Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean Quito, Ecuador, 22125 April 1991

Final Report

Unesco

ED /MD/ 9 3 Paris, 1991

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SUMMARY

The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean was convened by the Director-General of UNESCO in pursuance of resolution 1.1 adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-fifth session.

At the generous invitation of the Government of Ecuador, the session was held in Quito from 22 to 25 April 1991.

The main tasks of the session were as follows: election of the Bureau of the Committee for the 1991-1993 biennium; analysis of the progress made by the Member States of the region in executing the priority activities of the Major Project as determined by PROMEDLAC III; preparation of a recommendation specifying the most substantive activities to be carried out nationally and regionally in the medium and long term under the Major Project, taking into account the results and lines of emphasis of International Literacy Year, the World Decade for Cultural Development and the World Declaration on Education for All adopted at the conference on that subject held in Jomtien, Thailand, from 5 to 9 March 1990. These matters were discussed by the participants in plenary meetings and in a working group.

PROMEDLAC IV was the first regional session to be held in the wake of the Jomtien Conference. Important areas of convergence between the two events were highlighted in the 'Quito Declaration', a landmark in the development of education in Latin America and the Caribbean both in technical terms and in terms of the political will expressed therein.

During the session, two subjects were discussed in round tables: 'Strategies to improve the quality of education in a context of crisis' and 'Reaching national agreements in the field of education'.

The general report as approved and the Recommendation and the 'Quito Declaration' adopted by acclamation will be found in the ensuing pages and constitute the final report of the session.

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CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION ........................................ 7

PART

PART

PART

Organization and scope of the session .......... Background and,preparation ..................... Opening meeting of the session ................. Organization of the work of the session ........ Closure of the session ..........................

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OVERALL REVIEW-OF THE BIENNIUM .................

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GUIDELINES AND PRIORITIES FOR REGIONAL CO-OPERATION ...................................

III ............................................

RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL PLANS OF ACTION AND THE SECOND REGIONAL PLAN OF ACTION FOR THE MAJOR PROJECT IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (1990-1995) .......................... I.

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III.

IV.

V.

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THE NEED FOR A NEW STYLE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ............................... 25

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR UPDATING AND .

IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL PLANS AND THE SECOND REGIONAL PLAN OF ACTION ................... 27

RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING NATIONAL PLANS OF ACTION .................................... 29

PRIORITY FIELDS OF ACTION UNDER THE REGIGONAL PLAN OF ACTION ................... 34

TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL CO-OPERATION IN- SUPPORT OF THE PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE REGIONAL PLAN .................... 40

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Paae

PART IV ............................................. 42

LINKAGES BETWEEN EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES ..................................... ' 42

(a) Strategies to improve the quality of education in a context of crisis (Round table No. 1) ............................... 42

-..(b) , Reaching national agreementS.in the field of education (Round table No.2) ........... 43

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PART V .............................................. 44 . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . . . - . , . . , , - . . , .

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SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR THE BUREAU OF THE 'COMMITTEE IN THE PERIOD 1991-1993 .............. 44

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. . . . . . . ' , . I - . , , _ . _ PART VI ......................................... - ...... ;.. 45

.. QUITO DECLARATION .............................. 45 F . a . . . . _ . . . . 1 . , I , .

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PART VI1 48 ............................................

LINVITATIONS'TO.~,PROMEDLAC V....., 48

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. , 8 . ANNEXES

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. . . . . . r . .I. . Agenda I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :. . . .

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7 II. Addresses delivered at the opening meeting at .the beginning of the,first plenary meeting and

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IV. Addresses 'delivered by the representatives o'f ' ' '

the 'World Bank,' UNICEF,, OEI, .the Government of ' ' ' !

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L_; . , , , ,Spain,.and .CIDA I' ' 1 , . .

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V. Listlof participants

VI. Draft resolution submitted by the Delegation of Honduras

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INTRODUCTION

Oraanization and 's'coDe of the session

1. In pursuance of resolution 1.1 adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-fifth session and having

' accepted the generous invitation of the Government of Ecuador, the Director-General of UNESCO convened the Member States of the region to participate in the .fourth session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the F'ield of Education in, Latin America and the Caribbean (PROMEDLAC IV), which took place in the city of Quito'from 22 to 25 April 1991.

2. At the fourth session the Member States analysed the main achievements recorded and limitations and, obstacles encountered "in action to attain the goals of enrolment, literacy and high-quality education set by the Major Project in the Field of Education in the 1989-1990 biennium, and considered the tasks for the years ahead: the interlinking of education and development strategies and the lines of emphasis and priorities of subregional, regional, interregional and international co-operation.'

The session,. which took place at a time of special importance for the region, emphasized the role of education in creating a model of development that will benefit all strata of society, foster national unity, promote regional integration and contribute to peace and democracy.

3. The 33 Member States of the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, together with the- three Associate Members of the region, 11 from other regions and one non- Member State were invited to participate in the session. Twenty-nine Member States of the region and two Associate Members sent delegations, 26 of which were headed by ministers,of education, deputy ministers or secretaries of State. Five representatives of Member States of other regions, five representatives of organizations of the United Nations system, ten observers from intergovernmental organizations, 17 from international non-governmental organizations and five from institutions and foundations also' attended. The complete list of participants is contained in Annex V.

- I Backaround and meDaration

4. The Regional Conference of. Ministers of Education and Those Responsible for Economic Planning of Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean held in Mexico City in December 1979 unanimously adopted the Mexico City Declaration.' On that'occasion the Member States appealed to UNESCO to take the initiative of putting forward a

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major project designed to address the fundamental problems of education highlighted in the Mexico City Declaration.

5. Pursuant to resolution 1/07 adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-first session (1980) , the Director-General of UNESCO convened an Intergovernmental Regional Meeting on the Objectives, Strategies and Methods of Action for a Major Project in the Field of

, Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took piace in Quito in April 1981.

6. At its 113th session (September- 1981) , the Executive Board of UNESCO approved the establishment of an Interim Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project, 'which met in Castries (Saint Lucia) in July 1982.

7. Three sessions of the Committee have been held to date: PROMEDLAC I from 5 to 9 November 1984 in Mexico City; PROMEDLAC II from 24 to 28 March 1987 in Bogotá; and PROMEDLAC III from 26 to 30 June 1989 in Guatemala City. At PROMEDLAC III, a set of recommendations was adopted for both medium-term and long-term priority activities at- national and regional level, taking into account International Literacy Year and the World Decade

I for Cultural Development. The Regional' Plan of Action of the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean was also adopted.

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8. ,The fourth session of the Committee had before'it a main working document entitled 'Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress, limitations, obstacles and challenges' (ED- 91/PROMEDLAC/3) and two reference documents listed in Annex III to this report.

menina meetincl of the session

9: The opening meeting took place on 22 April 1991 in the Salón Pichincha at the, Hotel Quito, in 'Quito, Ecuador. The Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Federico Mayor, thanked the Government and people of Ecuador on behalf of the Organization for their hospitality and generous invitation to hold the,session in Quito.

10. The Director-General stressed the impo-rtance of the session, the first of its kind to be held since the World Conference on Education for All (Jomtien, March 1990). He reminded the meeting of the three major lines of approach to educational change established at PROMEDLAC III (Guatemala City, 19891, namely: (i) the need to combine short-term policies with long-term strategies; (ii) the need to promote national consensus on education; and (iii) the need for new forms of educational management which entailed the assumption of a larger share of responsibility for results.

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11. After recalling the main conclusions of the Jomtien Conference, relating to the social responsibility of education, the linking of educational action with other spheres of human development, the relevance of the subjects taught and the commitment of international co- operation to satisfying basic educational needs, the Director-General said that PROMEDLAC IV was a milestone on the road to new educational strategies as part of the processes of changing patterns of production with social equity and political democratization.

12. On the subject of the educational problems of the region, the Director-General also underscored the problem of teachers. He drew attention to the need for debate and action on policies for the professionalization of teachers in response to the heavier resDonsibilities - *

placed on them, which would entail guaranteeing them proper working conditions and professional status.

13. Referring to co-operation within the framework of the Major Project in the Field of Education, the Director-General invited participants to give their views on the changes to be introduced in the project structure, and in its machinery and methods of action, with a view to achieving a wider degree of involvement, intersectorality and shared responsibility. (The address by the Director-General is reprinted in full in Annex II. )

14. Mr Juan Carlos Tedesco, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, then read out a message from Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary-General of the United Nations, in which he stressed the importance of PROMEDLAC IV and suggested areas of collaboration with ECLAC on the new strategies and styles of educational development in the region. (The message from Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar is reprinted in full in Annex II.)

15. Lastly, in his inaugural address, His Excellency Dr Rodrigo Borja, President of Ecuador, welcomed all participants on behalf of the Ecuadorian people and its Government, observed, inter alia, that a country's development called for the combined use of natural, financial, human and technological resources, and drew attention to the link between the state of paralysis of education in the region and the shortage of both human and technological resources.

The crisis in education was a matter of quantity - insufficient educational coverage - and also of quality, one of the reasons being the fact that there was little interconnection between the various forms and levels of education in the countries of the region.

16. President Borja emphasized that the demand for education for all implied a change of approach in the

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education system as a whole, but more especially at university level.

He attached particular importance to the role that education could and should play in consolidating the processes of political democratization now taking place in the region. Education for democracy necessarily entailed fostering participation in political decisions which resisted the blandishments of populism and enhanced the tradition of community work.

17. Lastly, he drew attention to the most significant recent measures-taken in education in Ecuador in spite of the prevailing economic crisis. He referred to the national literacy campaign, the 'El Ecuador estudia' (Ecuador,! a learning society) programme and the proclamation of the Year for the Promotion of Books and Reading.

Emphasizing the importance of the current session, he wished participants and observers success in attaining the goals set. (The address by the President of Ecuador is contained in Annex II.)

ûraanization of the work of the session

18. When the meeting resumed, after the informal meeting of Heads of Delegation, the Director-General of UNESCO introduced item 2 of the agenda, concerning the election of the Chairman of the'Bureau. On the proposal of H.E. Dr Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento, Minister of Education of Colombia, H.E. Mr Alfredo Vera, Minister of' Education of Ecuador, was elected Chairman of PROMEDLAC IV by acclamation. The Chairman thanked those present for electing him and said that he was sure he could rely on the co-operation of all to make that important event, and the work of the Bureau of the Committee, a complete success.

19. Under the same agenda item, the Chairman then asked the plenary to consider item 3 of the provisional agenda concerning the election of five Vice-chairmen -and the Rapporteur. H.E. Mr Mario Baptista Gumucio, Minister of Education of Bolivia, put forward a proposal, which was adopted by acclamation, that the membership of the Bureau be as follows:

,' Vice-chairmen: H.E. Mr Ricardo Lagos Escobar Minister of Education of Chile

H.E. Mr Manuel Bartlett Diaz Secretary of State for Education of Mexico

H.E. Ms Gloria Henry Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago

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H.E. Mr Gustavo Roosen Minister of Education of Venezuela

H.E. Mr Luis Gómez Minister of Education of Cuba 5

Rapporteur : H.E. Ms Cecilia Gallardo de Cano Minister of Education of El Salvador

20. Next, the Secretary of State for Education of Mexico made a proposal, also adopted by acclamation, that the membership of the Working Group be as follows:

Chairman: H.E. Mr Oscar de la Puente Raygada

Rapporteur: H.E. Mr Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento

Minister of Education of Peru

Minister of Education of Colombia

21. The Chairman of the session invited the plenary to consider agenda items 4 and 5. After some interventions on matters of procedure, these were adopted in the form proposed by the secretariat of the session. (See Annex I. 1

Closure of the session

22. At the plenary meeting on 25 April 1991,. the Chairman gave the floor to H.E. Mr Jaime Martinez, Minister of Education of Honduras, who introduced a draft resolution of sympathy with Costa Rica and Panama, which had sustained heavy loss of life and material damage from a major earthquake on 22 April 1991. The draft resolution was adopted unanimously. (The text of the resolution appears in Annex VI.)

23. The Chairman of the Committee then gave the floor to the Rapporteur, H.E. Ms Cecilia Gallardo de Cano, Minister of Education of El Salvador, who introduced the draft final report, which she said had attempted to summarize the main ideas and conclusions emanating both from the plenary meetings and from the Working Group. The Rapporteur briefly reviewed the content of the report and thanked the Secretariat of UNESCO for its assistance in preparing i t.

24. The.Chairman of the session next submitted the-draft final report to the plenary for consideration. The Recommendation set out in Part III of this report and the Quito Declaration contained in Part VI were adopted by acclamation. The plenary adopted the draft final report in its entirety.

25. H.E. Ms Gloria Henry, Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago, then took the floor on behalf of the participants. She congratulated the Secretariat on its organization of the session and on the work that it had accomplished. She noted the importance of educational

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reform and innovation and said that teachers should also be given training in subjects relating to economic and fiscal policy so that they could play a more effective role in improving the quality of education. She suggested that the World Bank might co-operate in making provision

I for such training. She went on to express satisfaction at the contribution that PROMEDLAC IV had made towards strengthening relations between Latin America and the Caribbean. Lastly, the Minister thanked the Government and people of Ecuador for their splendid hospitality.

26. The representative of the Director-General, Mr Victor Ordófíez, expressed UNESCO's gratitude to the President of the Republic and his Government and to the people of Ecuador for their warm and generous hospitality. He congratulated the Chairman, Vice-chairmen and Rapporteur of the Committee and the members of the Working Group on the work they had accomplished. He also thanked the delegations of the Member States, the observers from other States, the representatives of organizations of the United Nations system, governmental and non-governmental organizations and the experts who had taken part in the round tables for their contribution to the success of the session.

Mr Ordóñez spoke of the importance of the changes associated' with the consensus on short- and long-term policies, the treatment of the human factor as the centre of the development process and the priority status of education within that process. He described PROMEDLAC IV as a milestone in the history of the Major Project in the Field of Education, since it had addressed such crucial issues for the future of education in the region as: the role of basic education in consolidating the democratic process in the region; the links between democratization and decentralization; the role of the State in the provision of educational facilities and the more active involvement of the private sector; the crucial role of teachers in promoting and enhancing the quality of education; and other issues. He then recapitulated the main themes of the Recommendation set out in Part III, of this final report. The representative of the Director- General concluded by calling on individual Member States to 'analyse the Recommendation, evaluate it in the light of their own needs and priorities and implement it to the extent that their resources and potential permitted so that the results of PROMEDLAC IV might bear fruit.

27. The Chairman of the session, H.E. Mr Alfredo Vera, Minister of Education of Ecuador, took the floor on behalf of the President of the Republic and on his own behalf to thank all the participants for coming to Ecuador and UNESCO for having chosen Quito as the venue for PROMEDLAC IV, makinq it the capital of education, integration, solidarity and fellowship in Latin America and the Caribbean. Evidence of that solidarity, he .said, was to be found in' the participants' expression of support for Costa Rica and Panama, which had recently

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suffered the consequences of major earthquakes. He also thanked the Secretariat of UNESCO and the national and international mass media.

The Chairman of the Bureau expressed satisfaction at the high level of representation at the session. It had been attended by the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Federico Mayor, 23 ministers, three deputy ministers and other senior officials and experts. Representatives of major international, regional and subregional bodies, Member States belonging to other regions, co-operation agencies and universities had also attended.

In addition, the session had reaffirmed the value of education and highlighted its importance from a different angle, placing it in the forefront of development. He said that the Director-General had informed him of the establishment of UNESCO chairs, the first two of which would be the Chair of Tourism and the Chair of the Galápagos in Ecuador. The Minister stressed that quality was the key to good education and that the teacher was the chief guarantor of quality. Hence the need to enhance the status of the teaching profession, to guarantee a fair salary, to ensure that all teachers were properly qualified, to encourage in-service training and to develop teachers' political awareness through a culture of dialogue and democracy so that they were not led astray by demagogy. in conclusion, he said that, transcending all economic and political problems, the session had demonstrated the existence of a strong commitment to integration and fellowship in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Chairman of the Committee then declared the session closed.

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PART I . .

OVERALL REVIEW OF THE BIENNIUM

28. Before opening the debate on agenda items 6 and 8, the Chairman of the session report,ed on the activities carried out within the framework of the Major Project in the Field of Education in the past two years, observing that they- had taken place in a context of 'profound changes in the region and throughout the world.

29. In his analysis, the Chairman said that, in recent years, the quantitative growth of basic education had continued to be substantial, despi te current difficulties; nevertheless, in many cases that growth had not been matched by the requisite levels of efficiency, quality and equity, a state of affairs which' indicated the obsolescence of traditional educational development and which amounted to a challenge, namely, that of finding new styles and strategies of education for the forthcoming decade.

30. Having alluded to the new prospects opened up by the World Declaration on Education for All and the importance . of the ECLAC proposal on changing patterns of production with equity, he referred to the need to cater more attentively for pre-school education, whose coverage was still inadequate, especially in rural and urban fringe areas.

31. There was, he said, an observable trend in the region towards the adoption of a flexible curriculum which took account of the needs, interests and problems of the population. Several experiments were being carried out along these lines, whose results in some countries had been applied nationwide. In a number of cases, transverse subjects were being included, such as the environment, health, nutrition and population education, and intercultural bilingual education was being introduced.

32. Where special education was -concerned, he announced that the region had made some significant progress. Generally speaking, greater attention was being paid to its expansion and its quality, to the legislative aspects in a number of countries, and to the framing of specific strategies. Ever topical was the need to take certain steps in each country such as collecting reliable data on the characteristics of the disabled population, teacher education and educational materials.

33. In the past two years there had been examples of consultation among, and co-operative action by, various non-governmental groups in support of education for all - evidence that there were prospects for a greater degree of commitment to new styles or models of educational development.

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34. Moves to decentralize and deconcentrate educational systems and processes had also continued in the region, and national and regional training courses in educational planning and administration had been held which had studied these issues.

35. The countries of the region had made progress in literacy work and, on the occasion of International Literacy Year, had acted to publicize the problems of illiteracy and had carried out specific activities in this sphere through special programmes, taking a broad view of literacy education as forming part of adult education,.

36 The Chairman of the session concluded with a brief review of the international co-operation received, and expressed his gratitude to UNESCO and the other agencies and governments co-operating in the implementation of the Major Project in the Field of Education. (The text of his address is reproduced in full in Annex II.)

Aaenda item 6: Achievements, limitations and obstacles encountered in attainina the objectives of the Maior Project in the Field of Education

37. The session considered this item at the afternoon plenary meetings on 22 and 23 April 1991.

With,regard to enrolment, the speakers noted that progress had been made in extending the coverage of primary education. Many delegates said that their countries could now offer schooling to all children for a period of eight or nine years; they agreed, however, that drop-out and repetition were the major difficulties encountered.

38. Some delegates referred to the strategies being pursued in their respective countries to avert such problems, mentioning, inter alia, assistance in the form of food and educational materials for children to encourage their families to send them to school, the increasingly close links between education and health programmes and automatic promotion.

39. Several delegates expressed serious concern about first-grade repetition. Most of them considered that the best way of solving these problems was to improve the quality of education. All of them noted that the problem was becoming more acute in rural and urban-fringe areas.

40. Another strategy mentioned by many speakers was the extension of pre-school education, which in their view was an essential policy in order to cater for children at that stage in their lives and thus ease the transition to primary education. All agreed that this stage should be made more extensively available and the majority stressed that it was their policy to extend it as a matter of priority to children aged 5 and 6. Attention was also

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drawn to a number of initiatives for younger children entailing close involvement of mothers in a non-formal context. The need to link pre-school education with primary education was noted.

41. A number of delegates spoke of their countries' policy of educating children in their mother tongue, developing bilingual curricula and making special provision for ethnic minorities.

Some speakers drew attention to efforts under way in their countries to provide indigenous population groups with a type of education which took account of their cultural and symbolic environment. They mentioned in this connection intercultural and bilingual education projects using the mother tmgue - either Indian or Creole - as the learning medium. It was interesting to note that the bilingual education projects were being conducted both in countries with a high percentage of vernacular speakers and in those with ethnic minorities. All of this was proof of the determination to meet the specific learning needs of all peoples making up the social fabric of the nation in the countries of the region.

42. Other speakers referred to special education, saying how important it was and calling for the implementation of policies to facilitate its development. Still others highlighted experiments in the integration of special education with formal education.

43. With regard to the aim of literacy and adult education, a number of speakers creported that their countries were maintaining it as a priority programme for the next decade, seeking to move beyond the limited framework of literacy campaigns, as these were insufficient in themselves to address the structural nature of a problem such as illiteracy, which called for permanent and continuous efforts with realistic goals and intersectoral activities incorporating 1 i teracy instruction in a process of lifelong education which included stages of post-literacy education and basic adult education.

44. Several speakers emphasized that the Jomtien Declaration had been a source of inspiration for integrated educational programmes based on strategies which involved new alliances between different forces in the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations. Other speakers reported that in their countries the concept and practice of literacy education as an exclusively State-run activity was being replaced by a nationwide approach, with the role of the central authorities gradually shifting to planning, organization and support for practical action shared with other public bodies and NGOs. indicative of this trend were: the establishment of national education systems for inter- institutional action; the development of new programmes of basic education for all, following on from recent

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nationwide literacy campaigns; the decision to. combine literacy work with community 'participation in long-term prógrames'; ' and- the inclusion ' in- -adult ' education programmes of curriculum content ,,relating, to a better quality of life, such as the protection and conservation Òf the 'environment,' family planning, epidemic control, nutrition, and eating habits based on: the consumption of local and low-cost, foodstuffs.--There .was. renewed interest in the idea of associating..literacy and .basic .adult education.with other levels and types of education, which was. taking the' form of new co-operation projects with international funding:. . ' .

45.' Another' group 'of delegates reported that in ,-their countries;.partly owing.to' the severe constraints imposed by adjustment policies, effective action in- this area had not been possible, despite clear constitutional mandates'. The. ' lack . of .reliable -'statistics as-:.-a.- .basis: for operational- strategies. was. a problem: that ;.had yet ' to- be, solved 'in those-'countries '. :.,

46'. . A 'niber - ' of .- speakers referred 'to! International Literacy Year as á :prime "source!, -of-% motivation', for tackling illiteracy problems in innovative ways; a ,.'few '

-countries had'adopted-corresponding:policy.decisions, :in parti'cular :,two. countries with acúte~ illiteracy problems. 'One. 'of them had' launched an ambitious .literacy and civic ' .

education ' programme',"-.- which 'proposed. .:to" use "a' . large . proportion of State funds ' in the 'nine -years -ahead. .to , '

address ,the problems o f , high, illiteracy ratios and , '

'shortcomings., in basic education... through formal . and out- 'of-school pro gram mes, ' focusing on 'the 12 to 14 age-group. . ' :. . The .other - country. planned. - to ' make ,2,,: million people '-,literate? over a' >four-year period;' giving'priority.y-to -the - '

--use of'' the'mother tongue in -primers and reading' material .-for :.the:. newly: li terate.'." with..' ' a 1 8 view to . saving ,- and

I integrat'ing the. cultural heritage. :,;,;

47. . -.A. number i -of-.- delegates reported major progress; ,'in ' incorporating ,: the'- media effectively and ."-efficiently" .in , '. educational',processes involving 'young" people and adults. Radio stations , and privately owned - newspapers. .' had andertaken to put across educational programmes with literacy 'and 'basic . adult "-education: components 'and periodically to publish learning ',materials and primers -prepared in '.ministries of" education. Some. speakers,' went . on: to- note a growing. commitment on the' part - , of' ,non-

. , ~ governmental.-. organizations - to. community . education activities at the. local,--- national :. and . international

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48. Other participants referred to adult 'education programmes involving ' - supplementary, specialist and retraining courses, university courses for workers and open education schemes in a variety of fields enabling 'participants to study individually in their- own homes. Several, delegates also reported basic adult education initiatives involving' in-service vocational training and,

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in some cases, agreements between the.State and public and private enterprise.

49. with regard to the goal of educational quality, the delegates noted that the qualitative improvement of education was a priority area and would continue to be assigned priority in plans for the 1990s. The speakers dwelt on the factors that exerted an important influence on the quality of education, such as teachers, curricula, teaching materials and administrative arrangements._

50. The proposal by one of the delegates to designate the remaining period up to the year 2000 'Teacher Training Decade' was seconded by other delegates and broadly reflected the points made by.a number of speakers regarding the need for relevant and practical action to improve the status and working conditions of teachers in particular and educational personnel in general. Several delegates stressed that teachers were a. key and irreplaceable element in any qualitative improvement in

' education and that their role in that connection was crucial.

51. Both academic education and vocational training in general or specific aspects of it such. as bilingual education and education in rural areas were put forward as meriting priority attention. Regional differences could be seen in the fact that there was a shortage of qualified teachers in some places and a surplus elsewhere. There were reports of programmes to attract secondary school-leavers into the teaching profession and also strategies to encourage teachers, through a variety of incentives, to work in remote areas, and to reward outstanding performance.

52. Curriculum renewal and innovation were cited as crucial factors in the quality of the education provided. All countries were working to make learning more relevant and to renew content and methods. Emphasis was placed on the need to incorporate and revise, in primary education, science and technology subjects, human rights teaching, peace and environmental education and bilingual courses, among others. Such curriculum innovations should involve the participation of various sectors of society.

53. Several delegates stressed that countries should focus attention on the preparation of teaching materials as an important aid to teaching. Emphasis was placed on the need to prepare, publish and use textbooks for basic or primary education, including materials for both pupils \and teachers, especially in rural areas. These should include curriculum guides for pre-primary education in vernacular languages. Local libraries to serve .schools should also be developed.

54. Various speakers observed - that administrative decentralization and the transfer of resources to rural areas had led to significant improvements, and the trend

20

was expected to gain strength during the current decade. Some delegates said that the establishment of Education Councils had proved to be highly useful in promoting community development at the local level, and, at the national level, in charting a course for educational development through innovative strategies under the banner of education for all. As one delegate pointed out, it was very important that quality should. be fairly and equitably distributed throughout the system, and the educational establishments were playing their part in ensuring that such was the case.

55. One delegate reported that a fund had recently been set up in his country to promote innovations in schools, to which projects that helped to improve the quality of education could be submitted. Another, referring to the process of educational modernization now.under way in his .country, said that its central concern was quality, with emphasis on decentralization, teacher training and the renewal of educational content.

56. Several delegates drew attention to the importance of 'quality first' strategies in places where quality was most seriously lacking, whereby preferential support was given to areas that needed it most, thus achieving more equitable access to high-quality education.

57. Several speakers considered that decentralization gave rise to innovative activities and was a catalyst of further changes. One delegate said that micro-planning had made it possible to identify and solve problems in situ, with the result that it was now possible to establish a correlation between a programme of action and the funds to be allocated to it at the local level.

58. On the subject -of financing, a number of delegates drew attention to the shortage of funds available for educationalsdevelopment. It was thought necessary to look more closely at the theoretical and practical aspects of the financing of education for the formulation of projects and strategies based on new approaches, such as considering the advisability of granting State subsidies to non-fee-paying private educational establishments that were well run, produced good results and. offered high- quality education. Consideration should also be given to other alternatives which allowed new models of co- operation for the financing and expansion of education to emerge.

59. Several speakers stressed the need to consult all sectors and social actors in order to reach a consensus on the basic thrusts of educational policy. One delegate announced that a wide-ranging consultation of that kind was to be held in his country for that purpose, and said that the involvement of the political authorities was necessary in the endeavour to ensure continuity in educational projects through national agreements.

21

PART II

GUIDELINES AND PRIORITIES FOR REGIONAL CO-OPERATION

Guidelines and priorities for subreaional, reaional, interreaional and international co-operation as a follow- up to the World Declaration on Education for All (agenda item 8)

60. A large number of delegates said that the document on regional co-operation prepared for the session was of great interest to their countries. In that connection, many delegations drew attention to the need to step up and strengthen co-operation among the States of the region in their efforts to attain the basic goals of the Major Project, especially within the framework of the existing networks.

61. Several delegates urged all participants to work together to tackle educational problems through co- ordinated regional action. One delegate stressed the need for regional co-operation to be focused on specific projects and for priority to be given to co-operation on teacher education and in-service training as a factor of paramount importance in educational development.

62. Several delegations provided information on the educational programmes carried out in- their countries with the help of international co-operation, stressing how important they were. _They said that there was a continuing need for international support,. and emphasized the fundamental role of UNESCO in such co-operation on account of its key position as a forum for debate on education and the search for solutions. They also underscored the importance of the funding agencies and sources and expressed the hope that all the current efforts would be undertaken on an increasingly co- operative basis with a view to achieving greater effectiveness and continuing the encouraging trend set at the world Conference on Education for All.

63. A number of speakers pointed to the need to see technical and financial co-operation, both international and regional, in a new light, recognizing the key role of education in the development process and in the advancement of democracy, and considering co-operation to be a means of seeking to ensure sustained development. They expressed the hope that co-operation would help to further the educational changes being implemented in many of the countries of the region.

64. The Spanish delegation said that it intended to continue its co-operation with the Major Project and to establish closer technical and institutional ties with it. UNICEF announced that it would be dedicating 25 per cent of its resources in the coming decade to education - the same amount as to health - and that it would draw up

22

. L a co-operation agreement with UNESCO. OE1 expressed its support for the Major Project and its willingness to co- operate under i ts. new Agreement with UNESCO, specifying that the fields in which it was most interested were functional illiteracy, adult education, mathematics and science .teaching and the training of educational personnel. The statements made by the representatives of these institutions, are contained in ,Annex ,IV, to this report. The Andrés Bello Convention drew attention to the need to set up co-ordination machinery in' the countries and .with international bodies such as UNESCO, UNICEF, the world Bank ,and IDB, .and to the.desirability. of UNESCO's

65. The -representative of the ',President 1 of ..the ,. world Bank said .that . the Bank was deeply committed to., the ' aim of improving :the quality. of .education in the present decade and to the objectives of the World Conference ,on Education for All ,' noting. that the momentum generated by that conference was ... undiminished. His. institution 'set

" great store. by:- co-operation, with other, international

it, also greatly-. appreciated UNESCO's < . follow-up :.to the 1 . Jomtien Conference., . .It -intended to 7 - co-operate .. more: ' - closely.. with ,the Organization, particularly! .in-; the'-Latin ' '

America and- the. Caribbean region.. He said that the ,World '. Bank was devoting US $1,500 million a year to education.. .' worldwide,. ',a figure that.:might, . . be ..increased,;, especially

and :UNICEFIS attendance at-..its .meetings as observers. . , ,, 7 , ,

. . , I . , ' . .

I . . . .: h . . . ". . . . . .

organizations -based -on ,. a- :country-by-country' approach and . , .

in; the case, of. basic education, : which accounted for -one' .

third of. all funds allocated. to ,education. ,. ' :. ,.

, . I . . . . . I <

. .

. . . .. - , , . . . .

I . , .

. .'#, , . The , I speaker .' :stressed 'the , great :importance . of education.. in, socio-economic development,. alleviating poverty, developing self-esteem< and the' quality of life and preserving' the -environment , ',since-. education prepared ' . '

people for the future. ,He also, emphasized . the:'.importance ' of good mathematics, and- science education. High-quality

investment.'. (The statement by the representative, of the President of the world Bank is reproduced in Annex-IV.).', ' ,

education, - he added, was.: essential. for the protection. of . . ,

. , . . ... . . , .

, . , . . . - . I

. . -

. , . , , - . . I

. , . , , . . . .

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. .

. I , .

I .

.23

PART III

RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL PLANS OF ACTION AND THE SECOND REGIONAL PLAN

OF ACTION FOR THE MAJOR PROJECT IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

(1990-1995)

The Intergovernmental Regional Comi ttee ,

Considerinq the continuing validity of the lines of emphasis, structures and constituents of the Second Regional Plan of Action for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, unanimously adopted at .the third +session of ' the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (Guatemala City, 26-30 June 19891,

Reaffirminq its commitment to the goals of the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean and to the Project's general aim of meeting basic learning needs,

Reaf firminq the validity and timeliness of the recommendations of the first, second and third sessions of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee,

Bearina in mind the need to co-ordinate the Major Project with the follow-up to the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, from 5 to 9 March 1990, and with the principles of action set forth, in particular, in the world Declaration on Education for All and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs, and also in the directives and plans of action of UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the world Bank and likewise those of IDB and UNFPA,

I Mindful of the broad lines of the development strategy based on changing production patterns with equity, which was approved at the twenty-third session of the Unlted Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) held from 3 to 11 May 1990 in Caracas, Venezuela,

Mindful that equity issues in the education system should be addressed in their qualitative and quantitative dimensions, and taking into account the extent to which these are transformed or maintained by the wider social and economic structures,

Considerinq the results and expected outcomes of International Literacy Year, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly for 1990 and whose implementation was the responsibility of UNESCO,

24

Considerinq the development potential inherent in the renewed efforts aimed at regional and subregional integration in Latin America and the Caribbean,

Considering that the countries of the region have been making encouraging progress in the planning and implementation of projects and proposals to give concrete effect to the recommendations of the previous sessions of the Committee,

Adopts the following guidelines for the preparation, updating and implementation of national plans and of the Second Regional Plan of Action for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean in the second phase of the period 1990-1995.

25

I. THE NEED FOR A NEW STYLE OF EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. The Committee acknowledges that economic, political and social factors and challenges have affected the implementation of national plans and of the Second Regional Plan of Action and will continue to weigh heavily on the formulation and implementation of educational policies and strategies. They include, on the one hand, the persistence of the adverse effects of the serious economic crisis, whose impact has been felt beyond the confines of purely economic structures, and, on the other, the consolidation of democratic processes in the region.

2. One of the most adverse effects of the economic crisis, in most countries, has been the curtailment of public spending on education. These cutbacks, which have brought budgets down to unacceptable levels over a long period, have resulted in a marked deterioration in the educational services provided by the public sector. The main indicators of this deterioration are: the working and employment conditions of teachers and their social status; the educational facilities and resources available; school infrastructure and welfare programmes for students. This situation has in turn led to the persistence of low enrolment rates and high rates of illiteracy, repetition, academic failure and drop-out; a reduction in the- rate of expansion of post-compulsory education, especially in the case of low-income families; an increase in the internal fragmentation of the system and a deterioration in the quality of education.

3. This crisis has also brought to light a deeper underlying trend in education: the loss of momentum and obsolescence of an idea and a style .of educational development that have failed to reconcile quantitative growth with satisfactory levels of quality and equity. The salient characteristics of this style, which has concentrated on the valid task of extending coverage, have been: (i) an administration that is centralized and bureaucratic, often with authoritarian leanings; (ii) a tendency to take the short-term view in decision-making; (iii) considerable isolation from other sectors of the State and of society; (iv) uniform educational services for diverse population groups; (v) educational processes focusing on teaching rather than on learning; and (vi) a tendency to place greater emphasis on teaching aids and curriculum design than on the professional role of teachers. At the end of the first decade of the Major Project, the countries of the region are faced with the challenge of developing a concept and a new style of educational development that are effective both in

1 realizing the unattained goals of the past and in satisfying the demands of the future.

4. The crisis and the open expression of democratic aspirations have encouraged the formulation of proposals - shared by a growing number of governments -

26

aimed at reactivating economies by changing the structures of production, strengthening regional integration processes and seeking a more equitable development model as the basis for a new development strategy for Latin ,America and the Caribbean in the 1990s.' These proposals stress the twofold contribution to be made by education, firstly as a key component of social policy designed-to promote a more equitable form of development, and secondly in the training of human resources capable of active adaptation to the world of work characterized by new qualities of creativity, intelligence and solidarity.

5. The Committee is convinced that education systems in the countries of the region are at a strategic juncture, leaving one stage behind them and embarking an another. Furthermore, it considers that both in the external context in which education operates and within the education system itself , a combination of conditions, needs and possibilities has 'emerged that is creating new types of demand for an end to the traditional .lack' of alignment between education and social needs. In view of the foregoing,' the Committee draws, attention to the need to embark on- a new staue in educational develoDment throuah a' new form of manauementz which - in.a context of scarce resources - can meet the threefold> challenge of:, (i) improving effectiveness, 'that is to say improving the quality. of the system by making it more relevant in cultural and environmental. terms and in terms of its usefulness- to individuals. and society; (ii) enhancing equity in the distribution of educational services, in other words providing high-quality education to priority sectors of the population, namely, those living in urban fringe sand rural areas, the poor, indigenous groups, women, and all who have dropped out of or been excluded from the education system; (iii) increasing the efficiency of the system by developing the capacity to make optimum use of resources with a view to -its smooth internal functioning, which presupposes a considerable improvement -in the quality of education.

The following proposals concern the strategic options that would determine the new style of educational development during this stage in the economic, social and political spheres.

i. Proposals contained in the document 'Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity', ECLAC, Santiago, Chile, 1990.

2- The term management, in this context and in a broad sense, denotes the running of educational systems and processes.

27

II. STRATEGIC GUIDELINES FOR UPDATING AND IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL PLANS AND THE SECOND REGIONAL PLAN OF ACTION

6. In order to attain the goals of these plans and generate a new style that fosters in people appropriate capabilities and qualities for participation in a just, peaceful and mutually supportive .society in the twenty- first century, it is suggested that the countries of the region undertake a series of activities aimed at boosting the vitality of their education systems, following the strategic guidelines set out below:

ia) Forging a link between education and development strategies. On the one hand, education should develop in individuals the knowledge, attitudes, values and skills conducive to the -mastery of technological innovations. In addition, a forward-looking approach will be necessary in the framing of educational policies that can be linked with medium- and longiterm development strategies. This will make it possible to differentiate between responses to emergencies and necessary long-term responses guaranteeing the continuity of educational activities. On the other hand, education should be linked to existing social development policies, which must prepare the ground for equitable distribution ,of the gains accruing from economic growth.

Strengthening the democratic and participatory dimension as an educational development strategy. From the standpoint of equity, this entails ensuring access to formal and non- formal education and the priority allocation of funds to the satisfaction of the demands of the least privileged sectors; from the pedagogical standpoint, it involves the promotion of relations, contents and methods that guarantee democracy in educational praxis and consolidate the democratic process; and from the political standpoint, it means guaranteeing active participation by educational agents in decision-making and seeking broad national consensus on education as a vitals and priority factor so that it may enjoy the fullest possible legitimacy.

Building new alliances in education. National consensus and national agreements should be conducive to the forging of new alliances within the State and among States that will foster co-ordination between public bodies and higher education establishments, non- governmental organizations, organized groups active in education, various actors in the private sector and the community. Such

28

alliances should, among other things, formulate communication policies that will make education-related issues a subject of interest in all sectors and among the public at large.

Modernizing planning and management. This should be linked to the broader processes of transforming the State, such as deconcentration and decentralization, and directed towards new strategic functions with regard to the formulation of development policies. These should include, in particular, compensatory or affirmative action policies and policies to follow up and evaluate the performance of the educational process through the introduction of information systems and various forms of research that generate the kind of, information needed for problem identification, for central and local decision-making and for the assumption by individuals and institutions of a larger share of responsibility as part of that process, as well as 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 to basic learning needs stemming from the characteristics and policy options of each country. These include both needs for the instrumental means of providing access to information and the ways ,in which it is processed and expressed, and the .necessity for a transformational ethic, to cope with people's basic needs in regard to their attitudes towards themselves, cultural identity .and the environment. ~

A new *concept of literacy education and basic adult -education, treating the former as an integral part of basic education and hence of integrated educational policies linking youth and adult literacy education to access to, and retention and5 academic success in, the formal system; addressing problems not only of total but also of functional illiteracy; establishing priorities and focusing activities on specific groups, including women and young people excluded from the formal education system.

Introducing momentum into the education system by fostering unity of purpose among those involved, while developiiig' the role of the family, schools, community organizations and the media. Among these educational actors, special attention should be focused on strengthening the teaching profession by recruiting candidates with a marked aptitude

29

íh)

for that career, with provision for initial training and regular in-service training, improving their employment and teaching conditions, and establishing structures to motivate them and acknowledge them as professionals. These factors combined will ensure that teachers are able to play a sound professional role so that they become effectively accountable for meeting their pupils' basic learning needs, with a view to converting the school into a centre for community cultural development.

Diversification of funding sources for educational services. Strategies should seek to mobilize and combine the potential of a variety of sources: public, private, non-governmental, within the community and, at the international level , bodies engaged in technical and financial co-operation. Arrangements for using funds should be closely co-ordinated with the financial management policies and criteria in force in each country. Spending should be structured in such a way as to make optimum use of funds, channelling them, as a matter of priority, into educational investment and innovation. In addition, budgetary planning and administration should be subject to strict financial controls based on cost analysis, rates of return and the achievement of results. Lastly, the use and channelling of funds from public sources and international co-operation should be better co-ordinated in order to ensure that the goals of the funding agencies are compatible with national policies and priori ties.

III. RECOMMENDATION CONCERNING NATIONAL PLANS OF ACTION

7. These guidelines provide a strategic basis for updating both the activities designed to attain the goals of the Major Project'and the follow-up activities to the World Conference on Education for All. With these aims in view, the Committee recommends to Member States that they formulate their National Plans of Action for the Major Project and their National Education-For-All Action Plans as a single instrument, covering the following points:

8. With regard to the new style of educational development and the requirements of the new strategy of changing production patterns in a spirit of equity,

(a) personal development - in both its individual and its social dimensions and taking into account the individual I s capacity to bring about change - should be seen as the central

30

, ,

9. for for

goal of the new style of educational development;

consideration should be given to the emergence of demands on the part of the various social and economic actors: taken together, such demands accentuate the need for education to be seen as a social priority and for conditions to be created that will encourage all to join in the building of a national educational consensus, based on the requisite fundamental learning needs, on policy-making and policy implementation;

a national educational consensus on the main lines of *educational policy must be fostered. Priority should be given here to consistency between short-term activities and medium- and long-term policies, the mobilization of social resources and strengths in support of those broad policy" lines and the establishment of machinery to link education with other dimensions of development.

With regard to educational planning and management educational change, initiatives with a high potential stimulatina education systems should be promoted,

planned and implemented. Thesi 'include: -

' . . , f. .

.~ '. .(a). new" forms .of strategic '.'planning capable ,of ,. I -handling :higher' ' . . . degrees of complexity and

, 1 ' . . b ~ , ,uncertainty . ,and conducive' to greater flexibility. in .this area;. . .

. , .. .

strengthening of 'the planning and management capabilities of executive authorities at the various administrative levels - regional, provincial and local - and in schools; new forms of strategic human resources management, including,. for example, measures to encourage gifted and motivated young people to enter the teaching profession and to promote participation in teaching activities by persons working in the production sector,and the media;

procedures to streamline, deconcentrate and decentralize administrative structures in order to foster, where possible, experiments in local educational development conducive to democratic management that will gradually confer a greater degree of au tonomy on educational establishments and teachers and make them more accountable for performance;

a more in tens ive use of information technologies and the creation of data bases and information systems; this means that countries

31

(f)

(hì

c

should support the national information networks and the results of educational research and innovation. Provision should be made, through horizontal co-operation; for these results to be exchanged with centres and networks in other countries of the region and in other regions;

development of intersectoral machinery for the establishment of special funds, with a view to the drawing up of emergency plans for such areas as nutrition and health, in'order to make a comprehensive response to the needs of children;

introduction of different evaluation methods so that the individual and social impact of educational processes are more immediately apparent, in order to promote better quality;

design and' operation of funding mechanisms, both to manage scarce resources in periods of &budgetary austerity and to attract funding from the community, the production sector and outside sources;

experimenting with the organization and management of educational facilities and timetables with a view to using them to better effect and facilitating the improvement of educational achievements.

10. With regard to literacy and youth and adult education:

national strategies should be devised and implemented to prevent, in the medium and long term, the emergence of pockets of illiteracy, by addressing the problems of young people and adults .in a comprehensive manner through measures to deal with the causes and effects of academic failure;

the real scale of the problem should be taken fully into account by identifying groups of illiterates who, because of their sex, age and involvement in productive work or social development, have a greater chance of success in the pursuit of literacy, and giving them priority where appropriate;

encouragement should be given to the creation and organization of national subsystems of basic education for working children and for young people and adults that include literacy programmes, new basic education methods and approaches, in-service training and training for the reform of productive processes, based

32

on a strategy of inter-institutional and intersectoral co-operation aimed at meeting the main basic learning needs of the target groups in their role of citizens and producers;

(d) research should be carried out as an initial step towards overcoming the problem of functional illiteracy, by determining its principal causes and characteristics in the areas of reading and writing, science, mathematics, and social and occupational skills.

11. With regard to educational mrocesses, the emphasis should be on co-ordinated measures to reduce academic failure and improve quality. These might include the following:

(a) Focusing attention on pupils, placing more emphasis on learning than on teaching, organizing the pupil's work in such a way that he or she is able to play a more active part in

' the learning process, 'and promoting and implementing strategies that cater for the wide variety of situations in which children find themselves, as a result either of their culture (such as membership of a particular ethnic group) or of their place in the socio-economic spectrum (as members of rural or urban fringe communities, for instance). in this context, special provision should be made for children with disabilities. Focusing attention on pupils also means catering for their parents by offering them programmes that will develop their potential to stimulate children in

- infancy and support the learning activities of school-age children.

(b) Fostering educational leadership skills among teachers through the implementation of a comprehensive policy to improve their status,

for encompassing co-ordinated strategies training, the acquisition of professional qualifications and further training and better

and salaries; the working conditions improvement of initial training schemes for future teachers, with the emphasis on learning; the establishment of continuing teacher

make -a critical assessment of their own work and endeavour to improve their teaching methods, and are encouraged to keep their scientific and technological knowledge up to date; the promotion of participation by teachers' organizations in bringing about educational change and building up a core of qualified teachers; the promotion of teacher participation in the production of written and

\ education systems in which teachers are able to

33

experimental materials, and encouragement of creative, innovative ideas in teaching; and the development of facilities where teachers can demonstrate innovative schemes and introduce them on a systematic basis.

(c) The curriculum should be brought up to date and made more coherent and more flexible, with a shift in emphasis from subjects taught to the satisfaction of individual and social learning needs. Other requirements include a revision of learning content, bearing in mind, on the one hand, the need to provide pupils with the tools they require for understanding, processing and

’ expressing basic reading, writing and arithmetical codes and, on the other, the need for a transformational ethic relating to personal development and the refinement of attitudes to others and to the environment; the design of methods of curricular change allowing for adjustment to a variety of cultural, scientific and technological circumstances; schemes for bridge-building between national and local curricula, between general and special education, etc.; proposals for intercultural bilingual education policies, not only for indigenous groups but also for the school-going population as a whole: and the formulation of specific policies to cater for pupils with slight and moderate disabilities.

12. In the field of regional and international co- operation, intensive use should be made of available resources, especially by:

(a) consolidating the co-operation networks - REPLAD, REDALF, PICPEMCE and CARNEID - and SIRI at the national level, and interlinking them-at the regional and subregional levels by

1 strengthening the planning and evaluation of their action programmes and linking them to other networks, such as REDUC, run by non- governmental bodies;

(b) strengthening national capacities for the management of financial resources set aside for the development and qualitative improvement of education, the point being that national education budgets are allocated almost entirely to salaries;

(cl making better use at the national level of the store of knowledge accumulated at the regional, subregional and international levels, both with a view to transferring theoretical and applied knowledge and in order to promote a more thorough understanding of the countries of the region in the various education systems, an

34

. , , essential condition for a stronger sense of .cultural identity and better integration in the

(d)' promoting and deveioping : ,bilateral .and international co-operation between countries

: , . < . . :., and groups of .,countries 'by fostering exchanges of technical backstopping. missions,' the

_ . , .granting: of schol,arships, the joint. production - , . - . . - of j- materials . , .(book publishing, ' audio-visual

, - 7 . . 'materials) , -the , .pooling ., of, . innovative experience, .research-.. work, , and',, the joint

I . ' ' *.economic and trade spheres;

.. : establishment of data bases. 1 .

, . , I < .

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IV. PRIORITY. FIELDS OF .ACTI,ON.~NDER-. THE. REGIONAL PLAN OF ACTION .. ' . : f ? ,

13 .: To ' support, the, implementation of national: plans. of action with ,a. view. to- educational ,change,-.,. the Committee has identified the. following; priority .fields . of action for this, phase of the Second .Regional Plan. . , -.

A. Educational . r>Ólicies,~' D lannina ,- manaaement and

14 i' To. strengthen' national ' and ,regional'" capabilities for the co-ordination. of educational.,processes :with reforms in. general public. administration -in , the. new.- contexts of deconcentration and. decentralization, ,participation and intersectorality, it is recommended that steps be taken to: . . , ,

. . , 1 . . ; .

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(a) stimulate support by ,the internat ional community for broad consensus-building , on

. . education at, -the national, . s~ubregional' and

(b) :test and develop 1 new 'planning and- .'management ,. . ' , ..., models that are sufficiently flexible to ensure

,. that the .prócesses :of ,-educational .change can' be - . . I . ... managed , 'appropriately in, contexts- of greater

complexity and uncertainty;, assess, on the basis'of national experience, the desirability

;, of : introducing.. budgeting,, syst,ems., based on

'(c) support the- drawing up and implementation of ; emergency,;educational plans designed to solve

urgent problems , in the .event of natural disasters or social emergencies;

(d) fost'er the - setting ,,up of flexible I administrative , structures, , that , ,facilitate

experimentation in the organization of school work, , interlinking and co-ordination of the

. different stages ,and levels of education .systems, -interlinking of ordinary and special

. .I I ... .

, . . . , . , .regional levels;... . ' , .

. . .. , . , ,.:.

. . . . . . results; I ~ ,.

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35

education, and co-ordination with other social actors in the development of' innovative models for human resources management and greater autonomy for institutions;

promote the development of modern techniques and initiatives in financial management to ensure optimum use of available resources, while at the same time fostering complementarity between public and private and national and international resources;

work out criteria to be applied in assessing basic learning needs the measurement and achievement with a quality of education;

set up structures to of policies and

decentralization; strategies of

promote educational

and designing systems for management of levels of view to enhancing the

facilitate the formulation the implementation of deconcentration and

policies qeared to local - - development which: (i) facilitate the integration and co-ordination of different institutions and initiatives within a given field and geographical area; (ii) enable individual educational establishments to devise their own educational projects tailored to local needs and national educational goals;

support, in the light of the expected outcomes of international Literacy Year, national literacy strategies and those specially designed to combat indigenous illiteracy;

promote and systematically pursue policies designed to ease the transition from initial to primary education, seeking greater co- ordination between them and a reduction in failure rates;

systematize and expand major policies and initiatives to redress social. imbalances through educational organization, inter alia in areas such as welfare assistance fori school-age children;

promote national projects geared to the adoption of affirmative action policies and offset inequalities in the access of extremely poor population .groups to educational goods and services;

raise awareness among groups directly involved and the community at large of the social and

such cul tura1 factors that influence

36

educational processes as the educational integration of disabled children;

(n) promote the development of:

(i) prototypes and standards for setting up teaching and assistance centres for the creation of educational industries;

(ii) models for the building and renovation of multipurpose educational facilities for basic- education, giving precedence to a style of architecture that reflects local culture and caters for the needs of the community:

(iii) appropriate techniques for the building, maintenance and administration of establishments that are resistant to natural disasters and can serve as safe havens for the community, while promoting exchanges of experience in this field.

B. Pre- and in-'service trainina, maradi na and refresher trainina for kev educational Dersonne1

15. To develop the capabilities of key personnel for the renewal of educational processes,' it is recommended that steps be taken'to:

(a) formulate strategies designed to make initial and in-service teacher training more flexible, enhancing their relevance and introducing new components' such as: basic forms of planning and management of human, material and financial resources; environmental themes: .the ability to produce written and experimental materials for science teaching; the rudiments of education for children with disabilities;. the democratic and participatory approach; action' aimed at closer co-operation among the countries of the region;

(b) promote the establishment and development of subregional or regional centres of excellence in the region, with a view to guaranteeing the highest levels of' theoretical and practical vocational training for key educational personnel, with emphasis on the training of teacher educators in various fields;

(c) in the framework of the REPLAD, REDALF AND PICPEMCE networks, and with the support of regional organizations specializing in co- operation, undertake training activities for teacher educators and directors of national projects associated with these networks, and experiment with distance teaching arrangements

37

in the fields covered by the different networks;

(d) promote general pedagogical training for administrators to give them a deeper insight into educational problems and make them more open to innovations.

C. Experimental testina and evaluation of new

16. To develop literacy programmes, basic education programmes for children, adolescents and adults, and non- formal and informal education programmes, it is recommended that steps be taken to:

pedaaoaical oDtions

(bì

stimulate, systematize and spread innovative experiments in reading and writing, elementary science and technology and mathematics with a view to bringing about a qualitative improvement in education and reducing failure rates in the early years of schooling;

promote, as part of adult education, instruction for parents interested in primary education programmes, whether in a school context or otherwise;

design and test curricula and teaching materials. geared to the different target population groups, focusing on programmes of educational integration for disabled children;

enhance .the flexibility and co-ordinate the structure and development of programmes designed to identify and meet basic learning needs, taking into consideration those relating to the natural and social-environment and those of the individual student;

stress the importance of teaching science and the practical aspects of technology throughout basic education as a key component of education for living, linking these to the idea of preserving a sustainable environment and placing emphasis on their usefulness in developing logical .thought processes for information-seeking and practical problem- solving;

promote the use of the mass media for educational purposes, and make use of the messages transmitted by the media by linking them with the content of school curricula through such practices as the incorporation in teaching activities of a critical analysis of the press, television and other communication

38

and cultural media with a view to developing critical attitudes towards such messages;

(9) stimulate new strategies designed to remedy inequalities in access to education by young people and women, particularly where literacy and other educational options for women are concerned, in the form of programmes to improve their ability to - educate their children; programmes should also be designed specifically for young .people denied a place in formal education so as to prepare them for adult life and enable them to become responsible parents and members of society.

D. Information and research svstems

17. To develop national and regional capabilities with a view to retrieving information that can be used to produce relevant indicators, it is recommended that steps be taken to:

(a) prepare indicators that are reliable and can be standardized, encouraging, as far as possible, the development of computer programmes that can be used to analyse: the current situation of, and trends in, student access to education (scale and opportunities), duration of attendance, progress, repetition and drop-out; the .efficiency of ' education systems;

t disparities in educational provision for groups and regions; the diversity and range of educational possibilities on offer at each level; academic achievement and other indicators of the quality of education;

(b) prepare models for the analysis of information, identifiable by school and by course, concerning the system of staff remuneration and administration, building and maintenance, and statistics concerning enrolment and teachers, supervision and assessment, and feed this information into a data bank so as'to have more facts to hand for optimal decision-making;

(cl analyse the results of activities under the Major Project during the period 1990-1991 in individual countries and at the subregional and regional level, circulate the studies in the Major Project Bulletin and other publications and summarize these activities in a new report for the period 1980-1991;

(d) stimulate regional impact research and exchanges of experience in areas such as: identification of basic learning needs; factors

I and processes influencing academic achievement and other aspects of the quality of' education,

39

E.

18.

including innovations in educational management and technology; studies of functional illiteracy with a view to identifying its main features in regard to reading- and writing, science, mathematics and social and occupational skills, and studies of demand and innovative experiments in basic adult education;

(e) stimulate and enhance the role of universities in the development of educational research on the Major Project priorities in scientific development, the search, for and construction of new educational theories and the testing of new - methodological and educational management options; in particular, .urge universities to do their utmost to improve the quality of teacher- training establishments;

(f) foster state-of-the art assessments on subjects of common interest to the countries of the region where sufficient research, studies and information exist, on the lines of the

1 OREALC/REDUC publications,- for example, to enable the information accumulated on various subjects to be systematically compiled and disseminated.

Educational industries and publication policies

In this field it is recommended that steps be taken to:

compile inventories of educational industries in the region and seek machinery for co- operation with a view to greater integration among the countries of.the region; '

encourage, with international support , national, subregional and regional projects for the production and exchange of audio-visual materials, computer programmes and electronic media, and basic documents for use in upgrading teachers' qualifications;

encourage the development of a policy and strategy of translation, into the languages of the region, of major works in education and related disciplines;

foster the development of publications for the exchange of experience and the dissemination of bibliographies of works dealing with the renewal of educational processes;

promote activities such as meetings, seminars and special training courses which tend to further educational journalism.

I

40

F. Promotina the develoDment of the Co-oDeration Networks

19. To enhance the capacity of the horizontal Co- operation Networks (REPLAD, REDALF, PICPEMCE and CARNEID) , SIRI and REDUC with a view to introducing education change and the new style of education, it is recommended that steps be taken to:

V.

20.

mobilize institutional, national, regional and other resources so that the Networks can fulfil the activating role assigned to them under the Ma] or Pro] ec t :

foster and support the functioning of the national Networks in keeping with the design, implementation and evaluation of the National. Plans of Action, within the framework of the Maj or Proj ec t ;

strengthen the links between the Co-operation Networks and between these and SIRI and other networks such as REDUC, through joint undertakings. This entails the development of conceptual frames of reference to stimulate research and innovation, both among training institutions and within the formal school system, concerning specific regional issues such as the identification of basic learning needs, repetition, drop-out, the time available for learning, assessment of achievement and its relevance at the local and institutional levels, qualifications of teaching staff and availability of materials;

encourage the formation of regional and subregional groups carrying out similar projects in areas such as research, experimental work and innovation;

promote the exchange of specialists among the various countries in order to foster horizontal co-operation in the renewal processes taking place both in training institutions and within the formal school system;

evaluate the experience of the Co-operation Networks and apply it systematically in order to ensure that their operations are geared to giving sustained support to educational change.

TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL CO-OPERATION IN SUPPORT OF THE PROGRAMMES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE REGIONAL PLAN

The Committee, recognizing that:

41

21.

22.

The Framework for Action and the Declaration of the World Conference on Education for All, together with the goals of the Major Project, should constitute an ongoing and joint endeavour involving the governments of the region and the sources of technical and financial co-operation such as UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, IDB and UNESCO, among others, ,

Calls for:

Encouragement to be given to all possible initiatives regarding the financial and technical support that international agencies can provide to governments, in order to facilitate the development of education for all, within the framework of the Major Project in the Field of Education;

Recommends:

ia)

íb)

id)

That the necessary efforts be made to ensure that the States and agencies which signed the Jomtien world Declaration on Education for All actively participate in the implementation of activities relating to the attainment of the goals of the Major Project;

That, wherever possible, regional and subregional banks, other intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental organizations be associated with the implement at ion of strategies, projects and programmes and with their financing, having due regard to prevailing regulations, with a view to complying thereby with the Framework for Action adopted at Jomtien and attaining the goals of the Major Project in the Field of Education;

That UNESCO consider and propose any necessary amendments to the Committee's Statutes so that the agencies which signed the Jómtien Declaration can participate more effectively in the activities planned for the attainment of the goals of the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean;

That, with the help of the media, a policy to disseminate this recommendation be pursued with the aim of ensuring that its main points are brought to the attention of specialists and the public at large, so that it may serve as an incentive for the organization of seminars and as a frame of reference for the evaluation and analysis of the National Plans of Action.

42

PART IV . , L .

~. . , .

LINKAGES 'BETWEEN 'EDUCATION .-

. - AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES . ..

, . , .~ I -

. . ,~ . I

ToDics discussed"in round tables ,(agenda item 7) '

(a) Strateaies to improve the aualitv of education-in a context of crisis (Round table No.1)

, _ , The round table took-place on..Wednesday, 24 April, in. the morn'ing, . with, H.'E. Mr Manuel -Bartlett Diaz, Secretary .of ,-State for,'Education. of. Mexico,, .as, moderator. The participants and'? the. topics _allocated to, each- of. them were ;as follows:. Ms:Claudia Davis, :of. the, Carlos Chagas Foundation, ' Brazil i -(Progre'ss 'and, ..challenges in' the measurement .of ' qual'ity); Mr Donald Holsinger, 'of the' world Bank, United States of America (Research by the. World Bank to .improve the quality of "education); Mr Fernando Fajnzylber,. I of . ECLAC, ,Chile . (Educational requirements ;', '.of econo c-. development and, changing ~

producti'on. patterns':wit qu'ity); Ms'Hazel M.'.:-Salmon, of the' University'.: ;:Óf ' the, . West .... Indies, .Jamaica (Teacher education' , fo'r.'', an'. ,improved '.e.ducation system) ; Ms Vicky Colbert, of' the'. UNICEF. Regional. Office, CÓlombia (How the, Escuela' Nueva has succeeded in imprÓvTng the quality of education in Colombia) ; ., and H. E. ,Mr. Antonio Salonia, Minister': o,f '..Education, of' Argentina .(Overall policy view of 'factors inhibiting-the improvement-of quality).

.. ~ . . , I . . I

. . . ~. . ~ . . & i , '

! . 1 '

: The statements provided an 'overview, of, progress made , '

in '-measuring"quality' and, the stages .that must. be embarked upon ,in 'the coming decade,. identified a .dÓzen factors open . to i change,'.. which . could have . a' highly,' favourable impact' on c:the quality Óf ..education, 'such :as.* textbooks, linking ,'., content5 '.With the , needs,' of:. . 'the-'.. population, extending ' the ..'duration 'of '. the ' learning process (and possibly,.. the time, ... actually , spent in .learning) , training

teaching pupils ' to -read), . bilingual -education :. for .those who ' do-, i not:".have. .an.'-,adequate' command of, , Spanish, and making ,,children. more. ..receptive . to :education; :when they enter .primary school. I ,

I t . was 'pointed out that changes '' in"' these areas ' were closely .bound ,up with changing I what might be .I called the ''one-way.:;. style of. teaching,'. in' which. the te.acher spends all his,' or her time.' imparting :facts 'and issuing instructions, to: pupils,. either ' Orally, or' by: ,writing on' the blackboard. This change does seem politically feasible, but 'certain conditions must be. met. Only if printed materials. are available so that the subject- " matter and routine instructions can be read directly by the pupils can the ' teachers devote their time to. the actual .task of teaching. The results achieved by the Escuela Nueva in Colombia seem to suggest that when a teacher has the appropriate materials it is possible to

~ .,

teachers':, in .speci'fic . teaching: ,methods , ., (especially y in

: . ,( I . , . . . . , - _ . , . . _. _, . _ . .

I , ' . . . . .. ... , . . ,. . 1

- . ._

, . - . .

43

give pupils more individual attention, overcome the problems of temporary drop-out (truancy) and link school work with community needs.

(b) Reachina national aareements in the field of education (Round table No. 2)

The round table met on Wednesday, 24 April, -in the afternoon. It was moderated by Mr Deryck Bernard, Minister of Education of Guyana. Presentations were made by Mr Ricardo Lagos, Minister of Education of Chile; Mr Marvin Herrera, Minister of Education of Costa Rica; Ms Elbia Palomera, Technical Secretary, Commission on Education in the Enterprise Sector, Instituto de Proposiciones Estratégicas (IPE), Mexico; Rev. Antonia Bachs, Executive Secretary of 'Fe y Alegria' for Latin America; Mr José Joaquin Brunner, Social Scientist at FLACSO; .and Mr Andrés Cardo Franco, Senator and chairman of the Senate Education Commission of the Republic of Peru. The .panellists' presentations were followed by observations and questions submitted in writing to the round table. The panellists closed the meeting with a final round of comments.

The panellists agreed on the important bearing of, the theme of the round table on the creation of conditions in which future educational policies and strategies in the region were assured of legitimacy and continuity; on the interdependence of national agreements and the prospects for additional resources and support for sustained educational development in the region and in individual countries; on the need to interlink decentralization processes with the development of sectoral, intersectoral, regional and local agreements; and, lastly, on the vital importance and complexity of the tasks that lay ahead.

The presentations made by the ministers in the course of the round table and the views expressed by the participants brought to light major precedents in regard to national agreements in each country. Furthermore, there seemed to be a strong correlation between democratic development and the potential for concluding firm and widely applicable agreements in education.

The panellists gave their assessment of the prospects for making significant progress towards the establishment of a social consensus on education. The diverse approaches were an indicator of the complexity of the social fabric that would have to be woven and of the need for broad political will to strengthen social dialogue generally on the subject of education. The participants were aware that the content, practical arrangements and other components of a national agreement on education would have to be different to match each set of circumstances.

44

PART V

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES FOR THE BUREAU OF THE COMMITTEE IN THE PERIOD 1991-1993

At the plenary meeting on 25 April 1991, the Chairman submitted agenda item 9 to the participants for discussion and asked for suggestions concerning the Plan of Activities of the Bureau of the Committee and possible themes for future round tables. The Chairman said that the Bureau would be meeting at least three times before the convening of PROMEDLAC V. The first of these meetings would be held in Paris during the twenty-sixth session of the General Conference of UNESCO in October-November 1991.

The delegation of El Salvador suggested as a possible round table theme for the next session of PROMEDLAC 'Action, interaction and effects of the influence of teachers' unions'.

The Chairman invited the delegates to send suqqestions concerning the above-mentioned matters to ORËÄLC, which would forward them- to Commit tee.

I .

the Bureau of the

45

PART VI

QUITO DECLARATION

The Ministers of Eduration of Latin America and the Caribbean, convened by UNESCO to attend the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognize the significant progress made in expanding education in the past decade, despite a background of acute economic hardship and social difficulties.

We also acknowledge that, under the traditional strategies in which the region's education systems 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- be necessary to embark on a new stage of educational development to meet the challenges of changing production patterns, social equity and political democratization.

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

WE DECLARE:

1. That in order to overcome the economic crisis and enter the modern world as active partners, the countries of the region must consolidate their regional integration and bilateral ties, invest as 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 education must be the subject of broad national. consensus guaranteeing the commitment of society as a whole to educating its future generations and the continuity of the policies. and programmes put under way to attain these objectives;

2. That in order to meet these requirements, a radical change must be brought about in traditional educational management, making it possible to link education effectively with economic, political and cultural demands, bringing educational action out of its isolation and transforming it into a driving force for economic development, the equitable distribution of wealth and public participation. what the new strategy basically calls. for is a response to the demands of society and not just to those of educational administration as such;

46

That education is the responsibility of everyone, and not just that of one sector or group. it is therefore necessary to devise and develop mechanisms and strategies for consultation among the various aovernment sectors and between the latter and non- governmental organizations, private companies , the media, church bodies, trade union and community organizations and the families themselves;

That to guarantee its linkage with social needs and the intersectoral nature of educational action, substantial changes will have to be made to styles of planning and administration. The traditional administration of our education systems does not provide for the full participation of the main protagonists in the teaching/learning process, fails to take responsibility for the system's disappointing results, does not concentrate actions on the priority sectors of the population and does not encourage teachers to be innovative and creative. In this context, we draw attention to the need ,to step up moves towards. decentralization, regionalization -and deconcentration, to devise . streamlined machinery for the evaluation of results, to implement effective programmes of compensatory . education, to boost emergency programmes having recourse to exceptional measures to deal with the crises affecting poor and marginal population groups, and to design information and research systems for decision-making as ways of improving management capacity;

That changes in management and commitment on the part of all those involved are necessary but not sufficient conditions of the ~ new educational strategy, so that they must be supplemented by new -classroom techniques and more relevant curriculum content. From this point of view,. improving educational quality means stepping up moves to enhance the status of the teaching profession and promoting the transformation of the curriculum through measures that will meet the fundamental educational needs of the individual - and of society. These measures should facilitate . access to information, enable individuals to think and express themselves clearly and strengthen their ability to solve problems, analyse facts critically, join forces actively and loyally with other people, and protect and improve the environment, the cultural heritage and their own living conditions; and

That although the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are prepared to make all the necessary efforts. to bring about internal changes, these efforts should be accompanied by international solidarity. The World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien just over a year ago, drew attention emphatically to the need to redress the

47

serious international economic imbalances in order to be sure of attaining the objective of satisfying the basic educational needs of the whole population. At the World Summit for Children, held in September 1990, the governments of the world endorsed this commitment, stressing the need to provide educational opportunities for all children from birth. The commitment entered into by the international community highlights the importance of investing in individuals as a guarantee of peace and understanding among peoples. ,We- call upon bodies working in the field of international co-operation to translate that determination into concrete 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 Regional Project in the Field of Education may be fully attained by the year 2000.

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

48

PART VI1

INVITATIONS TO PROMEDLAC V

This topic, agenda item 10, was discussed at the plenary meeting on 25 April 1991 in conjunction with item 9. The Chairman announced that, in accordance with the Committee's Rules of Procedure, the Director-General of UNESCO, in consultation with the Chairman of the Bureau of the Committee, would decide on the venue for PROMEDLAC V. Note was taken of the offers made by the delegations of Chile and Jamaica that their countries be considered as possible--venues for PROMEDLAC V. With regard to the invitations to PROMEDLAC V,-the Chairman of the Committee said that applications for additional invitations should be sent to the Secretariat of UNESCO, requesting the Director-General to issue such invitations in consultation with the Bureau of the Committee.

ANNEXES

I. Agenda

II. Addresses delivered at the opening meeting, at the beginning of the first plenary meeting and at the closure '

III. List of documents

IV. Addresses delivered by the representatives of the World Bank, UNICEF, OEI, the Government of Spain and CIDA

V. List of participants

VI. Draft resolution submitted by the delegation of Honduras

ANNEX I

AGENDA

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Opening of the session

Election of the Chairman of the Committee

Election of the five Vice-chairmen and the Rapporteur

Adoption of the agenda

Organization of the work of the session

Achievements, limitations and obstacles encountered in attaining the objectives of the Major Project in the Field of Education

Linkages of education and development strategies. Strategies to improve the quality of education in a context of crisis (Round Table No. 1). Reaching national agreements in the field of education (Round Table No. 2)

Guidelines and priorities for subregional, regional, interregional and international co-operation as a follow-up to the World Declaration on Education for All adopted by WCEFA, Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990

Activities of the Bureau of the Committee in the period 1991-1993

Invitations to PROMEDLAC V

Adoption of the recommendations and of the final report

Closure of the session

ANNEX II

ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE OPENING MEETING, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST PLENARY MEETING

AND AT THE CLOSURE

Address by Mr Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO

Message from Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Address by His Excellency Mr Rodrigo Borja, President of the Republic of Ecuador

Address by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America

and the Caribbean

Closing Address by Mr Victor OrdÓñez, Director of the Basic Education Division,

representative of the Director-General of UNESCO

Annex II

Address by Mr Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO

- page 3

.'I have spoken to the students who took part in the literacy campaign and they told me that they had learnt a lot through teaching, because they had learnt many things on the job that cannot be read in books or heard in the lecture halls at college or university. They had been working in the real world, in touch with the way of life of our people ...I. Mr President, this paragraph taken from your speech delivered on 20 February last on the occasion of your official visit to UNESCO Headquarters, quoted as an example of youth solidarity, teaches us the magnificent lesson that solutions are as various as life itself, that the formulas to cure the many-symptoms of various social diseases are not to be found in the offices of central governments, and that if we are to transform reality we have to approach that reality and get to know it intimately. Your words on that occasion were much appreciated for the guidance - and particularly for the shift of direction - implicit in them and for the advice I which they carried for officials in the Secretariat! I am delighted to repeat them here, convinced as I am that the mass attendance of Ministers and, Deputy Ministers 'of Education reflects their firm resolve to effect many changes within -their countries through the leducation of all their citizens,'. to the exclusion of none - and to do so together. 'If all the world's Ministers of Education joined hands ...'I.

Mr President of the Republic of Ecuador, Excellencies, Colleagues and Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to express the deepagratitude of UNESCO to the Government and people of Ecuador for the ample proof of hospitality received by all 'who are attending this Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Such tokens, Mr President,- confirm the traditional' attitude of commitment on the part of your government'and your people to education for all and to the regional. and international initiatives in this field. At la time such as this, I am bound to evoke three milestones in Ecuador's commitment to the ideals of universal basic education throughout the region:

J I

the meeting held in this very city in April 1981, when the objectives of. the Major Project in the Field of Education and the strategies for the first

~ stage of implementation were defined;

the meeting held in November 1989, when the countries of Latin America prepared their strategies

Annex II - page 4 for the World ,Conference on,Education for All, which was held in Jomtien in.March of last year;

and your personal active participation in the Jomtien Conference, where - in the name of the Latin American countries - YOU stressed the fundamental importance of education in the emergence . and consolidation of systems of civil liberties and the irrationality of certain social and economic imbalances of such magnitude that conflict and even conflagration are inevitable.

,-

Ecuador is again welcoming us’with open arms, but also with the fruits of its national efforts to attain the objectives that we have jointly set ourselves. -It is with great interest and expectancy that we are all . observing the experiments that this country, in a context of cultural diversity and democracy, has carried out in the fields of, literacy, post-literacy and bilingual education. This, therefore, is fertile ground for our deliberations, ground where the difficulties, obstacles and problems encountered are not regarded as reasons for discouragement and retreat but rather as spurs to ,

redouble our efforts, involving both national action and international co-operation.

We are living in a. crucial period. This is no rhetorical statement or over-dramatization. The speed of change throughout the I world never ceases to surprise - us and force us to alter our plans of- action and our terms of reference. In the short period of two years since the last Committee meeting held in Guatemala City, the world situation and the regional situation have changed substantially. Two years ago, deliberations 1 and discussions centred around the impact which the economic crisis - connected with the high levels of foreign debt - was having on the education system. Cutbacks in public spending, low. salaries for teachers, the lack of opportunities to design .and implement programmes to improve ,the quality of education, the rise in school repetition and drop-out rates, the need to concentrate on short-tem problems and abandon long-term policies were high on our agendas. The realism which characterized the diagnosis reached in Guatemala was one of the most outstanding features of the session. But the realism of those diagnoses heralded a significant change of attitude. It was becoming clear that to bewail the lack of resources was not enough: the demand for increased resources should go together with serious efforts to change management and educational development styles from within, in order to guarantee greater efficiency and adjustment to the new challenges brought inevitably by the process of modernization in a democratic context.

In outline form - but in firm outline - the Guatemala meeting identified three major approaches to internal change.

Annex II - page 5

The first of these, fundamentally strategic in nature, was the need to combine emergency policies with long-term strategies. The urgency of long-term needs was one of the most felicitous watchwords adopted at that meeting, where it was evident that only with clear forward vision would it be possible to confront the current situation and to decide which priorities should be given the scarce resources available. Long-term decision-making, extending beyond the normal limits of political legislatures, is the business of wise political leaders who know that the important thing is to sow, because the harvest belongs to the nation as a whole.

u The second point was the need to promote national consensus on education. Continuity of long-term policies will be attained only if there is broad agreement among all those involved. The growing strength of the current democratic climate in the region is one reason why it is easier to reach such consensus now more than ever before. But it is also important to point out that it is both possible and necessary to reach national consensus on education today, because all sections of the community are aware of the,crucial importance of education for development strategies. National consensus on education is,.ultimately, the political expression of the idea that education is everybody's responsibility.

The third contribution of the Guatemala City meeting was that it recognized the need to -alter styles of educational management and develop greater responsibility for results. Increased funding and the political will of all sectors are necessary conditions, but they alone will not bring about the hoped for change. The education system itself, through its administrative procedures and its teaching guidelines, must assume greater responsibility for responding to social demands. From this point of view, breaking out of the corporate isolation ,which characterizes many of our system is the main obstacle that we face in the struggle for the rightful place of education in society.

What has happened in these two years since Guatemala City? A quick glance at the world situation reveals the wonders that are occurring every day: ,in the short space of two years we have witnessed profound changes in the countries of Eastern Europe, the unification of Germany and the grievous experience of the Gulf War. These events are having an enormous impact on the international political and economic situation, and they are obviously affecting the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. As yet it is difficult to assess the scale of this impact because - among other reasons - we are in a Deriod of transition. However, we can confirm that the Stance adopted by the countries of the region towards their own economic crisis and the restructuring of international relations is quite different from their stance of two,years ago.

Annex II - page 6

in this regard, I should like to stress the role played by ECLAC, and in particular its proposal for Changing Production Patterns with Equity, which has rallied considerable support throughout the region. I believe it is no exaggeration to say that today the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are in possession of a map. that will enable them to chart their national courses and set them on the road to achieving the objectives of a common future. And the most relevant point of all for those of us involved in education, science and culture is that one of the keys to this strategy is harnessing technical progress to productive activity. This means, in effect, the availability and use of intelligence, creativity, information, and skills, i.e. I the capabilities of human beings which only education can develop to the full. But the ECLAC proposal maintains, furthermore, that economic growth based on the harnessing of technical progress will be lasting only if the -fruits of such growth are evenly distributed. And, as we educators have always proclaimed, the essence of equality is to offer everyone the same chances to develop in accordance with their capabilities.

Only three days ago, the Prime Minister of France, Mr Rocard, addressed the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the directors of all the institutions of the system, who were closing their half-yearly co-ordination meeting held on this occasion at UNESCO Headquarters. He said, referring to the basic problems of development, that 'fair prices for primary commodities' should be placed on a par with, and even ahead of, the problems of debt. Without fairness in international transactions, disparities will subsist and the chasms will widen. Training and access to knowledge are the pillars of the new era of which the events I have described afford us a glimpse.

We are, then, on the threshold of a new opportunity. This session takes on considerable importance in consequence. It is neither more nor less than the beginning of the road to a new education strategy which will meet the challenge of satisfying the demands for change in the patterns of production, social justice and political democratization. Traditional styles of action have nothing more to offer, and nations are clamouring imperiously for a change of direction. Changes of direction are not easy. They require great fortitude to carry them through when whose who applauded at the outset later react, often angrily, when they see that the change is not 'for other people', but for everybody, and that all changes bring some rough and bitter experiences in their wake. Despite all this, the construction of this new road has already passed a few important milestones. The most outstanding, and the most recent, of these is undoubtedly the World Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien in Thailand just over a year ago.

Annex II - page 7

Jomtien contributed key elements to the definition of this new strategy. It is not a-matter of proposing plans which aim to be valid in any place and any social context whatsoever. In the face of diversity, complexity and globality, one of the key ideas at Jomtien was, precisely, the need to diversify plans of action so as to make them respond effectively to the real needs of widely differing populations. Jomtien allowed us to identify at least four key concepts, which have general validity and great potential as pointers in the discussions on which we are embarking today. I

In the first place, Jomtien clearly reaffirmed the principle that educational measures cannot be taken in isolation. Educational measures which are not linked to employment, nutrition, health and communication programes have no significant and lasting impact. Intersectorality, diversification of the methods of intervention and the systematic nature of strategies are terms which; from different angles and perspectives, tend to stress one pivotal idea: bringing educational activity out of its isolation.

Secondly, Jomtien enshrined the principle that education is the responsibility of all. New alliances must be forged between the different sectors of public administration, between public and non-governmental bodies, business, the media, the churches and community organizations; alliances at international, regional, subregional, national, provincial and municipal level. I always say that action is always more effective in 'the UNESCO of cities and villages'. The forging of , these new alliances cannot be interpreted as a strategy for the State to shrug off its responsibilities in the field of education. Quite the contrary; if the State is to be effective in fulfilling its role as the guarantor of equality of opportunity, it must establish these agreements and mobilize all the resources available within society, focusing its action on defining priorities, co-ordinating endeavours and compensating for differences.

Thirdly, Jomtien reminded us that education is meaningful only if it leads to effective learning i.e. the acquisition of knowledge, the development of know-how and the ability to reason and the taking

. on board of useful values. In other words, we are once again stressing the right of all to satisfy their basic educational needs. Satisfying the needs of people and not those of government departments must be the linchpin of our activity. The point is not, as we have often supposed in the past, to guarantee more years of schooling, as if this were a value in itself. Neither is it to satisfy the corporate needs of one sector or another. What matters, in the last analysis, is the amount of

Annex II - page 8 learning of intellectual and social significance that pupils accomplish in the course of. their schooling.

Fourthly, Jomtien reaffirmed the commitment of the international community to the goal of satisfying the educational needs of the whole population. Apart from the immense significance of the declaration approved at Jomtien regarding the need to redress the existing serious international economic imbalances, this commitment contains another two key guidelines for our work. The first is that education is a priority for international co-operation. This statement is neither superfluous nor obvious. It means that after several decades of co-operation for development, based first and foremost on investment in directly productive sectors, the international community now recognizes that co-operation must start to gear itself to investment in people. The second strand of this international commitment is the firm determination of co-operation agencies to work in a co-ordinated and co-operative fashion. The Jomtien meeting illustrated that determination, and our meeting, which begins today, is imbued with this same spirit. Among us as active protagonists are representatives of UNICEF, the World Bank, UNDP, ECLAC and numerous. agencies of governmental and intergovernmental co-operation as well as non-

will be-consolidated in the future, is a clear sign that the commitment entered into at Jomtien is a reality. At this point, I wish to express my deep gratitude for the support - detailed in the documents prepared by UNESCO for this meeting - given by a number of countries (Belgium, Canada, Finland, Italy, Norway and Spain) and institutions (World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA, AGFUND, OAS AND OEI) for

1 the activities implemented under the Major Project.

Embarking on a new stage of educational development does not mean denying existing problems and difficulties. However, rather than singling out these problems, with which you are all more than familiar, i have chosen instead to stress the new prospects for action which unfold before us in the light of this new vision of plans of action. However, one factor which deserves special consideration is the problem of teachers. If education is 'destined to play a central role in the strategies for 'development of our societies, and if we expect our schools to mould creative, responsible individuals capable of taking initiatives and carrying them through, self-confident, sympathetic to common interests, respectful of others and the environment, active citizens in pluralist democracies, then we must ask ourselves about those who bear such a responsibility. A basic principle of any formative task is that we cannot mould others into what we ourselves are not. Such a heavy burden of responsibility must be counterbalanced by

I governmental agencies. Their presence, which we hope

Annex II - page 9

minimum conditions for success. This brings us to the serious matter of policies to enhance the professional status of teachers through measures aimed at attracting the first talents in society into the teaching profession and guaranteeing that those who take this task upon themselves enjoy a status commensurate with the role they perf orm.

The Major Project in the Field of Education for' Latin America and the Caribbean has been a pioneer in international co-operation. Ten years after it was planned it has important achievements to its credit, attained in a context of extremely scarce resources and situations of natural and political hardship in numerous countries in the region. But, just as we recognize that traditional styles of education management are largely obsolete, we must also recognize that the machinery that we have set up to develop our plans of action and co- operation needs to be overhauled. The Major Project had one fundamental merit, namely, that it focused measures on the most needy sectors of society: urban-fringe and rural sectors, the indigenous population and those excluded from the school system. Furthermore, it put forward proposals for a regional strategy and national plans of action. Within its framework, co-operation networks were set up which facilitated collective learning and enabled the fullest possible benefit to be derived at regional level from the critical mass of human resources and experience available. We therefore have significant capital in terms of human resources, institutions, experience and learning. However, the structure of the Major Project and its plans of action were linked to sectorally inspired efforts concentrated in the central Ministries of Education. We believe that the time has come to infuse its styles of action and organization with this new spirit of openness, intersectoral co-operation and shared responsibility. Together we must seek out the most appropriate formulas for translating the ideas given the accolade at Jomtien into effective formulas for action. i urge you to give thought to this matter, not only in the context of your national plans of action but also in that of the regional and international co-operation plans.

Bolivar wrote that 'education is the foundation of freedom' and he dreamed of a united America. Today that dream - with the prospects of free trade areas and subregional common markets - and the political will that the presence of ministers here bears out, is becoming a reality. It can become a reality and raise Latin America and the Caribbean to their rightful place, in a framework of co-operation and understanding of unprecedented proportions.

The future holds two urgent challenges: we must innovate and we must do so quickly. But, as has been said before, the future has yet to be written. We have dispensed with blind belief in willpower and also with

Annex II - page 10

blind belief in fate. Nowadays, when the totalitarian ideas which traced single, narrow paths for the solution of problems have been toppled, there stretches before us a wide field across which individuals can choose their courses of action. The path to freedom always crosses unexplored terrain. But of one thing we can be sure: whichever road we take, bound to succeed.

if we walk it together we are

. ..

Annex II - page 11

Message from Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Secretary-General of the United Nations

'It is my pleasure to extend a cordial welcome to the Ministers of Education taking part in the Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, organized by UNESCO, which is being held in Quito from 22 to 25 April, hosted by the Government of Ecuador.

I regret that my representative, Mr Gert Rosenthal, Executive Secretary of ECLAC and Assistant Secretary- General, is unable to attend, and I wish to express my profound appreciation of the fact that this important gathering is being held to deal with an issue that is crucial to development in the region; namely, the training of its human resources. I should also like to express my appreciation of the significant co-operation between UNESCO and the Secretariat of the United Nations through OREALC and ECLAC in the joint design of an educational strategy specially geared to finding an answer to the challenges - of the economic and social development of the region. We consider this to be an example of an effective joining of forces within the United Nations system the better to serve the countries of the region.

I wish you every success in your work.

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar'

Annex II - page 12

Address by His Excellency Mr Rodrigo Borja, President of the Republic of Ecuador.

Mr Director-General of UNESCO, whose words I appreciate and whose singleness of purpose in promoting education is recognized worldwide, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of .all, on behalf of the people and the Government of Ecuador, I should like to welcome you all to this meeting, which has been convened to discuss on the issues of vital importance to the destinies of Latin America and the Caribbean, namely, education.

The development of any country' needs four indispensable resources: human, natural, technological and financial. All four must exist simultaneously because, if one of them is missing, economic development becomes a delusion. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we clearly do not have all these resources. There is a shortage of human and technological resources. We have an abundance of natural resources which are, by and large, untapped. Financial resources can be obtained - * albeit with difficulty - from abroad. But, the -provision of human and technological resources is our responsibility, the responsibility of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, we are suffering from an acute shortage of both these resources as atresult of the outmoded and obsolete educational structures which have traditionally held sway in all our countries. Accordingly, we have to change educational processes, systems, methods and structures in all our countries.

I would say that there is a quantitative and qualitative crisis in the field of education, because not everyone has access to education who ought to have it: in our countries, unfortunately, education is still a privilege enjoyed by well-to-do minorities and, furthermore, the education being provided is deficient in quality and unable to supply us with the human and technological resources requir,ed for the economic and social development of our countries.

On the other hand, in most of our countries there is little interconnection between the various levels of the education system, which functions poorly. Primary education is not linked to secondary education, which is not linked to higher education, and this, in turn, is not linked to development. This means that far-reaching changes are required, particularly at university level. Universities must change their outlook. They have an obligation to provide our countries with the technological research that is indispensabe for economic and social progress. They have an obligation to set

Annex II - page 13

aside, as it were, their traditional academic approach and vigorously to confront ,the task of unravelling the secrets of science and technology. This is an essential prerequisite for progress.

But I should like to add something else, because the problem is not just a scientific and technological one. At a time when the democratic frontier of Latin America and the Caribbean has been pushed back further than at any time in its history, since the great majority of our countries are governed by popular suffrage - at a time when we must widen our democratic regimes to embrace economic and social areas in order to make the transition from formal democracy to a vibrant, living democracy, it is also important in our countries to provide education for democracy.

Conceptually, democracy is a highly participatory system of social organization. Democracy is not merely, as is widely believed, a form of government. It is that, but it is more than that. Democracy is a global form of social organization. Democracy is a special way of ordering the State. Democracy is, and indeed must be, a natural form of everyday behaviour in the community. Hence the educational structure of our countries must be directed towards strengthening democratic values and principles in order to consolidate the system, so that we can train our people to take full responsibility for their own destiny under the democratic system.

When a people shares in the political decision- making process within the State, through whatever form of suffrage, they require the education and background that will’ enable them to take the right decisions for the common good. When people vote in an election, they are not simply placing a ballot paper in a ballot box: they are expressing a political opinion. And to do this, they must have the conceptual base, the preparation and education to ensure that their political opinion thus expressed will tend towards the common good. Education for democracy means immunizing our people, so that they will not be seduced by demagogy or populism which offer magical solutions to the problems facing society. In some of our countries the sway held by populism and by demagogy as a political style causes irrevocable harm to public interests. Education is the only known antidote to stop the masses from flocking to populist leaders who, with their familiar false oratory of lies, sometimes achieve political success which turns into administrative failure when they come to power. That is why we must educate our people, so that they do not fall victim to the blandishments of populist demagogues, so that they will be fully aware when they take political decisions and so that democracy may continue to advance from the formal,. political level to the socio-economic level, where it is ever more urgently needed in our societies.

Annex 11: - page 14 Such an education must shape critical, progressive,

creative minds, developing in our children and youth a spirit of altruism, without which there can be no truly democratic system. This altruistic view of life implies a major shift of emphasis in the concentric circle of human interests where the individual comes first, and only afterwards do general social needs appear. This must be changed. We must teach our people, and in particular our young people, that they must put society first and only afterwards do they have the right to think of themselves and their private interests or those of a particular group. We must promote a vocation of community service. We must break with such self-centred patterns of behaviour, which are one of the major obstacles in the path of democratic development. We must promote an egalitarian view of life which shuns privilege, prerogatives and inequity of any kind. We must inspire our youth with the spirit and the determination to study and conduct research, making them eager for work as. the most rewarding form of patriotism. All this is required in order to construct egalitarian, fraternal, dynamic societies in our countries.

Despite all the financial difficulties with which my government has had to grapple and the hardships which, like all our fellow countries in America and the Caribbean, it has had to bear on account of the international economic crisis, which is at the same time acute and chronic, it has made systematic efforts to promote educational operations in Ecuador, overcoming all manner of obstacles. Under the firm and enlightened guidance of the Minister of Education, Alfredo Vera, we are waging the biggest literacy campaign ever carried out in our country. As a result of the worldwide need for education for all expressed at the Thailand Conference, we immediately set in train the Ecuador Estudia (Ecuador, a learning society) programme to provide continuity for the literacy campaign and to prevent the rudimentary knowledge thus gained from being lost through lack of follow-up educational activity.

To benefit the peasant and indigenous sectors of Ecuadorian society, we set up the bilingual and intercultural education system, which is proving extraordinarily successful in the rural areas of our country. With the support of the World Bank we have launched a basic education programme, for deprived urban areas, and we provide Ecuadorian children with a school breakfast every day. I should like to stress that in this task we have the staunch patriotic ‘support of the Ecuadorian Council of Bishops. We have now passed the one million mark in our distribution I of breakfasts to children from low income backgrounds :.lho until recently went to school with no breakfast at all. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Social Welfare, headed by Raúl Bach, we have set up the Community Network for Child Development to cater for children up to the age of six while their parents go out to work, feeding them and

Annex II -,page 15

providing medical care and basic training in preparation for the next stage of schooling.

A few days ago I had the pleasure of inaugurating the campaign to promote books and reading in our country, and the opening of hundreds of public libraries and reading centres. Like every other country, we are concerned that written material may be ousted by video cassettes, and books may be eclipsed by modern electronic systems of mass audio-visual communication. With all due respect to these forms of cornunication which allow us to keep up to date instantaneously with all national and international events, and despite the gripping attraction of television pictures, the truth is that both I and my government are extremely concerned about the decline in reading among the young and the devaluation of books as a medium of communication, learning and culture. Television, radio and the cinema have an effective contribution to make in keeping the community informed, but I fear that the absence of books has led to a decline in the education of the community, and what we need is a community that is not only well informed but also well educated. Images flashed across a screen are fleeting, just as radio waves are. Therefore we have to supplement that information with the deep and lasting knowledge which can only be found in books. Such knowledge has the rare quality of being fixed until it becomes a part 'of the store of culture of each individual. Consequently, we have declared a Year for the Promotion of Books and Reading and we are going to mobilize all our country's energies and promote a great popular movement to reinstate books and reading, particularly among the youth of Ecuador.

Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Education who are gracing our country with your presence, these are some of the efforts made by my government in the field of education, despite the financial constraints. I believe that this meeting, which has brought you all together to consider an issue of such vital importance to the .countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, is destined to. shed some light on .the path that we must take to achieve the educational progress which is a necessary '

condition of economic and social development in all our countries. We are honoured to declare this important meeting open and to wish you every possible success in your discussions, with the certainty that they will help considerably in our progress along the difficult road of providing education for all sectors of our societies and weathering the crisis of quantity and quality which is

I affecting the education systems in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thank you very much.

Annex II - page 16

Address by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America

and the Caribbean

. .

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Mr, Director-General,, Excellencies, , '

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the third session of PROMEDLAC, held in. Guatemala City in June 1989, I Ecuador received two votes ' -of 1 confidence from ' its . :fellow countries . attending , that-

. event: lit was 'granted the first vice-chairmanship of- the Bureau of the Intergovernmental 'Committee,. and .: its 'of fer to host this Fourth Session was.accepted and, 'happi1y:for 5 '

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This latter circumstance, together with the I,' fact that , owing to :the 1 , resignation: of. the 'Chairman' ,-elect ,. Mr Ricardo Gómez Gálvez; of Guatemala, -- it- .has- 'fallen ' to me, in my .capacity:' as' -Vice-chairman .of the Bureau,. to assume the responsibilities. of - the :'chair, 'and,. .in: my capacity as .host, to extend our warmest welcome...to -the ministers' and delegates .'from our fellow. countries Bin the region and to assure yoú all that you,are;honoured guests

'In ' both:. these. capacities; .-I . wish.' our fourth PROMEDLAC session every success, . for I have.: :full. confidence in the constructive will of each and every-,' participant, ' and in the ..keen concern that inspires our

. actions. in the -face of' the tremendous challenges facing. educational'. activity -:nowadays in, circumstances which are largely adverse for,our region..

From .the point I . of ,,view.. of: facilities ' and intellectual. encouragement, . the organization of the session by UNESCO in collaboration with.the host country, and . the highly satisfactory set of ' <documents;.'.; are guarantees of a successful. outcome for. the 'task-.of revision and forward planning of a the Major. Project i that, is to occupy us over the next few days. ' I .

,Many of us here today met almost two years ago mat' the PROMEDLAC. .III session and took part in those discussions, which opened under a.cloud of crisis; but we could not have suspected that, in the months to follow, world events would be so extraordinary and so dramatic.

This is neither -the time nor the place to retrace the historic events of the 22 months since June 1989. However, it is impossible not to evoke the tremendous changes that have affected the general world order in such a short time, since the international and regional

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Annex II - page 17

backdrop, a theme which will be developed here at PROMEDLAC IV, is significantly different from that which existed at the time of the previous meeting. And this is not just an important theoretical point for specialists in social science. On the contrary, whether we like it or not, the political, social and economic upheavals that have changed the face of Europe, and our most recent experience of war, with all the pain, horror and environmental destruction that it brings in its train, have an inevitable impact on life in our countries.

People are now convinced, as the working paper prepared by OREALC points out, that at the end of the I lost decade' we have reached -the stage when traditional styles of educational development have run out of steam. This conviction is borne out when we check the road to development covered by our basic education systems in recent years. Despite great adversity, education has grown in quantitative terms, maintaining its levels of coverage and, in some cases, expanding them to the point where they have outstripped demographic growth. However, we must recognize that in many cases this quantitative growth has been achieved at the expense of efficiency, quality and equity.

Let us consider the situation. What results can we expect from education imparted in the least favourable conditions? The figures provide an immediate answer: at the primary level, a repetition rate of nearly 20 per cent; 30 per cent of children enrolled for the first year do not reach the fourth grade; and there is a school drop-out rate of 50 per cent before the end of the primary stage.

It is clear that efforts concentrating solely on quantitative aspects are not sufficient, because progress thus attained, if it is not accompanied by improvements in quality, is too precarious.

The need to overhaul traditional development models means that we must continue to stress the issue of, the quality of education, which goes hand in hand with greater efficiency, and this, in turn, cannot be understood in the absence of true, practical equity.

In the course of the 22 months since the last PROMEDLAC session, there have been at least two events of outstanding significance for the framing of education strategies. Firstly, the World Conference on Education for All, convened by UNESCO, UNICEF, LJNDP and the World Bank at Jomtien in Thailand, whose deliberations, relayed to the world as a whole, enable us to show how the principles and experience of the Major Project in our region are universally valid, on the one hand, and, on the other, to open up legitimate prospects for the immediate future of education throughout the world. At regional level, I think it necessary to stress the

Annex II - page 18

importance of the consensus achieved around the ECLAC proposal on changing patterns of production with equity.

Both the Jomtien commitment and the ECLAC proposal entail the need for an urgent review of the direction in which education has been developing in the past few years. The hallmarks of our decisions, in the sessions beginning today, will undoubtedly be quality and efficiency in education..

The Committee is increasingly aware that the three main objectives of the Major Project are closely >linked and complementary; none .of them can be achieved in isolation without achieving the other two. Therefore, any efforts designed to attain one of these goals must take into consideration the implications for the other two. Given the present situation, it would seem that concern for quality, in its various guises, is a basic common denominator to the achievement of our aims, since without a minimum standard of quality and efficiency, the goals of quantity cannot be sustained and will be lost immediately, as statistics show. On the other hand, neither changing patterns of production with equity nor the Jomtien proposals under the banner of 'education for all' will be-achievable if we do not strive for quality in all our initiatives.

With regard to some matters which have a bearing on the goals of the Major Project, it is worth raising a number of questions and devoting some thought to them at the start of this new Intergovernmental Committee session,'by way of a preamble to the discussions.

We are pleased to note that in our region there is now more extensive provision for pre-school education. Awareness has grown of the importance of this stage for the development of education, and our governments are endeavouring to respond to this need. Some two-thirds of five-year olds in the region are catered for, and more than a quarter of three- to four-year olds also receive nursery education. There is a great deal more to be done, as this coverage is concentrated in the urban areas, and coverage in rural areasebis still scanty.' This raises questions of great importance which call for a political response.

In our debates we should make a joint effort to find answers to-such questions as: given the current financial situation, is it possible and advisable to set the goal of making one 'Lor two 'years of pre-school education compulsory? How should pre-school education be linked to primary education? Is it preferable to target our resources at a specific age-group or at more needy sectors, irrespective of the age of the pupils? What kind of training should pre-school'teachers receive?

Faced with this challenge, we ought perhaps at this meeting to analyse the promising and functional strategy

Annex II - page 19

of integrated care for children in the O to 5 age-group, which is being provided in a number of our countries, based on an intersectoral approach (health, nutrition and education) and co-ordinated by the various ministries in the social services sector, with a high level of community participation in general and involving mothers in particular.

When we speak of quality, we are alluding to a set of very diverse and heterogeneous factors which are closely related to the prevailing circumstances and which are undoubtedly relative, as we shall have a chance to find out during the Round Table on the quality of education. However, the quality that we are referring to must always be associated with equity, efficiency and effective teaching and - in the last analysis - a new understanding of the educational process, since the traditional system within which that process is carried out is also obsolete.

A major question mark hanging over this issue is: How prepared are our education systems to confront the challenge of quality?

As it is not possible to improve all aspects of quality, which aspects are more accessible, given the present juncture? Certain aspects of quality do not call for heavy investment. What areas are these, and what strategies can be adopted? These are a number of topics of interest that we might discuss.

While the focus of education must be the pupils themselves, their personal growth, training as citizens and preparation for working life, it is equally true that the teacher must be their main ally. The curriculum, teaching methods and materials must be improved, but we must also improve the quality of our teachers. This means improving their working conditions and the status of the teaching profession, which has suffered so badly in recent years: improving teacher training, in-service training and the scientific and cultural level of teachers. This is a matter of enormous importance which greatly concerns us. It raises crucial questions. To what degree are the conditions being created which will enable teachers to take effective responsibility for their pupils' performance, generating quality educational processes? What type of initial and in-service training is most appropriate? Is it or is it not advisable to rationalize the number of graduates?

There is an observable trend in the region towards the introduction of a more flexible curriculum, with greater autonomy for teachers to adapt the curriculum to the pupils' environment. We believe that this is a positive step, but it aalso requires better educated and better trained teachers.

Annex II - page 20

Reading and writing skills must be substantially improved - but I shall refer to this again later. We must raise pupils' standards in mathematics and science. What is at stake here is nothing less than the socio-economic development of the region. To this must be added the great issues of our time, such as environmental studies, health care and population studies, which cannot be absent from a modern curriculum. To these challenges we must add the challenge facing a number of our countries, to varying degrees, by virtue of the rich and varied multicultural nature of our societies. In this regard we would do well to analyse at this meeting the progress made and the suitability of the strategies being adopted to cope with this situation, which, undoubtedly, is central to the attainment of our goals.

We cannot avoid mentioning the subject of special education. This is a matter of growing concern to our educators. It is clear that some progress has been made. In the past two years, we have been able to gauge the depth of concern about this issue throughout the region, and the legislation of a number of countries is beginning to reflect that concern. The greatest challenges in this field also lie at policy-making level.

The question whether disabled children should or should not attend normal schools calls for serious discussion, with analysis of all the factors involved, in order to frame policy in this field. In any event, two urgent measures are required and cannot be put.off: reliable information must be gathered in every country concerning the ,percentage of the school-age population affected by some type of disability, so that we do not go on operating' on the basis of the global indicator of 10 per cent furnished by WHO, which is a mere approximation; and teachers must be informed and trained since, given the present situation, a great many schools already have a number of disabled children among the normal children, and as a rule teachers lack guidelines to help them adapt their ,teaching accordingly. international co-operation agencies, in particular UNESCO, should support distance training projects for teachers in Special Education, especially in rural areas.

,The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee has also followed with interest the growing .tendency to increase the number of agents involved in educational processes. New agreements which clear the way for the participation of individuals, movements and groups from civil society seem to point out to a new style of educational management for the near-future. In several cases the private sector has grasped the implications of this new role, which is changing the direction of traditional private education: it is beginning to understand that education is everybody's problem.

Annex II - page 21

Action to decentralize and deconcentrate, which began a few years ago in the education systems of the region, has continu'ed. OREALC support for the training of administrators and planners through REPLAD, thanks to the funding received from the Spanish Government, has played an important part in this activity, not only in the in- service training of human resources but also in the discussion and review of the problems arising from these initiatives.

Another important event which occurred during the mandate of the present Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee was the proclamation of 1990 as international Literacy Year by the United Nations and UNESCO.

International Literacy Year has opened the door to involvement in literacy and adult education by many individuals who had never taken part before. One of its cons'equences has been to stimulate interest and raise the level Óf awareness of this problem among organizations, bodies and groups, with significant national repercussions in our countries.

Literacy activities are still being pursued with the same momentum 'in the countries most affected by the problem: in the opinion of the Bureau, the role of REDALF in this field has been outstanding. In a number of countries, new methods have been introduced, using radio and video, which have reinforced the programmes' capabilities. There is renewed interest in the illiterate female population, and one of the biggest problems is still the wide range of languages to be found in certain countries. In some of the countries with the highest illiteracy levels, the challenge of bilingualism and intercultural relations is immense. The efforts made so far in this regard would appear to be insufficient. It is therefore important that the Committee consider what priority should be given to this issue, both in the Plans of Action and in the UNESCO programme.

,-

Finally, on the same subject, attention must be drawn to the trend towards , discarding traditional concepts of literacy activity, which are beginning to be replaced by the idea of integrated adult education systems, through which a solution might be found to some of the present weaknesses, due to problems of funding, volunteer staff, stopgap measures, etc. There is also an urgent need to pay sustained attention to the problems of complete, reliable mastery of reading and writing skills at the first stage of primary education. Failure at this stage is at the root of the large numbers of illiterates in the population. Given the need for concentration, we are convinced that OREALC and the PICPEMCE network were right in singling out the problem of reading and writing as an aspect which should be given priority in the allocation of current resources, in view of the impact which deficiencies in this field have upon the three aims of the Major Project.

Annex II - page 22

No one is unaware that failure to master reading and writing skills in the early stages of basic education has a direct bearing on the number of adult illiterates and the complex problem of educational quality.

As this problem is common to every country, independently of the degree of educational development achieved, it is correct policy to concentrate efforts on it under the present circumstances.

The Major Project networks: REPLAD, REDALF, PICPEMCE and CARNEID, and likewise the SIRI information system, have continued to operate in full agreement with the decisions and mandates of PROMEDLAC III; although the scarcity of resources available to them seriously hinders an activity which could be considerably more substantial, since the underlying concept has been shown to be correct. The channelling of extra-budgetary funds granted to UNESCO by friendly governments has stimulated the activity of some networks. Fresh injections of funds, would undoubtedly benefit all the countries in the region through the co-operation networks., On the other hand, it is advisable to seize this opportunity to rally countries to take a real interest in the national organization of each network, since the effectiveness of the latter depends to a large extent on the efficiency of the former. Well established, active national networks will guarantee better results at regional network level. 'But this depends on each individual country. ,

' On behalf of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Major Project, I ,must' express our gratitude to the many people who have contributed to the realization of this great idea over the last ten years, and whose numbers have grown with the passage.of time. In the two-year period now drawing to a close, support was forthcoming from the Government of Spain and AGFüND; the Government of Canada set up a valuable contribution through CIDA and IDRC; co-operation continued with the Government of the Netherlands, and co-operation with UNICEF increased. The latter's commitment, in the form of the Jomtien rallying cry of Education for All, promises to provide an ever broader platform for co-operation with the Major Project. Similarly, channels of co-operation, have been consolidated<with the World Bank, UNDP, IDB and OAS. It goes without saying that UNESCO, 'particularly through OREALC and its subregional offices in Quito, San José and Kingston, has always kept in close touch with the countries, catering for their requirements with total commitment to the Major Project. We are grateful as a region for all this support and, as a Bureau, to all who have facilitated our task over the last two years.

We have before us a challenge of supreme importance, in that the decade just beginning must be one of recovery. The task facing the education systems of our region is that of facing up resolutely and boldly to the challenge of devising new teaching methods, and it is

Annex II - page 23

happily favoured by a new stage in democratic development and by the current tendency to jettison obsolete models. Our deliberations must be imbued with that spirit if they are to find ways of modernizing our education systems. We cannot improve matters by shoring up systems that have had their day. This is where we need all our technical knowledge, our wisdom as political leaders and our daring, resolution and creativity as those who will set the scene for the next century.

Annex II - page 24

Closing address-by Mr Victor Ordóñez, Director of the Basic Education Division,

representative of the Director-General of UNESCO

Mr President, Ministers and Heads of Delegation, Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have had the honour of representing the Director- General of UNESCO and of taking part in the final working meetings of the Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

First of all, allow me to express the gratitude of Mr Federico Mayor to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ecuador, Dr Rodrigo Borja, his Government and the people of Ecuador for the excellence and warmth of their hospitality. The congenial atmosphere and impeccable organization have been determining factors in the fruitful outcome of this meeting. All this confirms once again the commitment of the President of the Republic and his government to education and to the democratic development of their society, as well as to the work of UNESCO and to regional co-operation.

Mr President, I should also like to make special mention of my own deep appreciation of your personal commitment to UNESCO and the efficient and judicious manner in which you have conducted the affairs of this meeting. My appreciation is also due to all the Vice- Chairmen and to the Rapporteur for the excellent summary she has prepared of the work accomplished over the past three days.

Thanks are' also due to the Chairman, the Rapporteur and the members of the Working Group for their contribution to the preparation of the PROMEDLAC IV Recommendation, which is a document of great distinction and importance for the future development of the Major Project. The statements and the national documents furnished by all the delegations were of equally high calibre.

Finally, I should like to tell the Observers from Member States in other regions, the representatives of United Nations organizations, public bodies and non- governmental organizations and the specialists who have taken part in the Round Tables how much we appreciate their attendance and their contribution to the success of this meeting. May I also thank all our Ecuadorian friends and the UNESCO Secretariat for their efficient organizational support.

Annex II - page 25

I have been greatly impressed by the conviction with which many delegates have expressed the need to implement profound changes in the context of the current climate of economic restraint and adjustment programes. Our discussions have shown that we have reached a broad consensus on two major issues: the first is the absolute need to combine policies designed to confront short-term economic constraints with long-term development strategies; the second is our deeply held conviction that the human factor is central to the development process and that, in that process, particular priority must be, given to education. That priority has been recognized under the International Development Strategy which will be the main feature of the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, launched this year.

In this connection, I shoirld like to stress that most development and funding agencies, at both international and regional level, are now working on those lines, and I am optimistic that increased funding for education will be crucial in helping to sustain the educational changes now under way in many countries of the region.

Obviously no summing up can convey the rich tapestry of the speeches, the discussions and the suggestions made during this meeting. However, I do want to say that I ant convinced that PROMEDLAC IV will be a milestone in the history of the Major Project. Your deliberations have centred on some of the issues that are crucial to the future of education.

The first of these is the key role of basic education in the advancement. of democracy in the region. Both you and the President of Ecuador have drawn attention to the fact that democracy is not just a political system, but a conscious expression of the national desire to promote the social, cultural and economic development of the population, on a basis of social participation, which itself depends on the level of basic education attained.

The second issue that I want to stress is the link between democratization and decentralization. The aim of the reform of styles of management is not only to streamline administrative efficiency but also to train new actors in educational planning and the provision of educational services, a process which the Minister of Education of Chile has called 'an effort to redistribute the power of decision' to include formerly deprived groups.

The third issue is the firm resolve of many governments to re-examine the role of the State in the provision of education. We must not attribute this review to budgetary difficulties alone. This is, undoubtedly, a crucial factor. However, it is important to raise people's consciousness of the non-governmental sector -

Annex II - page 26 NGOS and local communities. The readiness of this sector is attributable not only to its capacity to assist in the planning and organization of educational services, but also to a new vision of its role in the process of national development. In this regard, I should like to underscore the expanding role of actors traditionally less involved in education, as well as the new alliances being forged with a'view to creating the synergy needed to solve the problems.

The fourth issue is recognition of the crucial role of teachers in the promotion and quality'of education. I wish to stress, by way of example, the initiative of the Innovations Fund set up by the Chilean Ministry of Education. All teachers who devise innovative projects at classroom level will have access to this fund. We believe that the Bahamian programme for the recruitment, training, assessment and recognition of teachers is also important. I /

Other initiatives are also worthy of mention: (a) the introduction of, pre-school programmes as part of the efforts to improve the performance of pupils at primary-school level; (b) innovative efforts to reduce repetition and drop-out rates; (c) programmes to assess the levels of school performance and radically overhaul educational content so as to make it more relevant to basic needs; (d) measures which tend to balance growth with equity; and (e) the implementation of special programmes aimed at the poor sectors in rural areas.

UNESCO is pleased to be associated with such efforts and innovations in conjunction with the ministries, specialists and agencies working to achieve the goals of the Major Project. We are aware that the crisis conditions, which were recognized two years ago, still prevail in the region. It .is therefore of the utmost importance to applaud the courage and ingenuity to which these efforts and achievements bear witness.

I shall not dwell further on these matters, as you have already dealt with them very thoroughly in the last few days, and they are included in the Final Report which has just been approved.

The other main document which you have just adopted is the Recommendation-. This comprehensive and far- reaching document is the, instrument that will enable us to implement the conclusions reached at this session in order to attainl the goals of the Major Project in the various countries.

It is important to. note that, according to the Recommendation, the education systems of the various countries in the region are at a strategic juncture, a point of transition when a new stage of educational development must begin through a new style of management. The key features of this new style appropriate to the

Annex II - page 27

task in hand are set out in the Recommendation as follows: .

1. forging a link between education and development strategies;

2. strengthening the democratic and participatory dimension as an educational development strategy ;

3. building new alliances in education;

4. modernizing planning and management;

5. shifting the focus of curricula from

6. a new theory and method of literacy education

7. boosting the momentum of the education system

8. diversification of funding sources for

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to conclude on a personal note.

We at UNESCO in Paris have been intensively engaged in the last few weeks in planning the use of our limited resources for the next biennium. In so doing, we have been evaluating the various modalities of our assistance to Member States. We are aware that meetings such as this, for example, require large commitments. The money we have collectively put together to make this meeting happen could have sent several thousands of our children to school for a year, could have bought hundreds of thousands of textbooks, could have trained many many teachers. And yet, we are confident that the potential benefit to basic education in Latin America and the Caribbean resulting from this gathering could far exceed the benefits of such alternative uses of this money.

disciplines to basic learning needs;

and basic adult education;

by combining the energies of educators;

educational services.

It is precisely because of my concern that .this enormous potential be realized that I sound this personal note. I am awed and humbled by the realization that words spoken at this podium and resolutions taken in this hall reach out far beyond these four walls and these few people, precisely because these few people will largely determine the future destinies of the education sectors in 33 Member States and+three Associate Members of this region.

In this light, aware of the proverbial. hundredfold potential that seeds of thought have in such fertile ground, I share with you my thoughts on what may happen

Annex II - page 28 tomorrow. What difference in the future will PROMEDLAC IV have made?

On a global scale, it will certainly signal to the rest of the world the commitment and resolve that Latin America and the Caribbean have to keep education as the cornerstone of its development efforts, in a context of increased democratization, even with continuing resource difficulties. On a regional scale, the experience of sharing problems and, as the Education Minister of Mexico urges, also sharing solutions to these problems, will give Member States in this region the encouragement of an increasing sense of solidarity and a potential for specific collaboration. On a national scale, and this is ultimately what matters most, each Minister will leave this hall armed with the inspirations, the ideas, and most concretely the recommendations of this meeting and tailor-fit them to his country's needs to forge new directions or go with renewed speed towards quality education for all in his country.

It is this last outcome of this meeting that is the most crucial and the most difficult. The Ministers already have plans and strategies which they have shared with us, and when they return tomorrow to their responsibilities, they will surely be 'swamped with the daily realities of endless papers to sign and endless meetings to attend, the continuing major struggle for more budgetary and other resources, the pressures of satisfying just teacher demands, the painful process of breaking down old structures which must give way to the new. The temptation will therefore be great to recall PROMEDLAC IV as merely a pleasant Ecuadorian memory and to consign the conference documents and recommendations to a shelf, there to remain untouched until PROMEDLAC V.

But if the efforts and ideas that went into this -meeting are to realize their potential, each Ministry must study the conference recommendations, evaluating each in the light of national needs and priorities. These

possibilities, and because no one is expected to order the entire menu, each Ministry must then choose among those recommendations which ones will likely work and be sustainable in their settings, so that they can be incorporated into their national plans. It is here that regional networks, the findings of research centres, the experience of neighbour countries, and the assistance of international agencies can be most useful.

And because each Ministry has limited resources, it may decide that among its chosen recommendations, it will give special focus to one or two and achieve outstanding national success with just this one or two. There are limits, not just to financial resources, but to personal and organizational energy, and to resources required to engender political will and national consensus. Therefore a Ministry may decide to focus resources, energy and

recommendations are really just a I menu I of

Annex II - page 29 political will on just one thing, for example, reducing the drop-out rate from 45 per cent to 15 per cent, or fundamentally recasting curriculum by learning needs rather than by subject discipline, or targeting specific disadvantaged populations. Outstanding success in any one of these areas would be more effective than a half- hearted attempt to accomplish too many recommendations.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come to the end of our meeting. As you return to your respective countries, allow me on bahelf of UNESCO and of the Director-General whom I represent, to wish you the most outstanding success in your laudable efforts to further the objectives of PROMEDLAC to bring quality education to the citizens of your lands, and-to promise you UNESCO's support and assistance in any way within our power. And in your efforts and daily work with meetings, research reports, adminis trat ive streamlining , negotiation sessions, and so forth, may you never forget to see past the means to the end, to see the overriding motivation for your efforts, to see the original purpose for which we all long ago dedicated our lives to the cause of education: the child, the learner, and the learning process of bringing the light of knowledge to dispel the darkness of ignorance, with the help of teachers as the principal bearers of that light. After all is said and done, it is for them, the learner and the teacher, that we all work.

Thank YOU for your attention.

ANNEX III

LIST OF DOCUMENTS

WORKING DOCUMENTS

1. Provisional agenda ED-gI/PROMEDLAC/l

2. Rules of procedure ED-91/PROMEDLAC/2

3. Main working document ED-91/PROMEDLAC/3

INFORMATION DOCUMENTS , .

4. General information ED-91/PROMEDLAC/INF.I

5. Suggestions concerning ED-91/PROMEDLAC/INF.2 the organization of the work of the session

6. List of documents ED-91/PROMEDLAC/INF.3 REV.

7. Provisional list of ED-gI/PROMEDLAC/INF.4 participants

REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

8. UNESCO's co-operation ED-91/PROMEDLAC/REF.I within the framework of the Major Project in the field of education in Latin America and the Caribbean

9. The quality of education ED-91/PROMEDLAC/REF.2 in a context of crisis. Reaching agreements in the field of education (Outlines for Round Tables)

ANNEX IV

ADDRESSES DELIVERED BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE WORLD BANK, UNICEF, OEI, THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN AND CIDA

Address by Mr Wadi D. Haddad, representative of the President of the

World Bank

Address by Mr Luis F. Rivera, Assistant Regional Director of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean

Address by the representative of the Ibero-American Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (OEI)

Address by the Spanish Delegation ,

Address by Dr Ronald C. Hughes, representative of the

Canadian Development Agency

Annex IV - page 3

Address by Mr Wadi D. Haddad, representative of the President of the

World Bank

Mr Chairman , Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

My colleagues and I am happy to participate in this fourth session of PROMEDLAC which reaf f inns commitment to quality basic education for all, and seeks collectively strategies and measures to realize this commitment during the decade of the 1990s.

I am also pleased to note - both in my personal capacity as former Executive Secretary of the World Conference on Education for All, and as a representative of the World Bank, one of .the core sponsors of the Jomtien Conference - I am pleased to note with gratification that the momentum generated in Jomtien has not diminished and that the countries of this region are taking serious steps to follow up on the Declaration and Framework for Action adopted at the Conference.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The World Bank is deeply committed to the realization of the objectives of Jomtien and is ready to take all the necessary measures to this end. More specifically, allow me to make the following four points:

1.

2 -.

3.

The Bank values the co-operation among the international organizations that was developed during the preparation for the World Conference and would like to see this co-operation continue, particularly in the context of country focus.

The Bank recognized and supports the special role that UNESCO is playing in the follow-up activities of the education for all initiative, and we wish to see the co-operation between the Bank and UNESCO strengthened, especially in this region. We will seek practical ways to do so.

The Bank wished to be responsive to the national commitments and efforts of specific countries. It has already surpassed the lending target of $1.5 billion a year that Mr Conable announced in Jomtien - and the future years look even brighter. About one third of this lending is for basic education.

Annex IV - page 4

4.

As far as this region is concerned, the Bank is supporting basic education projects in most countries.

While the Bank is committed to basic education, its portfolio covers the other areas of education as well. About one third of our lending is in support of schemes for skill training in the agricultural and industrial sectors, and one third is in support of higher education, particularly science and technology.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A major theme of your deliberations in this session of PROMEDLAC is quality of education. Let me add a'few remarks to what has already been said - but maybe from a banker's perspective.

There is ample scientific evidence that education is pivotal to social and economic development.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. .

7.

At the micro level, education improves the productivity of farmers, workers and entrepreneurs.

At the macro level, education, contributes to national economic growth - and we have the clear examples of Japan, Korea; Singapore, and recently, Thailand.

Education contributes significantly to poverty reduction by improving labour productivity of the poor.

Education has proved to have a positive impact on self-esteem, life expectancy, and other indicators of quality of life.

As the world is entering an era of greater democracy, education is a tool to empower the citizens to participate effectively in decisions affecting their lives and their nations. Education is one guarantee that they will not be exploited again.

The environment will not be- saved through legislation. Through education, people can understand the science of environmental protection and the effects of degradation.

Finally, education prepares nations for the future.

As. new technologies and production processes transform the international economy, the fiiture of world development and of individual nations hin,-es much more than even a generation ago on the capacit-, to acquire, transmit and apply knowledge to work a~lr: L --[day life. The production of manufacturing and high-value services

Annex IV - page 5 no longer filter down 'naturally' from high-income to low-income countries based on labour costs alone. Because of new goods, such as consumer electronics, and new processes, such as numerically controlled machine tools and computer-assisted design and manufacturing (CAD-CAM), the location of manufacturing and high-value services depends increasingly on the producers' capacity to control quality and manage flexible, information-based systems. Comparative advantage is now a function of labour and management quality, as well as low wages.

In addition, the new technologies and production methods offer enormous possibilities for increased agricultural and industrial output. But they depend much more than previous technologies and methods on well- trained, flexible labour; innovative, problem-solving management; and cadres of highly-trained scientists, engineers, and social scientists, including some with sophisticated research skills needed to understand fully developments at the frontiers of knowledge and to assess how such advances can be applied locally. As technical requirements increase, more and better education - particularly good science and maths education at all levels - is needed to develop that all-important attitude of 'can do', as well as to impart essential knowledge and skills that allow adaptability and flexibility in the ever-changing job environment. More than ever, an educated population is needed to develop and apply emerging technologies appropriately to meet local development needs.

Education can do all of this, but only if learning takes,place. The effects of education are not mysterious, they are a function of the level of attainment of a set of knowledge, skills and values. If this threshold is not attained, the heavy investment in education is practically lost.

Therefore, quality is not a luxury - it is a necessity to protect educational investment and bring it over the threshold. Without it, education cannot do what is expected of it. Quality is pivotal for individual productivity, economic and national development, equity and ushering the developing countries into the twenty- first century.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Bank is deeply committed to a human-centred development. Investing in people's education will' continue to be a high priority on the strategic agenda for the 1990s. In addition to its lending operations, the Bank will continue to work closely with its partners and member countries to ensure that the basic learning needs of children, youth and adults are met. This is both a political and a financial challenge for the 199Os, but it is also a goal that is humanly noble, economically wise,

Annex IV - page 6 and operationally feasible. Together we can make it happen.

Annex .IV - page 7

Address by Mr Luis F. Rivera, Assistant Regional Director of UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean

I should like to express the appreciation of the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, for the opportunity to take part and collaborate in this event and in the drive to improve education. This message is addressed to the organizers, the hosts and the distinguished group of participants in. this historic meeting.

I also take this opportunity to greet you on behalf of our Executive Director, our Regional Director and the other eight UNICEF colleagues present here. Mr Grant and Ms Albanez would also have come to this forum but for our Executive Board Meeting which began last Monday. I say this because, of all the areas in which we co-operate with governments, education is the area of greatest growth in terms of resources and personnel.

Our collaboration in this field falls within the framework of the results and commitments reached at the Jomtien Conference (Education for All) and the World Summit for Children. We have already taken a few basic steps in the region to fulfil these commitments, which, in the early stages, are concerned mainly with the preparation or improvement of national plans and the machinery for follow-up and assessment. For example, all our representatives, regional advisers and professionals in the field of education debated these issues and laid down broad lines of approach at our first annual meeting. Both our Executive Director and the Regional Director took an active part in this activity.

In this frame of mind and in this context, we are interested in uniting behind the commitment arising from this meeting. We wish to help in ensuring that this commitment culminates in the achievement of the desired goals and social impact. This interest is community-wide, national and regional in scope.

We have taken a few steps forward at this meeting. We have listened, shared and learned. We are beginning to work with UNESCO towards a co-operation agreement within the scope defined by the results of PROMEDLAC IV, Jomtien, the Summit and experiments in co-operation with individual countries and in this region.

We shall meet again very soon. Work and co-operation await us tomorrow in every country. Later we shall harvest the fruits that we will share with our members, whose numbers run into millions. They have been waiting since yesterday. I hope that PROMEDLAC V will be the

Annex IV - page 8 celebration of such an achievement. This is the commitment which binds us all. We are grateful for this opportunity to exercise our responsibility to society.

. ,

. . I. . . .

Annex IV - page 9

Address by the representative of the Ibero-American Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization (OEI)

Mr Chairman , Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Heads of Delegation and National Representatives, Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations,

On behalf of the General Secretariat of OÈI and in particular on behalf of the Secretary-General, Mr José Torreblanca Prieto, I wish to greet those taking part in this fourth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Major Project. I should also like to express particular gratitude to the organizers and to the Government of Ecuador for inviting us to participate in the important debates scheduled for these few days and for the warmth of their welcome.

Within the framework of the Major Project in the Field of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean there has been, from the outset, close collaboration with OE1 in order to achieve the goals of the Project, and co- ordination of activities with OREALC, as one of the documents at the session kindly points out, on issues such as adult education and literacy, and reorganization of the initial and in-service training of teachers working in the school system.

Recently, on the occasion of the visit by the Secretary-General of OE1 to Santiago, Chile, that determination to co-ordinate activities was reaffirmed at the meeting held with OREALC, and such co-ordination has taken on specific new dimensions in the Plan of Action for the Organization for the next four years which was approved a few months ago by the Member States at their sixth AGM, held under the guidance of the Bureau chaired by the Minister of Education of the Republic of Argentina.

Let me refer briefly to this Plan of Action, on account of its implications for inter-agency co- ordination.

In the medium-term, this programme framework expresses the identity, the spirit and the community- based and Ibero-American goals of the Organization. On the other hand, the central educational issues are seen as closely bound up with national, regional and’ even worldwide political processes. This constitutes a challenge to its ability to promote co-ordination at national level and to the various strategies, methods and efforts to achieve integration between countries, by linking the basic thrusts of educational policy with the social policies of each individual country and with other

Annex IV - page 10

development sectors with a view to raising the profile of local areas in the process of national development. This means redefining the role of the educational unit in a political-administrative and I technical-pedagogica1 context.

Accordingly, the two main lines of the Plan to which

the new platforms and policies for Ibero-America aimed at pinpointing. the situations and problems which the countries of Ibero-America will have to face now and in the future, so that they'may serve as benchmarks for framing policies and strategies

~ designed to improve quality in the fields of education, science, technology and culture;

Ibero-American co-operation in the context of the challenges of integration, the main aim of which is to work together <to consolidate the processes of internal co-ordination and regional integration, by mobilizing resources and concentrating efforts on priority areas in the Organization's fields of competence.

The underlying concepts, content and strategy of these 'programme guidelines. which refer to' education reveal dimensions and aspects that run closely parallel with the lines of approach of the Major Project in the Field of Education. This should provide a basis for greater co-ordination of activities.

I have referred are:

I

I ,

Of these, we think it essential to continue with the measures already under way in the field of functional literacy and basic adult education; There is also a comon determination to extend this co-ordination to areas such as mathematics' and science teaching, prospective studies for the design' of educational policies and strategies and the crucial issue of the training of staff who work in educational units to take on a more active role in educational management at their level.

I wish to inform this meeting that definite moves are being made in this direction, on two fronts. At the institutional level, the Regional Office of OE1 in Santiago, Chile, is being consolidated, by means of an agreement soon to be reached on this matter with the Chilean Government. This will mean that the Regional Office will be better placed to perform one of its main tasks, which is to co-ordinate activities with international bodies. At the operational level, specific activities have been defined which will be implemented in conjunction with OREALC within the framework of the Major Project.

It is our sincere wish that the debates already held over the past few days and those still to come will

Annex IV - page 11

enhance the existing potential of this Major Project and that the .Project will become a corner-stone for the improvement of the quality of the education provided in our countries and of the quality of learning in our schools. This should become, through concerted efforts with other sectors, the focal point for the Qualitative leap which the development strategies of this region require.

the countries of

Annex IV - page 12

Address by the Spanish Delegation.

Mr Chairman ,

First of all I should like to congratulate you on your election and on your consummate skill in conducting the work of this session.

Secondly, I would ask you to convey my appreciation and that of the authorities of my country for the warm welcome and hospitality that we have received, and which have made us feel quite at home.

I should also like to pass on to you the message of congratulations and support from the Spanish Minister of Education, who was unable to attend this meeting as he would have liked, owing to important government business.

From the point of view of an observer, it seems to me that at this session there is a combination of very important circumstances. I shall list those which I consider most significant.

First of all, the high level of representation, since the majority of member countries are represented by their Ministers or Deputy Ministers.

Secondly, this meeting reveals' a high degree of vitality in the region, which is capable of adopting a new political approach in order to confront its serious educational problems. This new approach will aim to engage society as a whole with the problem of education.

The conference, is besides, a direct result of the Jomtien Conference, and plans are being made for new pacts and new alliances as well as to diversify action strategies within a global, non-isolated framework.

Another important factor is the excellent quality and technical content of the documentation, which, from a conceptually sound starting-point, proposes operational strategies commensurate with the magnitude of the problems.

Finally, I should like to stress the role of motivator and catalyst played by UNESCO through OREALC.

I am sure that the convergence of all these factors

In this connection, Mr Chairman, my country will not fail to draw attention to the success of this session in other international forums, such as UNESCO itself , OECD, the European Communities and the Council of Europe.

will guarantee the success of this session.

Annex IV - page 13

My attention has also been caught by the important role attributed by the Conference to international bilateral and multilateral co-operation in ,stimulating educational processes, which confirms what was said at Jomtien.

As you know, Mr Chairman, in this field my country, through the Ministry of Education, has been co-operating actively with the Major Project since the meeting at Saint Lucia, when the present Director-General of UNESCO was the Spanish Minister of Education.

I wish to thank the Secretariat for its skilful summing up of our co-operation in the relevant document. My country provides co-operation, both because we identify with the aims and objectives of the Project which, in our view, is a model co-operation system, and also because of our sense of fellowship with all the countries of the region.

As the Minister of Education of my country said at the last General Conference, we know that our contribution is only a drop in the ocean, but it is a symbol of our sense of solidarity with the international community and a gesture of confidence in UNESCO and its Regional Office.

Mr Chairman, let me assure you that my country will continue to provide that co-operation, which, as you know, is not our only contribution in the field of education to countries in the region. Despite our limited resources, I believe that the celebration of the Fifth Centenary of the Encounter between Two Worlds affords an excellent opportunity to search for new and more meaningful co-operation formulas.

It is also my belief that such co-operation must be based on mutual trust and governed by a flexible system of programming and joint assessment.

I should also like to stress my country's desire for greater technological participation in the activities of the Major Project, with which we feel so closely involved: In this context, as you will remember, my country, as a member of both OE1 and SECAB, would be interested in stronger institutional links with the Project. I believe that the Jomtien Conference furnishes some interesting examples and that together we could search for imaginative solutions.

I should like to end with a reminder that on this very day, 23 April, in 1616, the illustrious writer Miguel de Cervantes died. This anniversary is celebrated throughout the Spanish-speaking world as Spanish language day, and today, likewise, the Spanish-speaking countries will create within UNESCO the Miguel de Cervantes Chair, which will be inaugurated with a lecture on Spanish as the language of the future.

Annex IV - page 14 Mindful of the value of language as a link uniting

peoples, and with great. feeling, I also wish the Conference well in the work that it has before it today.

Thank you.

Annex IV -.page 15

Address by Dr Ronald C. Hughes, representative of the

Canadian Development Agency

Mr Chai man, Minist ers, Delegates and Colleagues,

Canada and CIDA are grateful for the invitation to this fourth meeting of the UNESCO Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Canada is in full accord with you in support of the objectives of Jomtien and CIDA's emerging policies for education are consistent with the objectives of the Major Pro j ect .

There is an impressive high level of commitment and agreement in the region on improvements in access & quality; literacy and science and technology; basic & higher, education; effectiveness agi efficiency; decentralization ansi participatory decision-making, to name a few of the important dimensions in coping with current global and national constraints to development and education.

All speakers have made significant contributions; among them the Ministers of Education of Jamaica and Chile have clarified just exactly what we must mean when we use terms like dialogue, participation, involvement, decentralization, restructuring, democratization and education reform.

In support of CIDA's recently reconfirmed commitment of sustahable deve lonment and in response to our realization that much of our part investments in education, training and human resources development was in support of individuals and did not show adequate evidence of sustainable benefits, it is expected that the general objective or our investments in education related activities will be organization capacjtv building.

If this objective is ratified, we would be advising the managers of CIDA programes to look for opportunities for strengthening of educational and other organizations, institutions and agencies in public, private and NGO sectors. Based on organizational analysis, options for restructuring, policy change, research and planning, management, information systems, operations and productivity, etc., would be considered for support.

Instead of supporting projects within organizational frameworks which do not have the forecasted capacities to address the Project objectives without external funding CIDA would probably prefer to consider support for

Annex IV - page 16

development of education reforms based on options for changes in structures, ' policies, decision-making, resource generation, etc. .

Thus CIDA may play a role with some countries in working towards the day when the complexities of designing, producing, publishing, distributing, evaluating, recycling, revising, replacing and financing the provision of a set of reading and writing materials for each child in each classroom, would indeed be a simple matter for more countries than it is today.

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V

ANEXO V

LISTA DE DELEGADOS, REPRESENTANTES Y OBSERVADORES/ . LISTE DES DELEGUES, REPRESENTANTS ET OBSERVATEURS/ LIST OF DELEGATES, REPRESENTATIVES AND OBSERVERS

Los nombres y títulos que figuran en las listas siguientes se reproducen en la forma en que las delegaciones interesadas los han comunicado a la Secretaria. Los paises se'mencionan en el orden alfabético español.

Les noms'et titres qui figurent dans les listes ci-après son reproduits dans la forme oÙ ils ont été communiqués au Secrétariat par les délégations inté- ressés. Les' pays son mentionnés dans l'ordre alphabétique espagnol.

Names and titles in the following lists are reproduces as handed in to the Secretariat by the delegations concerned. Countries are shouwn in the Spanish alphabetical order.

A. DELEGADOS/DELEGUES/DELEGATES

I. Estados Miembros/Etats membres/Member States

Antigua y Barbuda/Antigua-et-Barbuda/Antigua and Barbuda

Senator Bernard Percival Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Education, Culture and Youth Affairs (Head of Delegation)

Mr George Brown Education Planning Officer

Argentina/Argentine/Argentina

Excmo. Sr. Antonio Francisco Salonia Ministro de Educación y Justicia (Jefe de Delegación)

Excma. Sra. Maria Inés Abrile de Vollmer Ministra de Cultura y Educación de la Provincia de Mendoza

Bahamas

The Honourable Bernard J. Nottage Minister of Education (Head of Delegation)

Mr Luther E. Smith Permanent Secretariat Ministry of Education

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 2 Ms. Carol L..Hanna , .

Deputy Director of Education Ministry of Education . r '

Ms. Helen Rolle . i . .

Senior Officer, Primary Education Ministry of Education . .

Mr William Adderly . .

Senior Officer, Technical and.Vocationa1 Education

. .

' .'! . * . ,

.. . . .

.. 1 . , /

. I I ,!,', .' i ' 1

. . . i

i ' ,

' I r ., . . ' I .

. I I . ' . ,

, ' Ministry of Education . I , I

. . 8 . , . ' _ , I

I . , . . . I / a .

j , \ . , . * I

. .

i .: ' 1.' . .

, .

. , .. , I - \ ,

. . ...

. . . . . ,..

, ,

I _ , :. Bolivia/Bolivie/Bolivia:' - ' , , , '

. . . , . . < 1. . . . . I I . . . . . Excmo. Sr. Mariano ,Baptists Gumucio . 4 . ' ;.. . .' '

Ministro de Educación y Cultura .. ' I , ' , . I . ,

., . . L . , ' , I , > .', ' I .

. I r . . ,

. . . ., ,. , I I . - 1 : ' .

. . . . (Jefe de Delegación)

Sr. Vicente Mondoza-Bilbao Asesor, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura

Sr. Carlos Mauricio Chanove ' ; ,,;'~:.L' -. . : . . . '-, Consejero de la Embajada de Bolivia

, . .

, I . . . . ' , . I .

' I , . . . ., . . , en Ecuador, 1 -

Brasil/Brésil/Brazil" , . . . ' -- ,

. . . r

> . . . . . . a . , . .. . .

,- . -.

i I. . . , .

Sr. José Luitgard De Figueiredo Secretario Ejecutivo, Vice-Ministro Ministerio da Educaçao (Jefe de Delegación)

Sr. João Ferreira Director General do Instituto Nacional E Pesquisas Educacionais (INEP)

Sra. Anna Rosa Siqueira Bogliolo Assessora Especial, Coord. Geral de Planeoamento Setorial Ministerio de Educaçao

Chile/Chili/Chile

Excmo. Sr. Ricardo Lagos Escobar Ministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Sr. Ricardo Hevia Rivas Jefe de Relaciones Internacionales Ministerio de Educación

Sr. Mauricio Ugalde Bilbao Segundo Secretario Embajada de Chile en Ecuador

ED/MD/ 9 3 Anexo V - pág. 3

Colombia/Colombie/Colombia

Excmo. Dr. Alfonso Valdivieso Sarmiento Ministro de Educación Nacional (Jefe de Delegación)

Dr. Mario Sequeda Osorio . Director General de Educación de Adultos ' Ministerio de Educación Nacional

Dra. Olga Lucia Turbay Jefe, Oficina Relaciones Internacionales Ministerio de Educación Nacional

Dr. Rafaei Pérez-Davila Embajador de Colombia en Ecuador

Dra. Nidia Restrepo Primer Secretario Embajada de Colombia en Ecuador

Costa Rica

Excmo. Sr. Marvin Herrera Ministro de EducaciÓn.PÚblica (Jefe de Delegación)

Sra. Zaida Sánchez Directora de Planificación Educativa Ministerio de Educación

Sr. Ronald Leiton Asesor del Ministro de Educación Publica

Sra. Anabella Castro de Luzuriaga Encargada de Negocios a.i. Embajada de Costa Rica en Ecuador

Sr. Miguel Herrera Ulate Primer Secretario Embajada de Costa Rica en Ecuador

. I

Cuba

Excmo. Sr. Luis Ignacio Gómez Gutiérrez Ministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Sra. Ada E. Cruz Mesana Especialista Sector Educación Comisión Cubana para'la UNESCO

. .

I . , . .

i . .

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V - pág. 4 Ecuador/Equa t eur/Ecuador

Excmo. Arq. Alfredo Vera Ministro de Educación y Cultura (Jefe de Delegación)

Dr. José Chavez Zaldumbide Subsecretario de Educación

Dr. Augusto Abendano Briceño Director Nacional de Planeamiento de la Educación

Prof. Aulo Navarrete Director Nacional de Educación Regular y Especial

Lic. Susana Araujo de Solis Asesora Pedagógica del Ministro de Educación

Lic. Raúl Vallejo Director Ejecutivo del Programa Nacional "El Ecuador Estudia"

Observadores

Lic. Raúl Parra Calvache Director Nacional de la DINACAPED

Sr. Luis Montaluisa Especialista en Educación Indigena

Sr. Emilio Ochoa Director Ejecutivo de la Unidad

PROMEET MEC-BID

Sr. Darío Moreira Asesor del Ministro de Educación

Sra. Mary Andrade Directora Nacional del Programa de Educación Pre-Escolar

Sr. José Cárdenas Asesor del Ministro de Educación

Sra. Nancy Tello Secretaria Permanente Comisión Nacional de la UNESCO

Sra. Magdalena Herdoiza Asesora del Consejo Nacional de Universidades y Escuelas Politécnicas (CONUEP)

Sr. Edison Egas Decano de la Facultad de Filosofia Universidad Central

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 5

Sra. Magaly Robalino Coordinadora General, CENAISE

Sr. César Calle Secretario Coordinador de la Comisión Mixta ME C-CONUEP

El Salvador

Excma. Sra. Cecilia Cano Gaillard0 Ministra de Educación (Jefa de Delegación)

Lic. Francisco Stanley Allvood Lagos Asesor del Despacho

Lic. Ana Gladys Aparicio Cortéz Directora Adjunta de Educación de Adultos

Guatemala

Sr. Arnold0 Escobar Asesor del Despacho Ministerial (Jefe de Delegación)

Sr. Miguel Angel ChacÓn Director de SIMAC 8

Guyana/Guyane/Guyana

The Honourable Deryck Bernard Minister of Education

Haiti/HaYti/Haiti

S. Exc. M. Leslie Voltaire Ministre de 1'Education Nationale (Chef de la délégation)

M. Clotaire Saint Natus Conseiller

Mme Gladys Georges Simonise Education Prescolaire

Honduras

Excmo. Sr. Jaime Martinez Guzmán Ministro de Educación Pública (Jefe de Delegación)

Lic. Mauricio Velasco Embajador de Honduras en Ecuador .

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V ' - pág. 6

Jamaica/Jamaïque/Jamaica

The Honourable Carlyle Dunkley Minister of Education (Head of Delegation)

Ms. Hazel Salmon University of the West Indies

Mr Cecil Leonard Ruddock Special Adviser to the Minister of Education .

México/Mexique/Mexico

Excmo. Lic. Manuel Bartlett Diaz Secretario de Educación Publica Presidente, Comisión Nacional para la UNESCO (Jefe de Delegación)

Dr. Luis G. Benavides Ilizaliturri Presidente del Consejo Nacional Técnico de la Educación

Lic. Victor Sologaistoa Bernard 1

Director General de Relaciones Internacionales Secretario General, Comisión Nacional para la UNESCO

. .

Sr. Salvador Jiménez Ministro adscrito a la Embajada de México en Ecuador

Nicaragua

Sr. Juan Alamo Asesor del Ministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Sra. Lourdes Marin Ortufio Primer Secretario Embajada de Nicaragua en Ecuador

Panamá/Panama/Panama

Profesor Bolivar Armuelles Viceministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Lic. Harmodio Arias Cerjack Embajador de Panamá en Ecuador

i . . '

. , , 'I . . ,. . _ I

,!*. . ' .;, ' .

I .

. .

. . ,

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V - pág. 7

Paraguay

Sra. Carmen Teresa Quintana de Horák Subsecretaria de Estado de Educación (Jefa de Delegación)

Sra. Nydia Pellegrini de Castillo Directora, Departamento de Alfabetización y Educación de Adultos Ministerio de Educación

Sr. César Torres'Antunez Director, Departamento Centros Regionales de Educación

Perú/Pérou/Peru

Excmo. Sr. Oscar de la Puente Raygada Ministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Sr. Gerardo Ayzanoa del Carpio Asesor del Despacho Ministerial

Sr. Wilhelm Miguel Ruiz Maurique Asesor del Despacho del Ministro de Educación

Sra. Elizabeth Astete Consejera, Embajada de Perú en Ecuador

, * . , . . .

< , , ..

.. .

República Dominicana/RepÚblique Dominicaine/ > ?

Dominican Republic ,

Lic. Indiana Rodriguez de Medina Viceministra de Educación (Jefa de Delegación)

Dr. Rafael Jiménez Espino Embajador de la Republica Dominicana en Ecuador

- . 1 .

San Cristóbal y Nieves/St-Christophe-et-Nevis/ Saint Christopher and Nevis

The Honourable Sidney Morris

Science, Information and Community Affairs ' ~

Minister of Education, Health, Culture, . 7

San Vicente y las GranadinadSt-Vincent-et-Grenadines/ Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

'

The Honourable Mrs. Yvonne Francis-Gibson Minister of State, Education, Youth, Culture and Women's Affairs (Head of Delegation)

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 8 Mr Cools Vanloo Education Planner Ministry of Education

Trinidad y Tobago/Trinité et Tobago/ Trinidad and Tobago

The Honourable Mrs. Gloria Henry Minister of Education (Head of Delegation)

Mr Clive Borely Chief Education Officer Ministry of Education

Uruguay

Dra. Beatriz Macedo de Burghi Consejera, Consejo Directivo Central de la Administración Nacional de Educación Pública (Jefa de Delegación)

Sr. Rubén Hugo Diaz Burci Ministro de Servicios Exteriores Embajada de Uruguay en Ecuador

Venezuela/Vénézuela/Venezuela

Excmo. Sr. Gustavo Roosen Ministro de Educación (Jefe de Delegación)

Sra. Yajaira Villasana Directora de Planificación Educativa

Sr. Eduardo Rivas Casado Asesor del Ministro de Educación

r ,

. .

. . .. . . . , I , .

II. Miembros Asociados/Membres associédAssociate Members

Aruba

Ms. Miriam Bochove-Oduber Funcionaria, Dirección de la Educación

Mr Johnny Fingal Funcionario, Dirección de la Educación

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V - pág. 9

Islas Vírgenes Brithicas/Iles Vierges britanniques/ British Virgin Islands

The Honourable Louis Walters Minister of Health, Education and Welfare (Head of Delegation)

Mrs. Sebulita Christopher Assistant Secretary Ministry of Health, Education and Welfare

B. OBSERVADORES DE OTROS ESTADOS MIEMBROS/

OBSERVATEURS D'AUTRES ETATS MEMBRES/ OBSERVERS FROM OTHER MEMBER STATES

Alemania/Allemagne/Germany

Sr. Wolfgang Kuper Asesor, Cooperación Técnica de la Republica Federal de Alemania en Ecuador

Canadá/Canada/Canada .

Mr Ronald Hughes Senior Education Specialist Education and Training Section Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

EspCa/Espagne/Spain

Dr. Francisco Medina Rivilla Subdirector General Adjunto de Cooperación Internacional Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia

Dr. Juan Antonio Menéndez-Pida1 Consejero de Educación y Ciencia Delegación Permanente ante la UNESCO

Dra. Maria Dolores López Aranguren Jefe del Servicio de Programas con Iberoamérica Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia

Francia/France/France

M. Gérard Faroux Conseiller culturel, scientifique et de coopération Ambassade de France en Equateur

M. Michel Pedrosa Conseiller pédagogique Ambassade de France en Equateur

ED/MD/93 i ' ,

Anexo V - pág. 10

Italia/Italie/Italy

M. Giuseppe Velardo Conseiller auprès du Ministre Ministère italien de l'Instruction publique '

C.

OBSERVATEURS D'ETATS NON MEMBRES/ OBSERVADORES DE ESTADOS NO MIEMBROS/ r

OBSERVERS FROM NON-MEMBER STATES

Santa Sede/Saint-Siège/Holy See i

Sr. Efren Vivar Reinoso Profesor de la Universidad Católica E cuad o r

1

D. REPRESENTANTES Y OBSERVADORES.DE OTRAS ORGANIZACIONES *

REPRESENTANTS ET OBSERVATEURS D'AUTRES ORGANISATIONS

REPRESENTATIVES AND OBSERVERS FROM OTIiER ORGANIZATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM

DEL SISTEMA DE LAS NACIONES UNIDAS/

DU SYSTEME DES NATIONS UNIES/ P I 1 ( 5

,

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/ Comisión Económica para América Latina Y el Caribe (CEPAL), Chili

Sr. Fernando Fajnzylber Director, División Industria y Tecnologia

Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP)/ Institut de Nutrition de l'Amérique centrale et du Panama/ Instituto de Nutrición de Centroamérica y Panamá (INCAP), L. ' i . 1

Guatemala

Lic. Alexandra PraÚn Coordinadora del Proyecto Subregional de Educación Alimentaria y Nutricional Oficina Panamericana de la Salud

Lic. Myriam Ruiz Maldonado Coordinación de Formación y Capacitación de Recursos Humanos en Alimentación y Nutrición

International Labour Orpanication (ILO)/ Organisation Internationale du Travail (OIT)/ Organización Internacional de Trabajo (OIT)

, . I . .> . -

. . , . , . . .

. . . . . . , , .

Sr. Julio Godio Consejero Regional, Perú

United Nations Children Fund/ Fonds des Nations Unies pour l'Enfance/ Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (UNICEF)

Sr. Emilio Tenti Punto Focal en Educación, Argentina

Sra. Anna Lucia D'Emilio Oficial de Educación, Bolivia

Sr. Felipe RisopatrÓn Oficial de Proyectos de Educación, Chile

Sra. Vicky Colbert Asesora Regional en Educación, Colombia I

Sr. Luis Rivera Director Regional Adjunto para América Latina y el Caribe, Colombia

Sr. José Carlos Cuentas-Zavala Representante, Ecuador

Sra. Rosa Maria Torres Oficial de Desarrollo Infantil y Educación Básica, Ecuador

Sr. Ma-Umba Mabiala '

Education Project Officer, Haiti

Sra. LUZ Ñáñez Oficial de Programas, Perú

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 11

.. ~

. .

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)/ Orpanisation des Nations Unies pour le Développement Industriel (ONUDI)

Mr Peter H. Kruck Country Director for Ecuador and Venezuela Ecuador

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)/ '

Fonds des Nations Unies pour la Population (FNUAP)/ Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas (FPNU)

Sra. Patricia Guzmán Oficial de Programas División América Latina

World Bank/Banque Mondiale/Banco Mundial

Mr Wadi Haddad Senior Adviser Representative of the President

Mr Donald Holsinger Education Specialist

Mr Bernardo Kugler Senior Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean Region

ED/MD/9 3 Anexo V - pág. 12

World Health Organization (WHO)/ Orpanisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS)/ Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS)

Sr. Edgardo Torres San Cristóbal Consultor en Administración de Servicios Organización Mundial de la Salud Organización Panamericana de la Salud Ecuador

E. OBSERVADORES DE OTRAS ORGANIZACIONES ImTERGUBERmAMENTALES/ OBSERVATEURS D'AUTRES ORGANISATIONS INTERGOUVERNEMENTALES/

OBSERVERS FROM OTHER INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

Caribbean Communitv Secretariat (CARICOM)/ Secrétariat de la Communauté des Caraïbes/ Secretaria de la Comunidad del Caribe, Guyana

Mrs. Lucy Steward Chief, Education Sector

Centro de Cooperación Regional Dara la Educación de Adultos en América Latina Y el Caribe (CREFAL), México

Lic. Maria Antonieta Madrigal Investigadora

Ibero-American Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization/ Organisation des Etats Ibero-américains Dour 1'Education. la Science et la Culture (OEI)/OrpanizaciÓn de Estados Iberoamericanos para la Educación. la ciencia Y la Cultura (OEI), Espagne

Sr. Eugenio Rodriguez F. Director de Programas

Instituto Indigenista Interamericano/ Inter-American Indian Institute, Mexique

Sr. José Matos Mar Director

Inter-American Develoument Bank (IDB), Etats-Unis d'Amérique/ Banque Interaméricaine de Développement (BID)/ Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)

Sr. Manuel Aristy Representante del BID, Ecuador

Sr. Winston Wallis Especialista sectorial, Ecuador

. .

I . ..

ED/MD/ 9 3 Anexo V - pág. .13

International Development Research Center (IDRC), Canada/ Centre de Recherches pour le Développement International/ Centro Internacional de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo

Dr. Mario Torres Senior Programme Officer for the Latin American Region Uruguay

Latin American Facultv of Social Sciences/ Faculté Latino-Américaine de Sciences Socialed Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Costa Rica

Sr. Francisco Terin Hidalgo Asesor del Area de Planificación y Gestión de la Sede Ecuador de FLACSO

Latin American Institute for Education Communication/ Institut Latino-Américain de la Communication Educative/ Instituto Latinoamericano de la Comunicación Educativa (ILCE), Mexique

Ing. Jorge Sota Garcia Director General

Dr. David Leiva González Secretario Ejecutivo para la Cooperación Regional

Permanent Executive Secretariat for the 'Andres Bello' Convention/ Secretaria Ejecutiva Permanente del Convenio "Andrés Bello" (SECAB), Colomb i e

Sr. Florencio ChacÓn Secretario Ejecutivo

Sr. René Hauzeur Coordinador Técnico Proyecto Materiales Educativos

F. OBSERVADORES DE ORGANIZACIONES INTERNACIONALES

NO GUBERNAMENTALES/ OBSERVATEURS D'ORGANISATIONS INTERNATIONALES

NON GOüVERNEMENTALES/

ORGANIZATIONS OBSERVERS FROM INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL

Cateporia A/Catéporie A/Catepory A

Comité Permanent des Organisations Non-Pouvernementales, Maison de l'UNESCO

Mme Monique Grégoire Membre du Conseil

M. Gary Desenclos Vice-Président

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 14

International Association of Universities (IAU), Maison de l'UNESCO/ Association Internationale des Universités (AIU)/ '

Asociación Internacional de Universidades

Dr. Julio Terán Dutari Representante, AIU Rector, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador

International Federation of Free Teachers' Unions (IFTTU), Pays-Bas/ Secrétariat Professionnel International de 1'Enseipnement (SPIE)/ Secretariado Profesional Internacional Dara la Enseñanza (SPIE)

I

Sra. Liliam Mora Blanco Coordinadora SPIE para América Latina Costa Rica

International Federation of Workers' Educational Associations (IFWEA), Israël/ Fédération Internationale des Associations pour 1'Education des Travailleurs (FIAET), Belgique/FederaciÓn Internacional de Asociaciones Educativas Obreras

M. Gary Desenclos Représentant, FIAET Vice-Président, Comité Permanent des Organisations Non-gouvernementales Belgique

Union of International Technical Associations, Maison de l'UNESCO/ Union des Associations Techniques Internationales (UATI)/ Unión de Asociaciones Técnicas Internacionales

Ing. Horacio Yépez Director Ejecutivo, Instituto Internacional de Energia Representante del UATI Ecuador

8 ,

World Confederation of Teachers (WCT), Belgique/ Confédération Svndicale Mondiale des Enseignants (CSME)/ Confederación Sindical Mundial de la Enseñanza (CSME)

M. Heberto Ferrer Secrétaire général '

Fédération Latinoaméricaine des Travailleurs I

de 1'Education et de la Culture (FLATECZCLAT) Vice-président, CSME Véné zu el a

World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), Tchécoslovaquie/ Fédération Syndicale Mondiale (FMS)/ Federación Sindical Mundial (FSM)

Sr. José Alvarez Campuzano Delegado Internacional de la Confederación de Trabajadores del Ecuador (CTE) Representante de la FSM Ecuador

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 15

Cateporia B/Catéporie B/Cateporv B 2 ,

1 <

International Association of Broadcasting (IAB), Uruguay/ Association Internationale de Radiodiffusion/ Asociación Internacional de Radiodifusión

Sr. Edgar Yánez Villalobos Presidente Nacional Asociación Ecuatoriana de Radiodifusión Ecuador

International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), France/ Fédération Internationale des Universités Catholiques (FIUC)/ Federación Internacional de Universidades Católicas (FIUC)

Sr. Carrion Bernardo Tobar Delegado Alterno, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Representante de la FIUC

World Student Christian Fedration (WCSF), Suisse/ Fédération Universelle des Associations Chrétiennes d'Etudiants (FUACE)

Mrs Maria Cristina Montenegro Assistant to the Excecutive Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean Ecuador

I .

Cateporia C/Catéporie WCatepory C

Centro de Investigación Y Desarrollo de la Educación (CIDE), Chile

Sr. Patricio Cariola, S.J. Director

Pan-American Association of Educational Credit Institutions/ Association Panaméricaine des Institutions de Crédit Educatif/ Asociación Panamericana de Crédito Educativo Y Becas (APICE), Colomb i e

Lic. Alba Luz Mora Directora Ejecutiva, Instituto Ecuatoriano de Crédito Educativo y Becas (IECE) Junta Directiva de APICE Ecuador

Plan Internacional (Foster Parents) Oficina Regional de Sudamérica - SARO, Equateur Sr. J. Andy Rubi Director Regional Ecuador

ED/MD/93 Anexo V - pág. 16

G. OBSERVADORES DE INSTITUCIONES Y FUNDACIONES/ OBSERVATEURS D'INSTITUTIONS ET FONDATIONS/

OBSERVERS FROM INSTITUTIONS AND FOUNDATIONS

Foundation Simon I. Patino and Pro Bolivia, Suisse/ Fondation Simon I. Patino et Pro Bolivia/ Fundaciones Simon I. Patino Y Pro Bolivia

Sr. Ernesto Bolle-Picard Director, Centro Pedagógico y Cultural de Portalés Co chab amb a Bolivia

',

Friedrich-Naumann Foundation, Allemagne/ Fundación Friedrich-Naumann

Dr. RÜdiger Vincent Graichen Coordinador Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela

Harvard Institute for International Development

Mr Noel McGinn Profesor, Harvard University USA

Periodistas Invitados

Sr. Esteban Sánchez Barcia. - Madrid

Sr. Horacio Finoli Buenos Aires

Sr. Eduardo Corea México

Sr. Antonio Ortega México

. .

ED/MD/ 9 3 Anexo V - pág. 17

SECRETARIA DE LA REüNION/SECRETARIAT DE LA REUNION/ SECRETARIAT OF TIE MEETING

Director General

Sr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza

Secretaria

Sra. C. de Bustamante

Asistido por

Sr. V. OrdÓñez Director, División Educación Básica

Sr. J.C. Tedesco Director, Oficina Regional de Educación para América Latina y el Caribe

P1 enar i a

Sr. Federico Mayor Zaragoza Director General

Sr. V. OrdÓñez Representante del Director General

Secretariado de la Reunión

Sr. J.C. Tedesco Director, Oficina Regional de Educación para América Latina y el Caribe

Asistido vor

Sr. P. Galindo

Informe final

Sr. J. Chong

Asistido por

Sr. L. Atherley Sr. H. Charles Sr. J. Rivero Sr. D. Silva Sr. L. Tiburcio

ED/MD/93, Anexo V - pág. 18

Grupo de Trabajo

Sr. J, Casascuc

Asistido vor

Sr. S. Clarke Sr. J. Espina1

Mesas Redondas

Sr. E. Schiefelbein Sr. R. Vera

Secretarias

Sra. M. Arteaga

Sra. M. González Lombardo Srta. M. Hassine Sra. D. Pacheco Sra. S. Palma

Exhibiciones "

Sr. A. Garcia

Oficina de Información Pública

Sr. C. Ortega Srta. Y. Araujo I .

Enlace con la Oficina de Avoyo al Programa

Sr. M. Núñez

Administración de la Reunión

Sr. S. Charfi

Sr. P. Amour Sra. P. Jerez Sr. F. Zidour

Control de Documentos

Sr. M. Filali

intérpretes

Sra. F. True1

Sra. L. Arteta de Roca Sra. Fontaine de Lucioparades Sra. A. Henchos Stefanovich Sra. C. Huneuc de Espinosa Sra. A. Reed Sra. M. Reyes ,

Sra. G. Santodomingo

Traducción

Sra. N. Laroche

Sra. C. Ben-Mehidi Sra. L. Dausque Srta. P. Deane Sra. D. Engel Sra. J. Grosbout Sra. M. Luvecce

Mecanóprafas

Sra. M. Bouarour Sra. R. Neri Sra. S. Sathiyarajan Sra. J. Tanguy

I

ED/MD/ 9 3 Anexo V - pág. 19

ANNEX VI

DRAFT RESOLUTION SUBMITTED BY THE DELEGATION OF HONDURAS

The Intergovernmental Regional Committee for the Major Project in the Field of Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, at its fourth session, held in Quito, Ecuador, from 22 to 25 April 1991,

of the grave consequences of a major earthquake in provinces located in the Atlantic region of the sister republics of Costa Rica and Panama,

m a r e of the sufferings of the victims in Costa Rica and Panama, where it is reported that scores of people have been killed and injured and deprived of property and services,

DECIDES

ress its smDthv with the ‘Governments and people of the sister republics of Costa Rica and Panama and to request the delegates of Member States and the representatives and observers from countries and recognized organizations to approach their governments and other bodies with a view to enlisting their assistance on behalf of the people affected by the earthquake in Costa Rica and Panama.

Quito, Ecuador, 25 April 1991