The Laboratory is an entity coordinated by the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), dedicated to producing information and knowledge that gives feedback to education policies and reflects the condition of the quality of education in the region. The new members will be invited to LLECE’s XXXV National Coordinators Meeting, taking place in Tegucigalpa in November 2015, where their incorporation will be made official and actions will be agreed for the Laboratory’s Strategic Plan 2016-2020.

According to Jorge Sequeira, Director of OREALC/UNESCO Santiago, “the presence of these four countries will help reinforce the capability of the Laboratory as a regional mechanism for monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), being submitted to approval by the General Assembly of the UNO in New York at the end of September 2015”. Sequeira explained that according to the Incheon Declaration (adopted during the World Education Forum, held in the Republic of Korea in May 2015), these goals seek to provide quality education, inclusive and equitable, as well as opportunities for life-long learning. “The incorporation of Cuba, Bolivia, El Salvador and Venezuela are news that we are very satisfied with", emphasized.

Cuba formalized its reincorporation with a letter of interest, and confirmed it in a meeting between the director of OREALC/UNESCO Santiago and the ambassador of Cuba, Adolfo Curbelo, held September 2, 2015.

The Plurinational State of Bolivia, ratified its integration into the LLECE in a letter sent by the MInistry of Education of Bolivia, Roberto Iván Aguilar Gómez, indicating that "the Plurinational State of Bolivia is building a system of assessment of the education quality (…) to strengthen this process (…) it is important to know about the experiences other countries of the region have made regarding the quality assessment. Taking part in forums that enable the exchange of experiences and good practices, and that offer space to discuss and generate new and relevant ideas for the evaluation of the pluricultural educational context and to improve the technical capacities, will be of use in order to advance towards the consolidation of the plurinational system of evaluation of the quality of education”. "In this regard - the letter continues -, and knowing about the experience of the LLECE concerning processes of assessment of the quality of education in Latin America, is the reason why the Plurinational State of Bolivia, through the Ministry of Education declares its interest to be accredited as a member of the LLECE ".El Salvador confirmed its decision via a letter from the Ministry of Education, Carlos Mauricio Canjura Linares. “Recognizing the advantages of the mutual collaboration, the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) shares the intention of establishing an alliance with the Ministry of Education of El Salvador through the vice-Ministry of Science and Technology, in order to take common actions towards the strengthening of the implementation of national education programs, especially the development and improvement of technical competences in the evaluation of learning outcomes in education, primarily, seeking to contribute to the achievement of quality education for all". The letter concludes stating that “within this frame, we agree that El Salvador (…) becomes a member of the network of the Latin American Laboratory of Assessment of the Quality of Education, LLECE". The letter of collaboration was signed by Erlinda Handal, vice-Minister of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education of El Salvador.The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela assured that the incorporation into LLECE will make it feasible to increase "the possibilities of having an increasingly better quality of education" and at the same time "allow to qualitatively contribute, measure and compare the educational level", according to the Ministry for the Popular Power for Education Popular, Héctor Rodríguez while speaking to the local media. On July 22, 2015 President Nicolás Maduro approved the proposal for the creation of the National Institute for Evaluation of the Quality of Education, and announced the "immediate reactivation of the participation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the Latin-American Laboratory of the Assessment of the Educational Quality (sic) ", indicated the newspaper Informe21.com.

Further information

• Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE)
• Cuba officially joins the Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education