Making Education a Catalyst for Progress: The Contribution of the Inter-American Development Bank

There is a growing regional consensus on the need for reform and its urgency in Latin America and the Caribbean. Education reform is driven by growth productivity and global competitiveness concerns, as well as concerns for social equity. The IDB shares with its borrowing member countries a long trajectory of educational development and, more recently, reform. Yet, many challenges remain. This document reviews some of the most important challenges and provides illustrations of the ways in which the IDB is seeking to support the region's efforts to address them. Five major cross-cutting issues are: institutions, information, teachers, technology, and finance. Each of the above is directly connected to one or several of the major objectives of improving quality, equity and educational attainment.