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Authorities Emphasize the Importance of OAS project Virtual Educa during the Inaguration of the Board of Directors and Advisory Council

The Organization of American States (OAS) opened today at its headquarters in Washington, DC the meeting of the Board of Directors and Advisory Council of Virtual Educa, a multilateral initiative of innovative projects in the fields of education and training for human development promoted by the hemispheric Organization.

The event was inaugurated by the OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development, Sherry Tross, and the First Vice President of the Government of Peru and President of the Board of Virtual Educa, Marisol Espinoza, who highlighted the importance of Virtual Educa as a cross- cutting platform between governments, academics, corporations and civil society.

In her address, Executive Secretary Tross said that since its inception, Virtual Educa "has been a meeting that promotes cooperation, collaboration, exchange of ideas and successful experiences that allow countries to face challenges in terms of education and the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) from a multidisciplinary and holistic perspective.” In this regard, she added that the Virtual Educa annual meeting, which has taken place since 2009, is the leading exponent of the work of the initiative and has become "a world leader that brings together those who are working to identify key mechanisms that contribute to social inclusion."

The senior OAS official said the Organization seeks to promote the creation of public-private partnerships that contribute to development and to work together with academics, "because we are convinced that, through them and by extending South-South cooperation, we can increase the impact and reach of our efforts achieving better and broader results." She further analyzed that through the use of ICTs "we can make education more inclusive and open, and we can break the barriers of knowledge acquisition and revolutionize education so that it meets the demands of the international labor market."

Referring to the success that the international conference on education has had, Tross said that "year after year we are exceeding expectations. Medellin's 2013 annual meeting attracted more than 17,000 participants and 140,000 took part online," which was a record attendance. In that sense, Executive Secretary Tross raised the challenge of continuing to broaden the participation and the business entity. "We hope that as part of this meeting we can discuss how we can better institutionalize the Virtual Education program within the Organization and make of this a growing contribution to the future development of our countries," she added.

Meanwhile, the First Vice President of Peru, country which will host the XV Conference of Virtual Educa, agreed with Secretary Tross’ perspectives in terms of promoting public-private partnerships to address social and economic challenges in the countries of the Americas. She also stressed the relationship between education and the fight for inclusion in the region, and highlighted the importance of using information technologies in education, one of the key themes promoted by the government of her country. "We have worked extensively in providing the technological infrastructure to rural areas and closing the digital divide by connecting communities through virtual classrooms that allow them to communicate with the world."

"Competitiveness is a key in the globalized world in which we live," said the Peruvian Vice-President, and this concept requires a large commitment from governments to highlight education as a key element in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. "We are convinced that education is a task that we must work on to contribute to the growth of the Americas," she added and invited participants to take advantage of the "dynamism and excitement" that the region currently enjoys to promote public policies for childhood and youth.

Finally, Vice President Espinoza extended an invitation to the regional event that will take place in her country from June 9 to 13, 2014 and which is expected to bring together officials from institutions, school administrators, educators and experts from Latin America and the Caribbean involved with strengthening the benefits of technology in the field of education.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

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

Reference: E-060/14