REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM (PREDE)

By executing three multinational projects in the areas of Basic Education, Education for Work, and Secondary and Higher Education, as well as other related activities on a regional and national basis, the Program furthers the development of education in the Hemisphere, an essential element in integral development.

Multinational Project on Basic Education

Training activities have been conducted for the teaching staff of the institutions and projects in the participating countries in connection with school structure, teaching written language, mathematics and sciences, and developing alternative forms of initial education.
The Seminar/Workshop to Evaluate and Program the Multinational Project on Basic Education was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, September 5 through 9. There, specific evaluation criteria were established and will be used to examine the activities in the 1990-1995 period, pursuant to resolution CIECC/RES. 866/94.

The following activities were carried out in the 23 countries participating in the project: 209 events that provided instruction to 9,832 educators and school administrators; 73 publications with a run of 45,000 copies; 78 research and study papers; and 6 events held for the purpose of establishing policies and strategies for initial and basic education.

Multinational Project on Education for Work

This Multinational Project examined the effects of the new trade blocs on the job market and the impact that migratory movements would have on the design of new programs in adult education, principally for disadvantaged population groups. The project promoted horizontal cooperation among the participating countries through the services of the Regional Center for Cooperation in Adult Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CREFAL - Mexico), the Career Training, Testing and Development Center (CEDEFT - Mexico), the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service (SENAI - Brazil), and the Center for Experimentation, Research and Enhancement of Teaching (CPEIP - Chile), all institutions that participate in the project.

Through CREFAL, a new regional adult education degree program, lasting eight months, was launched. Ten grants were funded for technical personnel from the Ministries of Education in the participating countries. CEDEFT continued to offer its Masters Degree Program in Educational Planning and Development.

Case studies have been presented on successful innovations in education for work and a second regional research effort has been launched to study the links between educational programs and employment in each national context.

A total of 155 events were held, providing training to 4,767 educators, school administrators and teachers of teachers; 120 publications were produced, with a run of 25,000 copies; 310 studies and research papers were prepared and 34 events to identify policies and strategies for education for work were conducted.

Multinational Project on Secondary and Higher Education

This multinational project continues to provide instruction through courses, workshops, seminars and lectures on issues related to administration; budgeting methods, accreditation and evaluation; educational quality, environmental education and indigenous education; educational technologies, distance education, and science teaching in secondary schools. Cooperation between Latin American and Caribbean institutions materialized in the form of programs to train teachers of Spanish and English as second languages.

The participating institutions have conducted research and prepared studies in a number of areas: academic performance; educational technology; innovation and quality in university education; learning resources; data processing applied to education; distance education; Amazonian development; and a study of the factors that facilitate university administration.

Specialized technical data have been compiled, processed, distributed and circulated on educational technologies and the issues involved in managing and evaluating institutions.

In the 20 countries participating in the project, 89 courses, seminars and workshops were held (64 of which were multinational) at which more than 3,577 people received instruction; 90 publications with a run of 46,000 copies were put in circulation; 4 research papers were prepared and 23 events were held to establish policies and strategies for secondary and higher education.

Regional Activities

In the CIECC Information System (INFOCIECC), the databases on computerization of technical data related to the materials produced during the regional programs were modernized. The 1993 INFOCIECC Catalogue containing the index of scientific and technological monographs and the 1994 catalogue containing the index of educational issues, are ready to go to press. Preparation of the Manual for Training Documentary Information Analysts was completed and will be distributed to 15,000 documents officers and librarians in the region as part of a joint effort on the part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Center for Educational Research and Development (CIDE) of Chile.

Under the Publications Program, four issues were prepared of the inter-American periodical La Educación. In print since 1956, that journal currently has a run of 9,000 copies and is circulated in 138 countries. In the INTERAMER/OEA studies and research monographs collection, a total of 19 studies were published and another six are in progress. These publications have been well received in international academic circles. The series of working papers titled Acción Educativa has produced 33 titles; also, three issues of the EDUCA newsletter were published.

The Inter-American Center for the Study of Educational Planning (CINTERPLAN), headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, provided the member States with technical assistance on selecting databases for educational planning, analyzing ways to decentralize the administrative apparatus of the educational systems, design and implementation of school administration procedures at the local level, improvement of technical education systems, and promoting mechanisms for international integration of educational programs. A regional course was held in Trinidad and Tobago, attended by 30 technicians from the Ministries of Education of the Caribbean member States. Bilateral technical assistance was provided to the Ministries of Education of Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela on matters related to educational planning and management oversight. CINTERPLAN has reinforced its relations with UNESCO, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI) and educational agencies in the MERCOSUR countries.

The cooperative venture with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Inter-American Organization for Higher Education (IOHE) to execute the Project on the Distance Education Network Consortium (PREAD) has entered its final phase of implementation. More than 50 educational institutions in the Hemisphere and over 80 specialists in distance education from throughout the Hemisphere are now active members of PREAD.

Cooperation agreements have been concluded with the University of New Mexico and with San Diego State University, to promote activities in the field of distance education, and with the University of Oklahoma to develop international quality standards for educational services. A cooperation agreement was also concluded with the National Confederation of Industries and with the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service (SENAI) of Brazil to discover training opportunities for Brazilians at institutions in Canada and the United States.

The Third Inter-agency Meeting on Children's Mental Health and Psychosocial Development, held in April, was attended by representatives of PAHO, UNICEF, ECLAC, the Latin American Pediatrics Association (ALAPE) and the World Organization of Initial Education. A similar meeting was held for the countries of the Southern Tier and MERCOSUR.

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