Villa Esperanza, is a shantytown of unpaved streets and low-slung tin-roofed house, a place where the prospects for children would seem grim. Most adults in the town outside Lima work selling goods on the street or in other low-paying jobs. Many are illiterate, and the social problems, ranging from gangs to high levels of alcoholism, disease and domestic violence, might snuff … [Read more...] about When Poverty Is No Obstacle to Educational Success
#skills
SkillsBank: The Sweeping New Website on Skills Development
On Aug. 30, the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank launched its 2017 flagship report, examining the challenges of skills development throughout people's lives. Based on a deep review of studies from around the world, the report, Learning Better: Public Policy for Skills Development, uses rigorous evidence to determine which interventions work and which … [Read more...] about SkillsBank: The Sweeping New Website on Skills Development
When Children’s Skills Predict Their Adult Earnings
What are the critical factors that allow people to accumulate skills from childhood to adulthood? Providing the right answers to that vital question is key not only to ensuring individual well-being and prosperity. It also makes all the difference in nurturing generations that increase productivity, foster growth, and reduce poverty for Latin American and the Caribbean as a … [Read more...] about When Children’s Skills Predict Their Adult Earnings
Soft Skills Are, in Fact, Hard Skills
By Pablo Bachelet* I have two sons. One majored in history. The other graduated with a degree in Spanish and French literature. Despite my urgings – or maybe because of them – neither opted to study something scientific or mathematical, the so-called STEM fields that underpin modern economies. Should I worry? Every parent wants their child to be happy doing what they like. … [Read more...] about Soft Skills Are, in Fact, Hard Skills
Wielding the Scientific Method For a More Skilled Population
From the 554-foot high Washington Monument down Constitution Avenue towards the United States Congress in Washington, D.C., they marched by the thousands: physicists, biologists, chemists, zoologists, economists, and scientists from virtually every other discipline. The first ever March for Science April 22, along with its teach-ins, and its companion events in hundreds of … [Read more...] about Wielding the Scientific Method For a More Skilled Population