Media Center

Press Release

OAS Inter-American Council for Integral Development Discussed the Importance of Innovation in Education and Teacher Training

The Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) today held a regular meeting focused on analyzing the importance of innovation and creativity in strengthening education and teacher training.

The meeting, led by the Chair of CIDI and Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the OAS, Diego Pary, analyzed specific cases of countries and initiatives promoted in the region in which innovation and new information and communication technologies have been used as resources to promote quality and widely accessible education.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Pary said that education "is the only transforming element of our society" and said that while within the OAS significant progress has been made in promoting the generation of public policies in member countries, " it is necessary to further strengthen and advance in ways that allow teachers to continue contributing holistically to the education of our people."

The First Vice President of the Republic of Peru, Marisol Espinoza, made a presentation on the efforts the government of her country is carrying out to promote interconnectivity in education, as well as the partnerships that have allowed for the creation of networks, portals and digital learning systems that contribute to higher quality education and better access from remote locations.

“A fundamental factor to consider in a globalized world is the development of national competitiveness. We are living in an information age in which new technologies are fundamental to generate a platform for the development of citizens,” considering that thanks to those technologies “borders and distances have been eliminated,” she said. The Peruvian authority also drew attention to the need to broad educational opportunities that create citizens with high level competitive capabilities. “We should aim for the development of inclusive societies, in which we can all participate in the environment of the information age and we can aspire to sustainable development,” she noted.

Upon referring to Virtual Educa, promoted by the OAS, Vice President Espinoza said “it is one of the most important platforms on which experiences of productive models and best practices are exchanged through public-private partnerships.” In that context, she recalled that Virtual Educa not only contributes to the knowledge of the students, but also to those of the teachers, and said “the 21st century has presented our governments with the challenge of finding a path that allows our teachers to be highly trained and our students to be capable of exploring, motivated to act, and ready to become part of a globalized society where competitiveness makes the difference.”

The First Vice President of Peru extended an invitation to all member states to attend the XV International Conference of Virtual Educa, which will be held in Peru from June 9 to 13, 2014, and in which institutional authorities, school administrators, educators and experts from Latin America and the Caribbean involved with the processes of incorporating the benefits of technology in education will take part.

For his part, the Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development of Trinidad and Tobago, Bhoendradatt Tewarie, spoke about innovation in education and highlighted the urgent need to improve the quality of education in the region and address the major challenges in this area, mainly those related to the fact that a high number of students in the region do not complete primary and secondary education, and the lack of skills needed to face the job market.

Trinidad and Tobago will host the Americas Competitiveness Forum from October 8 to 10, 2014, and in this regard Minister Tewarie emphasized creativity as central in promoting competitiveness, which he considered should be promoted both at home and in schools. "In this era of technological advancements, competitiveness is contingent upon economies that produce processes and goods derived from knowledge. Such economies are run by creative people that generate ideas within the field of innovation," he said.

Minister Tewarie also added that "growth and sustainable development are not viable without innovation, which requires a wider application of the human imagination." In the same line he acknowledged that it is necessary to exchange the existing educational curricula used in classrooms for others that encourage turning challenges into opportunities and that promote issues such as flexibility, adaptability, individuality, self-confidence and independence.

The Minister added that creativity must be supported by educational systems that promote the development of human talent and encouraged reevaluation of existing educational systems to give way to greater creativity and freer environments that stimulate imagination, the active participation of students facilitated by technologies, and that provide greater access to knowledge. "The world needs more entrepreneurs, more creators, more inventors and more creative interventions. Human imagination is at a critical point and we need to promote creative solutions and mechanisms that support and encourage entrepreneurship and business ideas for broad student participation," he concluded.

During today’s meeting, the CIDI also approved that the Sixth Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities of Culture will be held in Haiti on August 12 and 13, 2014.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

The B-Roll of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-065/14