The COVID-19 pandemic widened pre-existing opportunity, skills, and achievement gaps, with devastating impacts on our future generations. It has been more than two years and a half since the pandemic has changed the lives of 165 million students in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), who, on average, lost 237 days of school and faced tremendous learning losses.
During the third quarter of the twentieth century, many Latin American countries made a great effort to expand the coverage of their education systems. The progress, albeit important, was insufficient and uneven and was interrupted by the crisis of the end of the 1970s: output fell in almost all the continent, unemployment skyrocketed and countries were hit by hyperinflation.
Over the last several years, Haiti has been rife with ongoing political and social unrest (including a national lockdown period called Peyi-Lok), skyrocketing levels of unemployment, natural disasters including devastating hurricanes and earthquakes, the COVID-19 health crisis, and a tragic presidential assassination. In the midst of these challenges, the schooling of children in Haiti has suffered from numerous delays and extended interruptions to the academic year.
In a joint investment with the World Bank, the IDB successfully financed the first year of full implementation of the Education Management and Information System (EMIS), setting up the first pieces of a robust foundation for the collection and management of the education data in Haiti.
Establishing a formal education management information system for a country is hard. Doing so in socio-political unrest, changes in government, and natural disasters is even more challenging.
A little over 30 years ago, when Amilcar Amaya was 13, he migrated with his family from El Salvador, leaving behind his native country amid a civil war in which 75,000 lives were lost and a fifth of the population was displaced.
A digital citizen is a person who uses information technology (IT) to participate in society, politics, and government. Karen Mossberger defines it as " those who use the Internet regularly and effectively" in her book Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation. They have a comprehensive understanding of digital citizenship, which is responsible and appropriate behavior when using technology.
In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti’s earthquake, the Government of Haiti faced massive reconstruction needs in all sectors.
Christmas is a perfect occasion to bring the whole family together in a feeling of union and reflection, finally enjoying reunions that were postponed. Especially, it is an anticipated time for children, who look forward to enjoying gifts, games, songs, stories, and the attention of their loved ones.
Authors: Angélica Aguilar, Clarita Arboleda, Margarita Cabra, Natalia Iriarte Tovar, Mercedes Mateo, Emma Näslund-Hadley, Oscar Iván Pineda Diaz, Catalina Reyes, Belén Michel Torino & Laura Feliza Velez Medina
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The teacher enters the classroom, and the bustle turns to silence. Exams are placed on each desk. The teacher walks to the front, points to the clock above the blackboard and says in a firm voice: "You have exactly 90 minutes to finish the test. Get started." We feel the pressure, take a deep breath, and become aware that there is no time to lose. That's the power of the countdown, which gives us a sense of urgency and focus to perform our best in a limited amount of time.