Secondary education and VET reforms in Latin America (1998-2001)

Type of project/activity:

Technical assistance for vocational education and training (VET) reforms undertaken at the request of development banks and/or public education agencies in Latin America.

Objectives:

This activity bring together the results of a series of technical assistance missions aimed at identifying and evaluating secondary education and VET policies, reforms and programmes in various Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic and Uruguay). Secondary education and the place of technical education and vocational training in it are high on the policy agenda of these countries which are faced with rapidly rising enrolments at this level, low student attainments, inadequate quality of teaching staff, and shortages of public funds for education.

Partners:

These missions were undertaken within the framework of the preparation of major development programmes to be co-financed by national education authorities and development banks.

Main activities:

Assessment of the development plans of eight higher vocational training institutes in Argentina (November 1996, May 1998, July and September1999), as part of the implementation of a major Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan to develop the technical non-university sector in this country;

Participation in seminars on technical and vocational education and training sponsored by development banks in Argentina (June 1999), Chile (June 1999) and Santo Domingo (March 2000);

Participation in strategy seminars on trends in secondary education in Latin America, organised by the IADB in Washington, as part of the Regional Policy Dialogue (December 2000) and to discuss the specific problems of VET policy in a poor, small and mainly agricultural economy (February 2002);

Project identification work in Chile to prepare a major investment programme aimed at improving the employability of school-leavers, to be co-financed by the World Bank and national authorities (January and June 2000);

Seminar on "Strengthening Secondary Education in Uruguay" (March 2001) to prepare a major investment in this area co-financed by the IADB.

Name of funder:

These missions were co-financed by the IADB (Inter-American Development Bank), the World Bank and various public agencies specialised in VET in respective countries.

Outcomes, reports/documents:

"Secondary Education in Europe : Main Trends", Jean-Pierre Jallade, March 2000
"La educación secundaria en Europa y Estados unidos" Jean-Pierre Jallade, February 2001