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EDUCATION SHOULD BE “THE CENTRAL PRIORITY OF DEVELOPMENT," MINISTERS SAY

MEXICO CITY – The education ministers of the member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS) today expressed their joint intention to ensure that education is “the central priority of development” in the coming decades, “thus creating an authentic alliance of the Americas in favor education.”

In the Declaration of Mexico, issued here at the close of the Third Meeting of Ministers of Education, the ministers underscored the role of education in promoting social equity, fighting poverty and fostering democratic values in the hemisphere, and renewed their commitment to reach the educational goals established through the Summits of the Americas.

“We have assumed the commitment of educating present and future generations to ensure they are able to participate in a globalized environment and to construct a hemisphere in which no child is left behind,” they affirmed.

The ministers also expressed their belief that countries should increase their investments in education and recommended that their governments explore financial strategies to accomplish that goal. “In addition, several among us consider it worthwhile to explore the possibility of debt-for-education swaps. We recognize that such initiatives must be developed in coordination with our ministries of finance and with respect to our countries' legislation,” the ministers said in the Declaration of Mexico.

The ministerial meeting, which ended today, also formally established the Inter-American Committee on Education, which will be the permanent forum on education for the 34 countries that make up the OAS. Mexico was elected to chair the new entity; Trinidad and Tobago, which will host the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Education, and El Salvador were elected to the vice chairmanships.

One of the Inter-American Committee's first tasks will be to approve four hemispheric projects designed to promote equity and quality in education, strengthen secondary education, bolster teacher training, and expand and improve education indicators. These projects will be financed through a $2 million special OAS fund.

Sofialeticia Morales, Director of the OAS Unit for Social Development and Education, told a press conference that the funds will be “seed money” to help promote the hemispheric educational alliance to which the ministers had referred, adding that the countries have the political will to make real progress. “We leave here with a commitment for tomorrow”, she said.

For his part, the Director General of the OAS Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development, Ronald Scheman, stressed the importance of creating new alliance between the public and private sectors to strengthen and help finance education.

The education ministers gave high priority to the issue of financing in their deliberations. Several international institutions participated in a special session – sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank, the OAS and the Mexican Secretariat for Public Education – to explore possible financing mechanisms. Participants also included Costa Rica's Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade, Vilma Villalobos, and Mexico's Under Secretary of Finance, Carlos Hurtado.

During the sessions, the ministers emphasized the value of exchanging information and ideas to confront shared educational challenges. They also urged the OAS Unit for Social Development and Education to continue its strategy of lessons learned in education initiatives among the countries, through its consolidated programs.

Mexico's Public Education Secretary, Reyes Tamez Guerra, chaired the ministerial meeting, which was held in the framework of the OAS Inter-American Council on Integral Development.

Reference: E-156/03