Smart spending in education is an approach that seeks to generate greater impact on learning. For decades, the debate on education in Latin America and the Caribbean has revolved around a seemingly simple question: How much do we spend on education? Yet this perspective, while important, is insufficient. Public spending on education in the region fell to 3.9% … [Read more...] about What are we talking about when we use the term “smart spending” in education?
More Than a Meal: Why School Meals Matter for Nutrition
School feeding programs not only nourish millions of children across Latin America and the Caribbean; they also ease household budgets and strengthen the resilience of food systems. Every day, millions of children across Latin America and the Caribbean walk into school hungry. For these children school may be the only place where they receive a nutritious meal. There … [Read more...] about More Than a Meal: Why School Meals Matter for Nutrition
How can we make sure every school has the staff it needs?
One of the major challenges in education management is ensuring that each school has the education personnel it needs. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, each year, policymakers must estimate and assign teaching positions in schools to ensure education for millions of students. Without proper planning, some schools may have more teachers than they need, while … [Read more...] about How can we make sure every school has the staff it needs?
What Is CXC and What Can We Learn from Their Exams to Unlock Academic Success?
For those outside the region, the initials “CXC” might sound like a secret code. But if you grew up in the Caribbean, chances are you’ve heard about it at least a thousand times—or taken one of its exams yourself. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is the main regional body responsible for academic and vocational assessments at the secondary and post-secondary levels. As … [Read more...] about What Is CXC and What Can We Learn from Their Exams to Unlock Academic Success?
From human counselors to AI agents: What We Learned From Scaling Career Guidance in Chile
Scaling effective educational interventions remains a major policy challenge. Programs that succeed at a small scale often lose impact when expanded—a phenomenon researchers call the "voltage effect." This is especially true for interventions that depend on intensive human interactions such as counseling, coaching or mentoring, where cost and availability of skilled personnel … [Read more...] about From human counselors to AI agents: What We Learned From Scaling Career Guidance in Chile