Challenges

The pre-pandemic results of the Regional Comparative and Explanatory Studies (ERCE) conducted by the Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE) show that more than 60 per cent of sixth graders did not achieve the expected minimum proficiency in literacy and mathematics. This worrying situation was aggravated by the effect of COVID-19. More than two years into the pandemic, the region’s 170 million children and young people have gone through one of the longest school closures in the world. It is estimated that children who are back at school have fallen, on average, between one and 1.8 years behind.

In this context, the comprehensive measurements of learning outcomes and the development of national capacities to carry out an educational evaluation is more urgent than ever, to address the pressing needs of Member States to achieve the goals set for 2030 and to mobilize the agenda of transformation and educational recovery in the region.

Toward a Solution

The Latin American Laboratory for Assessment of the Quality of Education (LLECE), coordinated by Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC/UNESCO Santiago) and founded in 1994, has developed and maintained contextualized and comprehensive measurements of the educational situation in the countries of the region. Its main purpose is to contribute to the improvement of the learning of primary school students, by monitoring learning achievements and their progress with respect to international agendas, currently the 2030 Agenda.

LLECE´s main initiative, the Comparative and Explanatory Regional Studies (ERCE) are the largest and most representative assessments of learning in primary school in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Each new cycle of ERCE provides inputs of great relevance for feedback to educational systems and to generate reflections on their strengths and challenges that inform educational policy decision-making.

Since its inception, the Laboratory has assumed an important role in strengthening an evaluation culture in the region, working in coordination with the countries that participate in its studies. It maintains a close work agenda with the national teams to ensure the correct implementation of their studies, with the installation of technical capacities and the development of collaboration networks between the different countries as a working premise.

Unlike large-scale cross-regional studies, LLECE encourages cooperation between participating countries, allowing them to be active agents in technical and political decisions during the development of the studies. This is one of the most innovative features of this regional initiative. The Laboratory’s commitment to and with the countries is characterized by responding to the suggestions and needs of each context, complementing the national efforts of educational evaluation and supporting the actions of each country aimed at improving learning. It is a space for discussion and debate in which the countries are the drivers of reflection, analysis and decision-making. This contributes to the generation of alliances and actions to improve learning opportunities that provide greater well-being to each student in the region.

LLECE’s experience in the implementation of regional studies has generated relevant information for the global education agenda and contributes to the achievement of SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Furthermore, it represents the Region’s mechanism for monitoring the implementation of the Education 2030 Agenda, since it is the main evaluation tool of primary education in the region.

In particular, the next cycle of ERCE (ERCE 2025) will make comparable information available following the end of the pandemic, when countries are making efforts in the implementation of programmes and public policies that allow ground to be recovered in educational matters, much of which was lost as a result of this global crisis. Additionally, this measurement will be made five years before 2030, the year in which the fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda will be reviewed. With this information, countries will have the opportunity to make new adjustments and prioritizations in their education policies, in the final stretch towards the agreed 2030 Agenda deadline. As in the previous cycles of the study, ERCE 2025 will include innovations in the area of educational measurement, because it has information in other domains of interest, and will expand the concept of educational quality and its monitoring.

For the Laboratory to remain sustainable, it requires the support and contributions of countries and donors to carry out the ERCE 2025 regional study and other projects, so it is important to continue to have the support of countries and the contribution of new strategic partners. For ERCE 2025, the commitment of member countries will be sealed with an agreement signed for five years (2022-2026), which will secure their annual contribution for the duration of the ERCE 2025 Study.

There are currently at least two studies with similar characteristics: the Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems (PASEC) in sub-Saharan African countries, and Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEAPLM) in Southeast Asian countries. However, both studies were initiated at the initiative of pre-existing organizations in those countries (PASEC is coordinated by the Conference of Ministers of Education of Frenchspeaking States and Governments (CONFEMEN), and SEA-PLM by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)). LLECE is the only initiative that emerged directly from the free coordination of the member countries coordinated by a UN agency. Regardless of this difference, the existence of other similar initiatives is proof that, with the political and financial commitment of the Ministries of Education, it is possible to replicate this initiative in other regions.