Chili pepper. The educational crisis: they analyze how education can recover and transform (+photos)

Latin America Digest, January 28, 2024.

Education ministers, officials and experts from the region began a discussion today in Chile on how to restore and transform educational models at a time of great economic, environmental and political tensions.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and other UN agencies convened this extraordinary meeting at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

The aim of the meeting is to advance the identification of public policies to overcome the damage to the teaching and learning process due to the Covid-19 pandemic and to modify them to make them effective in today's world.

During the opening of the event, Chilean Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren noted how the global health crisis had deepened already existing gaps in access to the school system, something he said urgently needed to be addressed.

The Chancellor pointed out that these are not just goals that must be achieved within the Millennium Development Goals, but rather a commitment for everyone to improve the lives of future generations in the region.

In this sense, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, José Manuel Salazar-Zerenach, noted that education is an essential element to address and overcome the triple development trap in which Latin America and the Caribbean are mired.

He pointed out that the reality of our region is characterized by a high level of inequality, a chronic inability to grow at higher rates, and institutional shortcomings in confronting such challenges.

Salazar-Zerenach said that any successful strategy for sustainable development and environmental protection, as well as growth and employment, necessarily requires investment in training and preparation of human capital.

The Chilean Minister of Education, Nicolas Cataldo, confirmed that Covid-19 has caused many losses and shaken an essential thread, which is the cultural bond that connects families and each of its members to an educational institution.

“Our mission is for our children and teens to go back to school, meet them again and see a transformative practice in their classrooms,” he said.

At the same time, Claudia Uribe, Director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in Chile, noted the broad response to this call, calling on us to work together to achieve the goal of moving from commitment to action and achieving more just societies.

Other speakers pointed out the importance of maintaining the quality of education in a world witnessing other challenges that are no less complex, such as climate change, the economic crisis, food insecurity, migration, and the challenges of digitization and artificial intelligence.

Source: Prensa Latina