Is education the recovery tool in Latin America?

Extreme poverty in Latin America reaches its highest levels in the last 20 years due to the crisis caused by the pandemic. In 12 months 26 million employments have disappeared in the region…Can education be a recovery tool in Latin America and the Caribbean? Answering to this question has been the purpose of the Forum CEU Universities Las Américas.

The challenges of education in Latin America

This space for reflection has started analysing the challenges of education in Latin America after this year of pandemic. Adaptation to new learning trends, Incorporating online work dynamics, Education of leaders to face the situation in the region?

The panel was formed by the lecturers: Ismael Cala, President of Ismael Cala Foundation, José María Del Corral, Global Director of Scholas Ocurrentes, Mercedes Mateo, Head of the Division of Education of the Inter-American Development Bank and Rosa Visedo, Dean of Universidad CEU San Pablo.

To the understanding of Rosa Visedo, for education to serve as real recovery tool in the next years it is important to act in three lines. Firstly, bringing closer the relationship University/Company “if we want to adjust the demand of companies to the alumni of our Universities”. Secondly, to improve internationalization “as it contributes to raise multicultural youngsters and adapt to an ever more global world”. Thirdly, to insist on methodological renovation. “We have to rethink our teaching methodology to adapt it to the new learning methods of our students”, has declared.

According to the Dean of Universidad CEU San Pablo, it is also important to reinforce “sense skills”, “those skills provide our students with critical thinking, values…and are related to a sound humanistic education”. And finally to incorporate to their CVs the perspective of the common good “In the sense that solutions provided by our students contribute to improve society”.

CEU innovation for new challenges

How has CEU worked this year to guarantee that their students are ready to face the actual challenges? Through a three-fold innovation: technological transformation, adaptation of methodologies to new learning methods and innovation in its academic offer. With new programs that raise students in the profiles demanded these days by companies and incorporating skills transversally in all programs even in those more traditional.

The pandemic has speed up the digital transformation that had already started at CEU. At first, it eased the transition from an in-person model to a virtual one and then to a double-presence hybrid with part of students in classrooms and another at home taking part in class thanks to IT systems.