Juan Carlos Navarro presentation abstract

Education and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Challenge of the Global Economy

The presentation reviews evidence on the extent to which global trends towards a knowledge-based economy are affecting Latin America and the Caribbean, and points at education quality, equity and efficiency issues that must be addressed if the countries of these parts of the world are to grow and compete. Chief among these issues are the extreme differences in levels of achievement among income groups and among regions within countries, the persistent low quality and, more generally, the insufficient contribution of human capital formation and technological development to growth.

A set of priorities for educational investment over the next decade is also outlined, stemming from the possibilities open by the achievements of recent education reforms and the considerable challenges outlined in the first part of the presentation.

The ideas presented are part of an ongoing effort at developing an education strategy document for the Inter-American Bank.