Latin America suffered some of the world's longest school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, compelling countries to explore diverse alternatives to maintain children's education. At the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), we investigated various strategies to counteract the learning crisis instigated by these closures and the pre-existing conditions of low educational … [Read more...] about To Tackle the Learning Crisis, Make a Call
Investment in Human Capital: The Path for Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean
**Keynote speech delivered during the Lemann Foundation UNGA 2023 Side event “Eradicating Illiteracy in Brazilian Schools: Lessons for the Global South.” Let me start by talking about an enormous problem—and then about an enormous opportunity to solve it. Before the pandemic, in 2018, the OECD published a truly shocking report about social mobility. It looked at how long … [Read more...] about Investment in Human Capital: The Path for Brazil, Latin America, and the Caribbean
Music Education: Unlocking the Talent and Creating Opportunities in Latin America
“Beyond learning music, it awoke something bigger in me. . . . This is what I have always been searching for, the room to be taken seriously as an artist.” —Merily Ajcip, cellist, Orquesta Alaíde Foppa, Antigua, Guatemala International evidence demonstrates that music education can play an important role in childhood and youth development. What Is Music … [Read more...] about Music Education: Unlocking the Talent and Creating Opportunities in Latin America
Closing the Literacy Gap: Keys to Promoting Reading and Writing Skills in the Classroom
"Flor now knows how to read; she says that the letters, which to me look like complicated drawings to understand and put together, are counters of things and that when you learn to read, it's like stories are being told to you." This excerpt is from Letras en los cordones (Letters on Shoelaces) by Cristina Falcón Maldonado and Marina Marcolin. It is a picture book that tells … [Read more...] about Closing the Literacy Gap: Keys to Promoting Reading and Writing Skills in the Classroom
School Feeding: Latin America and The Caribbean Opportunity to Boost Learning Outcomes
School feeding programs support children's health, nutrition, and education across Latin America and the Caribbean. When COVID-19 closed schools in 2020, these programs adapted by shifting to take-home rations, ensuring 80.3 million children continued receiving meals. As schools reopen, integrated approaches are needed to get kids back on track. In 2023, the IDB Education … [Read more...] about School Feeding: Latin America and The Caribbean Opportunity to Boost Learning Outcomes