Countries create new Inter-American Education Agenda

Regional cooperation on education received a major boost through the commitment to build an Inter-American Education Agenda, agreed to by the Ministers of Education at their VIII Inter-American Meeting. The ministerial meeting held in Panama City, February 4 and 5 2015, adopted a resolution establishing that the new Agenda will guide policy dialogue and hemispheric cooperation in three areas: quality, inclusive, and equitable education; strengthening of the teaching profession; and comprehensive early childhood care.

The selection of these priority areas by the Ministries of Education of OAS Member States was informed by a broad-based consultative process among countries. The process of building the Inter-American Education Agenda will be led by the Ministers of Education themselves through Working Groups dedicated to each priority area. 

In her inaugural statement, the Minister of Education of Panama and Chair of the Ministerial meeting, Marcela Paredes de Vásquez declared that “today, it is not enough to say that education is the most important variable for achieving human development, and overcoming situations of marginality and vulnerability. We need to work so that education becomes a transformative variable of the paradigms of our societies and an essential element to create and deepen equality between people”. To that end, and in her capacity as President of the Inter-American Committee on Education (CIE), Minister Paredes de Vásquez announced the launching of a new Virtual Platform for Education Cooperation in the Americas that seeks to collect, organize, disseminate and create practical knowledge about political practices, programs, and priority education initiatives for Member States.

Further emphasizing the importance of this vision for education, Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, noted the link between the meeting and the next Summit of the Americas, to be held in Panama in April, where 35 Heads of State from the region will define policy priorities for the hemisphere. Ramdin noted that “for the first time in the context of the Summits of the Americas, the President of the host country has granted education a key role in his vision for the Summit.”

Indeed, the Government of Panama announced the launching of the “Forum of Chancellors of the Americas” to be held in the framework of the Summit, where university leaders will draft recommendations for the region’s Heads of State and Government regarding strengthening the quality of higher education. Ramdin applauded the decision of the Panamanian government to launch the Forum, indicating that “to harness the wealth of knowledge and experience of leaders from the most prestigious universities of the hemisphere is something we should have done long ago.”

Another new and highly lauded feature of the ministerial was the inclusion of an intersectoral dialogue between Ministers of Education and Ministers of Labor. This unprecedented encounter that saw labor officials participating  in the meeting alongside education authorities, was intended to help lay the groundwork for improved inter-sectoral collaboration at both the policy and programmatic levels, and to bring closer attention to the issue of education and workforce development. 

In engaging with his education counterparts, Minister of Labor and Workforce Development of Panama, Luis Ernesto Carles, stated that consensus exists on the necessity to “lineup the supply of training with the demand for talent,” adding “this is the only thing that we can do to ensure that human talent has stable, genuine, decent employment.”

Bringing the event to a successful close, Sherry Tross, Executive Secretary for Integral Development of the OAS  observed that “as the leaders of the Americas prepare to meet at the upcoming Summit of the Americas which revolves around the theme of Prosperity with Equity in the Americas, we are reminded that it is impossible to make real headway on this issue if we do not seriously address quality education and providing access for all. These must be cornerstones for development and essential areas of focus as countries seek to respond effectively to both the structural shifts in the global demand for talent and labor as well as the pressing challenge of inequality.”

The next Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education will be held in the Bahamas in 2017, under the leadership of their Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology. Until then, the Working Groups, with the technical assistance of the OAS, will work on building and consolidating the new Inter-American Education Agenda.
.