IDB and OEI bet on digitizing education in Latin America

The Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) started the project “Education for the 21st century: prosper, compete and innovate”, An ambitious initiative to digitize education in Latin America and“support the transition towards hybrid, more innovative and inclusive educational models ”.

The project “It is the commitment of both organizations to strengthen the Ibero-American educational systems in the face of the demands of today’s world, in a region where at least 77 million people do not have access to quality internet in rural areas”, Both organizations highlight in a joint statement.

The plan, which will place special emphasis on the digitization of rural and urban areas with internet access difficulties, will be implemented in its initial phase in seven Ibero-American countries -Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras–, where it will bet on strengthening digital training systems in order to “ensure educational continuity”, Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project has started its journey in Mexico, where in a workshop aimed at national authorities and educational institutions, it focused for two days on “the challenges of hybrid education in rural areas”, In a country where half of the rural population does not have network connectivity and only half of the population over six years of age has access to a computer, according to a Mexican government survey published in 2020.

After the first workshop in Mexico, the joint initiative of the IDB and the IEO contemplates the execution of another pilot test in one of the countries selected in the initial phase, and then “replicate the experiences in the rest of the region“, Where they intend to focus on the”digital literacy of vulnerable population in rural areas with difficult access, and marginal urban areas”, Both supranational organizations add in the note.

Education systems in Latin America and the Caribbean “have undergone few structural transformations and still prepare students for the jobs of the last century“, Highlights in the statement the Secretary General of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero, who considers” essential “to bet on development models that”aim to train new skills in the digital world”.

For the president of the IDB, Mauricio Claver-Carone, one should not “underestimating this historic moment of the fourth industrial revolution and what it means for education“, given that “For the future to be sustainable, it has to be hand in hand with education, which will allow us to reach the next step: that of digital infrastructure.”.

“Education for the 21st century: prosper, compete and innovate“Form of”Regional Educational Digital Transformation Program”Launched by the IEO last November, and is financed by international organizations such as the IDB, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (Aecid), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) or Profuturo.