US FY 1999 Congressional Presentation

Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET

PROGRAM: LAC REGIONAL
TITLE AND NUMBER: Improved Human Resource Policies Adopted in Selected Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Countries, 598-SOO2
STATUS: Continuing
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $1,400,000 CSD
INITIAL OBLIGATION: FY 1996; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: FY 2001

Purpose: To promote a better understanding of education policy issues and develop a broader and more active constituency for educational policy reform within the LAC region.

Background: Education policy reform is a timely issue on the hemispheric agenda. With the shift toward open economies in most of the region, countries are increasingly concluding that success in world trade and political stability depends more on human resources than on natural resources. Large segments of society in the LAC region--particularly women, minorities and indigenous groups--have not been equipped to participate fully in the economic, social or political life of their country. Nearly one half of the hemisphere's population lives in ignorance and poverty. The low level of primary school attainment is a major constraint to economic development. Considerable evidence suggests that policies change only when local policy thinkers and leaders become intellectually convinced of the merit of an argument.

USAID Role and Achievement to Date: There were two major accomplishments during the last year: 1) policy reform efforts initiated and 2) the establishment of a Secretariat. The Secretariat which provides policy leadership in the hemisphere, held ten workshops, consulted with ministries of education, and provided technical and analytical support throughout the hemisphere. Research and analyses were conducted on education standards and student assessment including policy reform options for the education systems of Latin America and the Caribbean. These results were disseminated at an international workshop, held in Washington, D.C. The findings from these studies and the workshop helped to crystalize debate in the region on the cutting edge issue for education reform. For example, discussion of the importance of developing national standards and student assessment has noticeably increased in the region. As a result of a sub-regional workshop on education finance, over 160 leaders (including Ministers of Education, Finance and Planning) from 14 countries reviewed the need to link funding to learning outcomes and to clearly delineate this responsibility in any education finance system.

Description: The essence of USAID's approach in the region is to effect policy change through the development of a network of hemispheric "change agents," who will work to reform educational systems in their own countries. USAID, in cooperation with other donors, will support a consultative forum for government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the business community, donors and international organizations which will establish a framework to identify, showcase and replicate the best educational policies and practices in the hemisphere. This forum will encourage country-level reform in a variety of areas, including educational quality, finance, decentralization and equity. With a relatively small investment, USAID will effect large changes in the manner in which national governments invest massive expenditures in education, which will result in dramatic efficiencies and savings. With modest investments in education policy reform in LAC countries, USAID can, and is already, having a direct effect on developing influential constituencies to support policy reform and on the delivery of quality primary education.

Host Country and Other Donors: USAID's effort to improve the quality and efficiency of education in the LAC region is a partnership between USAID, host countries, other donors, and LAC education organizations. The Inter-American Development Bank continues to provide support for this activity. On
hemispheric educational policy, the LAC Regional program works with the Inter-American Dialogue, LAC regional institutions and the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). The USDOE is the lead Agency in the U.S.-Brazil Partnership in Education; USAID is working with USDOE to facilitate the partnership's objectives to foster policy reform in Brazil.

Beneficiaries: The ultimate beneficiaries of the effort will be the school-age children in the LAC region, especially those in primary grades. Other beneficiaries will include the host country governments which will provide higher quality cost effective services, the private sector which will draw on a better educated, more productive labor force, and people at large who will gain more equitable and politically stable societies.

Principal Contractor, Grantee or Agencies: The Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PERA) is implemented through a cooperative agreement with a U.S.-based NGO, the Inter-American Dialogue. We will also collaborate with the U.S. Department of Education in the implementation of the U.S.-Brazil Partnership.
Major Results Indicators:
						Baseline (1996)  	 Target (2001)

Number of countries progressing			0               		10 
towards implementation of          
key education reform policies*
at the national and or local level.

Education reform monitoring				0                		10
system established and operating
efficiently in selected LAC 
countries.
 
Increased education budgets				0                		10
allocated to primary education
in selected LAC countries 	
^* Reform policies include: quality, equity, governance and finance.

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