On 7 and 8 April, 2014, the national coordinators of the Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE) came together for their 32nd such meeting. The event was attended by Ecuador’s Minister for Education, Augusto Espinoza, and its main objective was to review plans and programmes for the Third Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study, with a particular emphasis on analysis, with the goal of organising actions to bolster education processes in Ecuador and the other countries that take part in LLECE studies, that aim to improve school performance.

UNESCO Quito Director Saadia Sánchez, who is also the organization’s representative  for Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, was unable to attend, but UNESCO Culture Specialist Alcira Sandoval Ruiz passed on her message: “Advancing towards achieving quality education requires placing greater emphasis on the importance of tracking and monitoring the school performance of children and young people, focussed on strengthening public policies that guarantee inclusion and universal access to education”.

LLECE is committed to research, and to date has conducted two comparative studies, with a third now in the advanced planning stages: TERCE, the third regional comparative and explanatory study of education quality is set to be launched in December 2014, in a bid to promote public policies for development. 15 Latin American countries are to take part, along with the Mexican state of Nuevo León.  

Atilio Pizarro of the Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago), which organised this event, described the strong commitment to be found in the region to transform education into quality education, and furthermore to reduce inequality in its different forms and to improve specific conditions for children and young people through specialised learning programmes. 

More information:

• Education Quality Assessment (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago)
• Photo gallery