UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

01/23/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/24/2025 11:39

Diverse Perspectives, One Purpose: Achieving Inclusive, Quality Education In Latin America And The Caribbean

When we talk about guaranteeing quality education for all children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean, urgent challenges emerge. Climate change, human mobility, xenophobia, and inequalities converge in a complex scenario, where the role of those who design, implement, and evaluate education policies is key.

In this sense, alumni of the IIEP-UNESCO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean training shared how the knowledge acquired during the programmes and courses allowed them to generate a concrete impact in their areas of work.

Elisa Díaz, Coordinator of the Teacher Skills Strengthening Programme at the Peruvian Ministry of Education, faced the challenge of bridging the digital divide in basic education. After completing the specialized course in Digital Policies and the Regional Training Programme in Planning and Management of Education Policies, she stressed that she was able to acquire "this idea of building public policy from the ground up," applying it in initiatives such as the Plan to Close the Digital Divide.

In 2020, we articulated a digital accompaniment plan for rural and urban areas, which gave excellent results in the country. I learned that the more actors in the territory participate in the design of policies, the more sustainable the proposals are
Elisa Díaz, Coordinator of the Teacher Skills Strengthening Programme at the Ministry of Education of Peru
Samanta Andrade and Istmeña Íñiguez recounted how they focused their efforts on a shared problem: school dropout, aggravated by human mobility and xenophobia in Ecuador.


Samanta Andrade, from the National Institute for Educational Evaluation of Ecuador, highlighted that the multi-causal situational analysis learned at the Seminar on Educational Planning and Human Mobility and in IIEP's specialized course on Digital Policies allowed her to identify critical factors behind school dropout. From his analytical work and consultation with different stakeholders, she concluded that the increase of students in a situation of human mobility was a key factor in educational performance.


In response, Samanta designed together with colleagues the Intercultural Integration Days in educational institutions in Pichincha, one of the provinces with the highest number of migrant students. She also considered the results of the Multiannual Resilience Programme, an accompaniment for migrant students and families, to facilitate their integration into the education system.

A student in his classroom.
Ernestoeslava / Pixabay
For her part, Istmeña Íñiguez, Senior Education Assistant within UNHCR Ecuador's Protection unit, focused her work on ensuring access to education without barriers, prioritizing the prevention of xenophobia. As she explained, her training at IIEP allowed her to combine "a humanitarian perspective with a sustainable development approach, which is necessary to address educational challenges in a holistic manner."


Istmeña was able to articulate emergency and development approaches, ensuring that immediate actions responded to urgent needs without losing sight of long-term goals. This approach helped to create inclusive educational strategies, sensitive to cultural diversity and oriented towards school retention.

Inclusive and forward-looking policies
In Uruguay, Romina Parodi, training coordinator at the Ministry of Education and Culture, found in the IIEP Regional Training Programme in Planning and Management of Education Policies the necessary tools to address a critical challenge: the deficit of qualified teachers in basic secondary education. "I discovered that this problem is not evenly distributed; it especially affects vulnerable neighbourhoods and subjects such as mathematics and science. The training helped me to think of specific and creative solutions for this particular context," she said.


In addition, Parodi highlighted the impact of his work as an input for public policy debates, especially after the national elections.

It was exciting to see how my analysis could contribute ideas to improve the quality of education at the national level. I learned that small changes, in a country with the population density of Uruguay, can generate profound transformations in the education system
Romina Parodi, training coordinator at the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay
From Brazil, Luciana Vieira, a specialist in education statistics, took advantage of the Regional Training Programme to address an emerging phenomenon in the north of the country: the increase in school enrolment due to the migration of people from neighbouring countries, mainly Venezuela. "While the national trend showed a decrease, the census data revealed a strong growth in border states, accompanied by low results in mathematics and Portuguese," she explained.


Based on this analysis, Luciana designed a policy to support Portuguese language learning among migrant children, recognizing language barriers as a key factor in academic performance. "The programme helped me to see the data beyond the numbers, to become aware of them and to build indicators to support a specific educational proposal," she said. In that sense, Luciana hopes that her work can inspire future policies in the Ministry of Education.

An intercultural approach
Paula Veas is a social communicator and comes from a family of Mapuche educators. She lives in Traiguén, Chile, and works for an education rooted in the worldview of her people, where learning is intertwined with all stages of life. "We want to respond to the needs of a territory historically relegated by state policies and where intercultural education still faces multiple challenges," Paula explained.

It was very enriching to live in parallel the experience of being a mentor in the UNESCO certification and Learning by Helping, while participating in the training with the IIEP. Getting to know the realities of teachers from all over Latin America, seeing the gaps and how diversity is experienced in the classroom allowed me to connect two worlds: work in the field with the theoretical framework of the training
Paula Veas
Alumni of the Regional Training Programme in Planning and Management of Education Policies
Throughout his career, she has been able to rethink the intersections between Mapuche and Western education. "Latin America is full of diversity, but this cultural richness is not yet fully integrated into education policies. In Mapuche education, for example, there are answers to fundamental problems such as emotional development and care for the environment, which could be a great contribution," she said.

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If these stories inspire you, we invite you to explore more impact stories like these on our new website. Also, if you are an Alumni of one of our training programmes and want to share your experience, please write to us at [email protected]


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