears, EnriquezBerciano has been involved withthe Intergovernmental T n f o r m a t i c sProgramme (Pll), which willpermitgood use to be made of that experi-ence in the region.

The International A s s o c i a t i o n f o r

the Evaluation of EducationAchievement (IEA) held a meetingon April 12-13, 1991, to identify thecountries in Latin America and theCaribbean interested in participatingin the Third InternationalMathematics and Science Study(TIMMS) to be held in 1993. RichardWolfe (OISE) and David Wi l e y(Northwestern University) will parti-cipate as IEAr e p r e s e n t a t i v e s .

The International A s s o c i a t i o n f o rEducational Assessment (IAEA), andthe World Bank, hope to undertake aregional seminar on meas urement ofq u a l i t y, m coordination withOREALC and with the Centro deInvestigaci6n y Desarrollo de laEducaci6n (CIDE).

A re a : Exchange and use of infor -mation and documentationCourse of action: P rogrammes forthe analysis and projections of in -f o r m a t i o n

UNESCO's satellite communicationsnetwork is operating via french satel-lite, TELECOM. The networkallows OREALC to connect upwith most other UNESCO units andwith numerous universities and aca-demic centres.

The search for subjects in abstractscan be undertaken by examiningwords related to the subjects "in theabstract text". The World BankEconomic Development Institute(EDI), through its ElectronicPublication Project has a programme(similar to Hyper Text) that is able toidentify all references athigh speed.Those interested may write to JoseDominguez, "EDI, The World Bank,1818 H Street NW, Washington DC,20433, U.S.A."

Models used in SIRI to analyzeconsistency, estimate rates andanalyze effectiveness were demon-strated m Panama, Costa Rica, ElSalvador and the Dominican Re-

public. ASIRI associate expert vis-ited these countries, commented onthe information required to operatethem and left the programmes in-stalled in microcomputers in thelatter two.

A re a : Management InformationS y s t e m sCourse of action: System designand updating

All regions of Bolivia will receivebasic microcomputer equipmentthat will allow them to begin auto-matization of the gathering and pro-cessing of continuous statisticaldata on education. The recentagreement reached between theMinistry of Education of Boliviaand UNICEF is complemented byO R E A L C-SIRI assistance tocollaborate on the design of com-puter programmes necessary forentering and processing data.

The International Institute forEducational Planning (IIEP) is car-rying outresearch on "Strategies toimprove the quality of educationthrough better use of infomma-tion", coordinated by L. Mahlckand D. Chapman. OREALC-S I R IWill collaborate by describing theexperience of Chile's quality mea-suring system (SIMCE). A f i r s tdraft is expected by mid July, 1991.

A re a : Management InformationS y s t e m sCourse of action: S e m i n a r s l C o n -f e re n c e s

SIRI made a presentation on trendsm "Education conditions m LatinAmerica and the Caribbean" at aWorld Bank internal seminar foreducators of the Latin America andthe Caribbean region, held m Wa s hington, on April 2, 1991. SIRI willprepare detailed reports for somecountries where possibilities are

BULLETIN 24, April 19911 The Major Project of Educanon

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observed for undertaking projectsfinanced by the Bank.

Training on use of the IDAMSstatistical package (see Bull. 21)will take place in Paris, in Septem-b e r, 1991. Version 3.0 will be exa-mined, which permits better use ofgraphics and offers more help tousers. The IDAMS package is dis-tributed free of charge. Those inter-ested may contact "G. del Bigio,Management Systems Section,UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy,

A workshop was held on DistanceEducation for personnel of the Sis-tema de Mejoramiento y A d e c u a-ci6n Curricular SIMAC of Guate-mala. The objective of the work-shop was to develop participants'criteria on the various possible al-ternatives for establishing distanceeducation on further in-service trai-ning of teachers in Guatemala. Asystemic approach on the subjectwas used as a reference, on whichbasis different possible programmemodels were tested. In practice itwas found necessary to vary the ini-tial programme for informationexchange and testing of materialstoexploreteachers' needs andprob-lems . This practice brought to lighta series of deficiencies not only interms of the possible distance edu-cation programme, but also on whatthe upgrading or in-service trainingof teachers should involve.

The group with which the activ-ity was conducted - made up ofprofessors with good basic training

75700, Paris, France".Socioeconomic statistics in con-

nection with current conditions inChile will be analyzed at a FLAC-SO seminar in July 17-18.Potentials and gaps inofficial sta-tistical information will be analy-zed, in particular, the need for rele-vant indicators on quality of educa-tion and equity in its distribution.

Research results on types andcauses of repetition in Honduras,

did not show clarity in overall insti-tutional work and in its theoreticalframeworks which prove inade-quate for the type of problems facedandthe typeofresponses thatshouldbe presented.

Innovations in science teachingf rom an environmental a p p ro a c h

A meeting on the innovationProject in science teaching from anenvironmental approach was held inColombia in the latter part of A p r i lbetween an OREALC expert, theDirectress of International Relationsof the National Ministry of Educa-tion, Olga Lucia Turbay and othertop Government officials. The deci-sion to undertake this Project wasmade in 1990 through an agreementbetween the National Ministry ofEducation, the Federation ofC o ffeeGrowersanduNEsco. Projectactivities were set to begin someti-me early in the year, but

held in conjunction with the Uni-versity of Harvard, will be analyzedat a seminar to take place in July1 8-22 in that country.

The report on "Education condi-tions in Latin America and the Car-ibbean, 1980 - 1987" was exam-ined at a regional seminar org a n-ized by UNICBF for its educationexperts. Various possibilities ofcoordination withoREALc-slrlwere analyzed at that time.

failed to do so. National authoritiessaid that delays were due to admin-istrative difficulties, but indicatedthat these would be resolved as soonas possible, in order for activities tobegin in 30 days at the latest.

During a visit to Colombia, theOREALC expert met with theDirectorof the Banco Cafetero whoreaffimmed the extraordinaryinterest of this sector of producersfor ecological matters and in parti-cular for this project. He indicatedthat the Federation would assignsignificant amounts of economicresources to its Ecological Fund,all deriving from the 4-p o i n t r e d u c-tion in tariffs afforded them by theEuropean Community.

It is important to highlight thesensitivity that exists in Caldas onenvironmental matters and the in-tegration in this respect between thevarious institutions. Work is cur-rently underway in the Universityon various ecological subjects,while the Pilot Experimental Centre

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PICPEMCE Regional network for the training, in service training and furt h e r training of teachers Workshop on distance education

devotes its efforts to promoting ume study on the prevention of p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f t h i s t e a m i n p r e p a r-innovations and to improvementof natural disasters, intended for pre- ing the Manual on prevention ofthe teaching body in these matters. school, primary and secondary natural disasters to be published atIn this respect, mention should be schools. As aresult of this mission, regional level. made of an interesting three-v o l- OREALC Will begin talks aimed at

Carlos Lazo

Carlos Lazo Frias, former Director of the UNESCO Regional Cultural Of ficefor Latin America and the Caribbean, suffered a heart attack and passed awayin Santiago, Chile.Carlos Lazo was connected in two ways to UNESCO, since besides his posi-tion as Cultural Of fice Director for the region, headquartered in Havana, Cuba,he fulfilled a distinguished role in supporting the Major Project of Educationthrough his quest for funding of its various projects and activities.Carlos Lazo Frias, Chilean, was 63 years old at the time of his decease. He wasa lawyer and a public man who held high ranking positions in his country'sadministration.The news of his passing surprised and saddened all those of us who, whetherthrough his national or international trajectory, learned to appreciate the humanwarmth of Carlos Lazo, a man ever committed to the cause of social equity.From the pages of this Bulletin, all his friends at OREALC pay him our lastrespects. He will be much remembered.

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• El concepto de calidad de la edu -c a c i 6 n. Ver6nica EdwardsRisopatr6n. Santiago, Chile,January 1991, 70 p.

• La formaci6n docente enAme'ricaLatina, Desafio que re q u i e rere s p u e s t a. Eduardo Castro Silva.Santiago, Chile, January 1991,124 p.

• Politica de descentralizaci6n en laeducaci6n bfisica y media enAmericaLatina. Estado del A rt e.Ricardo Hevia Rivas. UNESCO/REDUC. Santiago, Chile, January1991, lOOp.

• Identidad y ciudadania. E d u c a-ci6n civica y mujer rural en lasubregi6n andina. ElizabethDasso and Sonia Montano(comp.) Santiago, Chile, January1991, 122 p.

• La integraci6n de ninos disca -pacitados a la educacion comun.Danielle Van Steenlandt. San-tiago,Chile,January 1991,120 p.

• E FA 2000. Vol. II, N° 3, Boletfnde la Conferencia Mundial sobreEducaci6n para Todos. Santiago,Chile, January 1991, 4 p.

• C o n t a c t o. Vo l . X V,N° 4, diciembre1990, Boletfn de Educaci6nAmbiental deUNESCO/PNUMA. Santiago,Chile, April 1991,10 p.

• In search of the school of the XXIc e n t u ry. Emesto Schiefelbein,U N E S C O / U N I C E P. Santiago,Chile, April 1991, 44 p.

• Satisfacci6n de las necesidadesbasicas de aprendizaje: Unavisi6n para el decenio de 1990.Documento de referencia de laConferencia Mundial sobreEducaci6n para Todos. W C E FA ,New York April 1990, Santiago,Chile, April 1991, 176 p.

OREALC Publications

OREALC publications are for sale to aU those interested. For inquiries and prices kindly contactUNESCO/OREALC at Enrique Delpiano 2058, Casilla 3187, Fax 491875, Santiago, Chile.

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