Improving
Human Resources Policies in Latin America
Latin America
September 2000 – February 2003
 In
the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region, school enrollment
has improved since the 1960s, but school efficiency remains
a challenge. Most youth fail to acquire basic skills in
mathematics, language, and science. The average student
spends more than seven years in primary school, completing
just four grades. Governments have been reconsidering their
education policies in an effort to improve quality and
efficiency. USAID’s LAC Bureau for Sustainable Development
requested technical services from BEPS to strengthen the
regional and country-specific capacities of Latin American
and Caribbean countries in a broad range of emerging educational
needs in basic education, many related to policy reform.
BEPS has assisted the LAC Bureau by
providing professional services to achieve the overarching
goal of improving the
access, quality, equity, and efficiency of basic education
in the LAC region, especially for underserved populations.
BEPS also provided services to support the bureau’s
goal of developing a broad base of leaders and potential
leaders in LAC countries equipped with technical skills,
training, and education.
Through a series of sub-activities, the BEPS team has:
conducted a review of the LAC team’s regional education
strategy.
- Evaluated the PREAL program (Programa
de Promocion de la Reforma Educativa en America Latina,
translated as Partnership
for Educational Revitalization in the Americas) in four
countries: Chile, Peru, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
- assessed
the accomplishments of the Falconbridge Foundation’s
school sponsorship program in the Dominican Republic
as a model public-private partnership effort in support
of
traditional public education.
- conducted a follow-up activity
to further assess the organization, level of support,
and resources needed
to replicate the
Falconbridge School Sponsorship Program in the Dominican
Republic.
- conducted an educational assessment in the Dominican
Republic.
documented the proceedings of the First Hemispheric Conference
on Indigenous Education, held in Guatemala City in 2001.
- assisted
in formulating a basic education strategy for USAID/El
Salvador. Designed the Centers of Excellence for
Teacher Training (CETT), a presidential initiative to
upgrade
teachers’ skills
and improve reading instruction in Latin America and
the Caribbean.
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