Ten Year Education Plan for Ecuador - UNESCO.org

TenYearEducationPlanforEcuador

RenderingofAccountsJanuary-June2007

Year2ofitsexecution

Consejo Nacionalde Educación

TEN YEAR EDUCATION PLAN2006-2015

YEAR 2 OF ITS EXECUTION

RENDERING OF ACCOUNTSJANUARY - JUNE 2007

Education:A Focal Pointfor Development

Informe de Gestión 3

Education is a fundamental pillar forhuman beings in the building of an inclusi-ve, fair, diverse, responsible and interculturalsociety according to the guidelines of theTen Year Plan for Education, converted intoa State Policy through the citizen’s mandateon November 26, 2006. President RafaelCorrea, conscious of the importance of qua-lity education, assumed this social responsi-bility as one of the fundamental axes of hisGovernment.

Therefore, on March 16, 2007, PresidentCorrea through the Executive Decree No. 188declared the education sector under a state ofemergency on a national level, assigning $80million covered by the Savings and EmergencyFund created by the Organic Law forResponsibility, Stabilization and FiscalTransparency and intervene immediately inthe building, repair and improvement of schoolinfrastructure as well as providing equipment,furniture and school books for free public and(“fiscomisionales”) (public schools under theadministration of religious missions).

The President signed the ExecutiveDecree with the Ministers of Finance andEducation, Ricardo Patiño and Raul Vallejorespectively, within the framework of theopening of the Civic Plaza of the Ministry ofEducation where he unveiled the monumentwith a stylized version of the Figure ofValdivia in homage to the teacher and ex-

Minister of Defense, Guadalupe LarrivaGonzalez, who died in an airplane accidentlast January 24th.

Thus, Economist Rafael Correa was thefirst President of Ecuador who in a singleadministrative act took the transcendentaldecision to provide resources to education inan amount unheard of in our history in orderto transform an educational reality abando-ned for many years into a tool for nationaldevelopment.

“Children are entitled to receive freeeducation, access to secondary educationand professional training. They are entitledto an education which fully promotes theirpersonalities, their talent and their mentaland physical skills. An education that willprepare them for a responsible life in a freesociety, with pride of belonging to a free,dignified and sovereign country.

[.....] They are entitled to an educationthat develops respect for their own families,their cultural identity and their language, fortheir country and for human and civicvalues. They are entitled to an educationthat promotes a spirit of understanding,peace, tolerance and equality.”

Fragment of President Rafael Correa’s speech on the

International children’s Day, a festival of children’s integra-

tion “Ecuador Children 2007,’ May 31, 2007.

Rafael Correa DelgadoPresidente Constitucional del Ecuador

The Ministry of Education and Cultureproposed at the headquarters of the NationalEducation Council (“NEC”) drafting a TenYear Education Plan. NEC is a consultingbody from the education sector made up ofrepresentatives from the National EducatorsUnion, the Confederation of CatholicEducation Schools, the Confederation ofPrivate Lay Education Schools, the NationalCouncil of Higher Education and theNational Secretariat for Planning andDevelopment, presided by the Ministry ofEducation, and invited to participate otheractor such as the Social Contract Actors,UNICEF, Ministry of Economy, CorporateSector Committee, among others, to definedthe general guidelines for the Ten Year Planat its meeting on June 16.

Afterwards, the Ten Year Plan was openedup to a national debate at more than 40 local,regional and national forums with the partici-pation of broad social, political and economicsectors which allowed for a collective draft.In this Plan, we followed the internationalcommitments that the country has signed off

on, national agreements and the work of theex-Ministers of Education allowing us tofocus on the bases for the next ten years.

At the request of CNE, PresidentAlfredo Palacio called and informed citizensof a Referendum about the eight educationpolicies:

The Ten Year Plan was approved by morethan 66% of voters. Notwithstanding thisresult, due to a lack of financing for a commu-nication campaign that would allow transmit-ting the effects of the proposal to the people,blank votes were high.

4 Plan Decenal de Educación

Ten Year Education Plan

Policies in the Ten Year Plan

1. Making early education from 0 to 5 years of age universal.2. Making basic general education (“BGE”) from first to tenth grades universal.3. Increase registration in the high school diploma program until at least 75% of the

population for that age group is reached.4. Eradication of Illiteracy and Strengthening the adults’ education.5. Improvement of Physical Infrastructure and Equipment for Educational Institutions.6. Improvement of quality and fairness in education and implementation of the natio-

nal evaluation system and social reporting of the education system.7. Reevaluation of the teaching profession, professional development, permanent trai-

ning, working conditions and quality of life.8. The 0.5% annual increase in education’s portion of the GDP until it reaches in 2012

at least 6%.

Results of the ReferendumTen Year Education Plan

Yes

No

Blank votes

Voided votes


POLICY 1

Making EarlyEducation Universalfor 0 to 5 years of age

Goal: Provide early quality and fair educa-tion for boys of girls less than 5 years old thatrespects their rights, cultural diversity andlanguages, the national rhythm of growth andlearning and develops fundamental values,incorporating them into the family and thecommunity within the framework of an inclu-sive concept.

Principal lines of action:1. Presidency of the Ministry of Education in

the different subsystems of educationSpanish and Bilingual and the differentmodalities of the level.

2. Linking early education with basic generaleducation.

3. Inclusion and broadening educationalcoverage on the level of early education.

4. Implementation of preschool, family, com-munity or intercultural and bilingual edu-cation.

Achievements for 2006:1. National curriculum for Early Education

The national curriculum for this levelwas designed in a participatory format asa first step in recovering the governanceof the Ministry of Education. Its publica-tion and circulation will take place in thefollowing months of 2007.

Goals to June 2007:1. We have held 2 workshops in legal assis-

tance for the building and validation ofthe document for the authorization andoperation of national and provincial scho-ols and guests from other institutions.

We have basic documents for thedrafting of a document with lines of lin-kage.

We have provided work materials inthe amount of $136,197.16 for boys andgirls who are attending 1,066 schools.

We have basic documents for draftinga methodological guide book for appl-ying an institutional curriculum, a modelfor evaluation of development of boys’and girls’ maturity, Common BasicLearning and a draft for a document onthe oral tradition.

2. Generalization of Basic Education (“BE”)Providing posts for teachers in theCECIBs of Basic Intercultural andBilingual Education in the country.

In June, 2007, the Ministry ofEducation provided 139 teaching appoint-ments for bilingual teachers for theCECIBs in the three continental regionsof the country.


POLICY 2

Universalization ofBasic GeneralEducation from 1st

to 10th Grades


Goal: Provision of quality education withan inclusive and fair quality to all boys andgirls so that they develop their skills in anintegral manner and become positive andactive citizens who are capable of preser-ving the natural and cultural environmentsand felling proud of their multicultural andmultiethnic identity.

Principal lines of action:1. Linking early education and the high

school program within a framework ofattention to diversity, educational inclu-sion, cultural development and diffusion,multicultural and multiethnic identity andthe preservation of the environment.

2. Elimination of barriers for entering theeducational system guaranteeing freeeducation.

3. Increasing the retention rate, guarante-eing also the provision of school food.

Achievements for 2006:1. Elimination of the misnamed parents’

voluntary contributions to schools($25.00)The Ministry of Education moved for-ward with a program eliminating the mis-named voluntary contribution of $25from families in public schools for thepurpose of reducing barriers to accesseducation and advance towards freepublic school education.

During 2006, close to USD 9 millionwere transferred to the EducationNetworks and Provincial Directorates forpayment of utilities such as water, electri-city, miscellaneous costs such as infrastruc-ture repair at public schools and hiringteachers paid for by parents.

2. Providing free text books from 1st to 7thgrades of BGEFor the first time in the educationalsystem we distributed free text books forchildren registered in Spanish and bilin-gual public schools in the Coast,Highlands and Amazon Basin Regionsystems.

Text books for the Coast system wereexecuted under an agreement signed by theMunicipal Government of Guayaquil. Forthe Highlands-Amazon Basin Regionsystem, production and distribution of scho-ol text books was done under the terms of anagreement signed with CONCOPE and spe-cific agreements for printing and distributingthe texts and teacher training with provin-cial Prefectures. Towards this purpose, theMinistry contributed an average of 80% ofthe cost of the program, and the remaining20% was contributed by sectional govern-ments creating a commitment to educationfor these entities and recovering for theMinistry part of its lost governance.

The printing and distribution processfor text books is being carried out accor-ding to agreements signed with provincialprefectures in coordination with theMinistry of Education and the SchoolMeals Program for its distribution.

The Ministry of Education, togetherwith the International Plan and WorldVision contributed to the publication ofKukayus Pedagogicos (“Teaching Kukayus”)through text books prepared according toMOSEIB (“Model for Intercultural andBilingual Education”) which were distribu-ted to children from 9 provinces from theHighlands and one from the Coast.

3. Increasing registration in state schools by28% in the Coast system.

4. Second phase of the project for increasingcoverage in the first year of basic educa-tion: 56,461 boys and girls in the incre-mental registration.

5. We cut the jobs of 1,079 night school tea-chers who chose voluntary retirement in2005 and 1,428 preschool teachers assig-ned mainly to rural areas were givenappointments.

6. In 2006, 1,529 preschool teachers werehired whose appointments will be possiblein 2007 thanks to the line items released


by the voluntary retirement process of1,284 teachers in 2006.

7. Permanent technical assistance was provi-ded for implementing the universalizationof the first grade of BGE in 21 provincestaught to 2,904 teachers under several indi-vidual training workshops except forGalapagos because it has its own reform.

Achievements for 2007:When the President of the Republic,Economist Rafael Correa, accepted the TenYear Plan for education, he broadened thecoverage of the programs for the Eliminationof Barriers to Access to Education and alsoordered that a pilot project of school uniformsbe created for 2007.

1. Sustain the elimination of the USD 25misnamed voluntary contribution fromthe families to the schoolsWe broadened and continued the processof eliminating the $25.00 of the so-called“voluntary contribution” as a measure toalleviate families’ finances and to complywith the first paragraph of Article 67 of theConstitution which states, “Public educa-tion shall be secular on all levels; it shall bemandatory up to the basic level; and freeuntil the end of high school or its equiva-lent,” and to permit students greater accessto education. Towards this end,$23,000,000 from the budget was assignedto education.

In order to make the transfer it wasnecessary to prepare a reform for theMinistry’s resources because the amountrequired was more than what had been assig-ned in the current budget. It totaled$24,540,000 with $11,421,033 transferred tothe provinces of the Coast and $13,051,236transferred to the Highlands and AmazonBasin Region during June, 2007.

For the distribution and handling ofresources on this occasion the MinisterialAccord No. 145 was executed on April 26,2007 and incorporated the ProvincialDirectorates of Education, Rural

Autonomous School Networks, SchoolNetworks from Bilingual Schools andprincipals, treasurers, accountants andwarehousemen from middle schools thatare categorized as executing units. Theseresources are assigned to educational insti-tutions from first to seven years at freeState and “fiscomicionales” elementaryschools (government schools under theadministration of religious missions).

The breakdown of these amounts is onour webpage: www.educacion.gov.ec, byclicking on “Distribution of $25 in 2007.”

2. Provision of free text books to 1st to 10th

grades of BGEThe Ministry of Education increased forBasic General Education up to tenth gradethe provision of free school books for whichit broadened the collection of 26 books in2006 (19 “Mas Libros” (“More Books”)books for the Coast and 7 “Silabas”(Syllabus) books for the Highlands) to 35books (Pedagogical Showcases) all relatedto Math, Language, Natural Science, SocialScience, among other assignments.

In 2007, 4,266,343 school books weredelivered for 1,197,905 boys and girls in theSpanish system for the Coast. For theHighlands, agreements have been signedwith sectional governments for printingand distributing 3,767,274 school bookswhich will be delivered from August 15thto September 2nd and will benefit1,063,781 pupils.

For the bilingual system, 365,351 schoolbooks entitled “KUKAYU PEDAGOGI-CO” are being printed and shall benefit86,741 pupils. 117,000 of the first moduleof texts for Adult Education are being prin-ted. The remainder is in the process oflayout and review of the final artwork.

More information is on our web page:www.educacion.gov.ec, click on “FreeSchool Books.”

3. Generalization of Basic EducationThe National Directorate of BasicEducation in charge of the Program is per-


forming a teaching performance eva-luation of preschool teachers andchecking in the provinces of theCoast on the coverage of boys andgirls who attend the first grade ofbasic education.

The teachers hired received trai-ning on theoretical and methodologi-cal aspects of the first year of BasicEducation such as: curricula, adapta-tion of boys and girls at the beginning,a project classroom, and informationon the book for the first year of BasicEducation, among other subjects.

It is estimated that during theschool year 2007-2008 the totalpopulation under 5 years of age willbe 290,346 of which the programwill cover 71.74% as described in thegraph on the next page.

4. Breakdown of EarmarksDuring the first half of the year seve-ral requirements of the Ministry ofEconomy and Finance were met inorder to facilitate the processing ofthe breakdown of 1,284 teaching ear-marks receiving the benefits of volun-tary retirement in the year 2006.

In the year 2007 the second phaseof the voluntary retirement programwill benefit 1,920 teachers in addi-tion to those 2,284 retired in the pre-vious year leaving the breakdown of3,204 earmarks pending which willgenerate approximately 8,000. Fromthis total, 3,204 will replace retireesand approximately 4,796 will be forthe incorporation of new teachersinto the system. This process willculminate on August 30th and, the-refore, the breakdown of these ear-marks will be in September.

5. Registration of Eligible CandidatesTo be a new teacher in the publiceducation system, all aspirants shallregister on the Ministry ofEducation’s webpage in the system of


SCHOOL BOOKS FOR SPANISH SYSTEM

SCHOOL BOOKS FOR BILINGUAL SYSTEM

SCHOOL BOOKS FOR ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM

Coast

Highlands

Total Pupils

Total School Books

Total Cost of Spanish System

Coast

Highlands

Total Pupils

Total School Books

Total Cost of Bilingual System

Coast

Highlands

Total Pupils

Total School Books

Total Cost of Literacy Program

Total cost of the programschool books

Contribution from theMinistry of EducationContribution from the

Prefecture governments

Registration of Eligible Candidates, and inAugust they will be called to submit theaptitudes test established under Decree1563, dated June 29, 2006.

Registration for Eligible Candidates waslaunched at the end of year 2006 and sincethen more than 18,500 aspirant teachershave entered their information. Likewise,testing will be automatically checked mea-ning that the results will not have anyhuman management guaranteeing theindependence in selection.

We intend to take the tests for selec-ting the teachers for the Highlands scho-ol system in the month of August, 2007in the major cities of the Highlands scho-ol system.

6. Appointments for Pre-School TeachersThe Ministry provided 1,226 appoint-ments of pre-school teachers who work inthe first phase of the Program forGeneralization of the First Year of BasicEducation. Top date, 60 have been provi-ded in Azuay, 30 in Bolivar, 36 in Cañar,52 in Carchi, 44 in Chimborazo, 70 inCotopaxi, 120 in Guayas, 60 in Imbabura,153 in Manabi, 39 in Morona Santiago, 70in Esmeraldas, 35 in Napo, 52 in Orellana,38 in Pastaza, 90 in Pichincha, 39 inSucumbios, 24 in Zamora Chichipe, 39 in

Tungurahua, 87 in Los Rios and 58 in ElOro.

With the breakdown in earmarks wewill continue leveling up the appoint-ments of preschool teachers in the secondphase.

7. 139 Intercultural and Bilingual TeachersSworn InOn June 7th, 2007, Minister Raul VallejoCorral swore in 139 Intercultural andBilingual Teachers within the context ofthe policies of the State Ten Year Planexperiencing the concepts of multiple cul-tures and multiple ethnicities as providedin the First Article of the Constitution ofthe Republic.

8. School Meals ProgramThe Ministry of Education’s School MealsProgram (“PAE” in Spanish) is an effort bythe Ecuadorian State for the fundamentalobjective of contributing to the improve-ment of the quality of Basic GeneralEducation throughout the provision of mealsin the forms of Breakfast and Lunch.Thanks to the increase made in the 2007budget from $23,000,000 in the prior year to$30,000,000 for 2007, we have increasedcoverage from 80 to 120 days of the schoolyear for boys and girls in Basic Education ingovernment, “fiscomicionales” (government


Population

Boys and girls who will register

Boys and girls who will not enter

schools under the administration of religiousmissions), municipal and community scho-ols in the poorest sectors of the country.

Distribution of food is done at more than15,000 schools on a national level, covering1,316,689 boys and girls throughout thecountry, moving more than 2,200 tons offood.

In the Highlands school system, up toJune 2007 we have delivered food rations for60 effective days covering school breakfastsand lunches. For the Coast school system,which started in April, 2007, we have madethe first delivery of food covering 40 effecti-ve days of breakfasts and lunches and haveconcluded the process with the purchase offood for the second delivery.

For school breakfasts we have includednew strengthened products such as granolabars and filled cookies providing variety inthe food. All of the products for breakfastsand lunches are of local origin and produc-tion.

PAE contributed with logistical opera-tions for the distribution of free school booksto schools in the Coast school system in theprovinces of Esmeraldas, Manabi, Guayas(except the cantons of Guayaquil and

Milagro for the first to seventh grades ofEGB), Los Rios, Loja and Pichincha.

The Program has strengthened theSystems and Operations Control Unit,maintenance of the OperatingInformation System, implementation of22 bilingual coordinations on line, thegeo-referenced system is under construc-tion and we have collected geographicdata during monitoring visits to schoolsand the census of 12,000 schools on anational level.

We have continued monitoring andfollow-up at schools: 4,200 schools monito-red (327 on the Coast and 911 in theHighlands), 4,500 in the accompanyingregistration (1,298 registered in the Coastand 3,286 in the Highlands).

Training: Training of school food com-mittees in the areas of nutrition, food andhealth; manuals for education and commu-nication, radio spots, training for provincialcoordinators in the geographic region of theCoast, 56 teachers in Guayas, 132 in Manabiand 80 in Los Rios.

For more information, go to the Ministryof Education webpage under School MealsProgram at: www.pae.org.ec.


POLICY 3

Increasing HighSchool Registration toReach at Least 75% ofthe Population of thatAge Group


Goal: Train young people with skills withan inclusive and equity focus that will allowthem to continue their higher education andincorporate them into a productive life cons-cious of their national identity with a multi-cultural and multiethnic focus in a frameworkof respect for human and collective rights,nature and life.

Principal lines of action:1. Drafting, implementing and culturing on a

new education model for general andtechnical high school programs linked tobasic and higher education of theHispanic bilingual system.

2. Determination of education models thatdevelop skills for entrepreneurship by joi-ning education and productive work.

Achievements for 2006:1. Starting affiliation to the International

Baccalaureate Organization for 22 stateschoolsEcuador’s joining the international edu-cation panorama included signing theMemorandum of Mutual Commitmentsbetween Ecuador and the InternationalBaccalaureate Organization (“OBI”).The first generations of IB from publicschools shall graduate from high schoolin 2010.

2. Construction of national plans for inclu-sive education, for environmental educa-tion, a new orientation and students’welfare modelThe National Plan for EnvironmentalEducation: Co-preparation with theMinistry of Environment, the NationalPlan for Environmental Education forBasic and High School education.

National Plan for Education Inclusion:Validation and forming inclusive policieswhich allow incorporation of all boys, girlsand young people into a system with fairconditions – culminating in the drafting ofthe National Plan for EducationalInclusion. 3,000 CDs on the prevention of

disability were produced. Specialized trai-ning workshops on “Response toEducational Needs of Gifted Children,”“Alternate Communications System forDeaf and Blind Students" and “Educationfor the Deaf.”

National Health Education Plan:Drafting the National Health EducationPlan and Drafting and validation of wor-king case records on Health Educationfrom first to seventh grades in basic edu-cation. 8,000 copies were made of themodule for Prevention of Improper Useof Drugs. 14,000 copies of working caserecords. Beneficiaries: 142,674 persons;675 education authorities; 1,284 tea-chers; 43,364 basic education and highschool students; 25,580 parents; 71,771community members.

3. Institutionalization of sex educationThrough the Ministerial Accord 403 sexeducation was institutionalized in theeducation system: 435 facilitators and13,000 trained teachers (preschool, ele-mentary and middle school levels);32,000 books; 15,000 students. TheIncorporation of Sex Education as a sub-ject in the curriculum for professionaltraining of new teachers in TeachersInstitutes (“ISPES”). The InstitutionalAssistance Committee (“CAI”) for revie-wing the curriculum proposal for SexEducation was created and the NationalPlan for Eradication of Sex Crimes wasdrafted. The qualitative results were posi-tioning of the subject of sex education inthe educational system and society as awhole. Ecuador was behind in complian-ce with component 2 of the educationalsector of the agreement with the mecha-nism of the Global Fund which is theassistance for the prevention and treat-ment of sexually transmitted diseases.Using the measures explained hereabove,this delay has been largely surpassedwhich allowed the country to be removedfrom the early alert it was in.


Achievements for 2007:1. 1. High School Curriculum Reform

The education fundamental, guidelines andcurricula for reforming the Ecuadorian highschool system are defined starting with theconstruction of a new Ecuadorian educationmodel. This reform is developed throughthe following actions: planning the cons-truction of the Education Model for thenational education system through theNational Commission; and participationwith the National Curriculum Directors inthe planning of the international event forreviewing education models in LatinAmerican countries.

2. Implementation of the InternationalBaccalaureate (“IB”)Implementation of the Program in publicschool education marked the start of anew way to “do” education because itensures for its graduates alternatives thatare valid socially in entering into a chan-ging and competitive society in the newcentury. Also, it allows the improvementof the quality of public education.

Since the selection of 22 public scho-ols, 13 of which are from the Highlandsschool system and 9 from the Coast scho-ol system, we made important advance inthe process that includes knowledge ofwork methods, socialization of the projectwith the education community in eachschool, their commitment, appointment,preparation and training of the coordina-tor, establishment of physical, technicaland technological conditions for teachersand sponsoring private schools that applythe IB Diploma Program to public schools.

Two officials from the Ministry ofEducation and 22 school coordinatorswere trained in official courses for theInternational Baccalaureate. There werefield visits for follow up at the schoolsselected for the IB in the academic, curri-cular, administrative and infrastructureareas. Coordinators for the InternationalBaccalaureate Project managed by theMinistry of Education were trained at theRegional BI Site in Argentina and 22schools selected for the assignment ofTheory of Knowledge and the Creativity,Action and Service (CAS) component.


Planning of official training workshopson IB in chemistry, physics and biologywere approved. The provision of equip-ment for schools is currently in process aswell as the selection of 12 teachers from BIschools to participate in an intensiveEnglish course at the University ofArkansas in Fayetteville with the supportof the Embassy of that country.

3. High School Diploma Program inScienceCurrent scientific and technologicaladvances require integral training of stu-dents in the High School DiplomaProgram in Science which in addition topreparing them for life satisfies national,regional and global social demands whichinclude college.

The Ministry of Education works onbuilding an updated curriculum for theHigh School Diploma Program in Scienceon the base of the new teaching model.For that reason, with actors in this area ofexpertise, it worked on and developedimportant actions at different events heldduring the first half of this year whichinclude: readjusting the base line for theHigh School Diploma Program in Science.A seminar/workshop was planned for thispurpose to validate this work instrument; apreliminary study of education modelsfrom several countries in Latin America forcollecting information and establishingcomparisons, similarities and differences.It approved planning of three panel discus-sions to be held in Quito, Guayaquil andCuenca to collect teaching models thathigh schools are applying and a nationalmeeting whose site is to be defined for thebuilding of the teaching model for theHigh School Program in Science through acomparative analysis of different existingteaching models.

4. High School Diploma Program in ArtsFor the purpose of unifying the Arts curri-culum a valued schedule was drafted and asituational diagnostic plan was approved for

artistic schools in the country. Technicalinstruments for research that allow buildingthe diagnosis indicated on a national levelwere drafted.

5. Follow-Up and Evaluation of schools inthe Andean University NetworkIn order to evaluate the reform project of thehigh school diploma applied at “SimonBolivar” Andean University, evaluation tasksand follow up were coordinated on this pro-ject with the National High SchoolsNetwork and this university. In order toachieve this objective, planning the processof follow up and holding of evaluation works-hops for a High School Diploma Program inScience and the General Purpose TechnicalHigh School Diploma Program was appro-ved. Towards this same objective, 25% of thebuilding of instruments-survey was achieved.

6. Certification of Quality and Training forSchool TeachersIn the search for excellence in public educa-tion, the Ministry of Education developed aproject called “Certification and training ofSchool Teaches under ISO Standard 9001-2000”. This initiative was generated by theexperimental schools in Ecuador. To date, 16national coordinators and 50 teachers andadministrators from various schools havebeen trained for which a trainingseminar/workshop was held as well as thefollow-up and evaluation of high schools inthe process of implementing and accreditingthe project.

7. Space CampsWith assistance from international scientists(Dr. Jean Jacques Favier of the NationalCenter for Space Studies in France; Ms.Tekemi Chiku from the Japanese AerospaceAgency; Mr. Pablo Cuartas from the BogotaPlanetarium) and in coordination with theWork Program for the Diffusion of SpaceSciences from UNESCO Paris and theSecretariat Protempore of the V CEAEcuador, the “First Space Camp, Ecuador2007,” was held. The experience was execu-



ted in the cities of Quito, Guayaquil andCuenca. One hundred students participatedat each site from first and second grades inhigh school and thirty teachers/tutors inexperimental sciences who had approachesto the following areas: Application of SpaceSciences, Astronomical Sciences in Space,Space Flights and Lunar Exploration. Thesethemes awakened the interest of all partici-pants despite the struggles they had becausethe talks were delivered in English. Throughthe World Coordinator of the Program,UNESCO donated telescopes to theMinistry of Education which will be used asteaching resources and also requested that aneducation project be submitted that motiva-tes learning of Space Science to be financedby UNESCO.

8. Youth Innovation, Science andTechnology Fairs

Young Ecuadorians from public highschools cannot lag behind scientific andtechnological progress. For this reason theMinistry of Education under anAgreement with the National Secretariatof Science and Technology will annuallyhold three regional and one nationalYouth Innovation, Science andTechnology Fairs. There will be spaceswhere the schools will have the opportu-nity to demonstrate their students’ rese-arch skills.

This process complements anotherproject that provides training to 3,000science teachers in special contents and

methodologies for which a legal contribu-tion was published and socialized thatallows forming a national network ofscience and technology with proper break-downs (national, regional, provincial andinstitutional).

9. Strengthening Technical EducationThe Project for Consolidating the Reformof Technical Education (“RETEC”), exe-cuted by the National Directorate ofTechnical Education of the Ministry, con-tinues with collaboration from theSpanish Agency for InternationalCooperation (“AECI”) of the RoyalGovernment of Spain led by 30,800 stu-dents and 2,310 teachers from TechnicalHigh Schools and aims at participating inthe consolidation of the reform inTechnical Education currently in progresswith participation in administrative, aca-demic and production performance areas.

The project is in progress since last yearthrough the execution of several compo-nents.

Institutional Strengthening: A MinisterialAccord was signed to apply the Reform,decentralize the provincial DET and 2regional ones. Each instance has its POAfor updating with which the baselineshould be drafting for operating centersbased on the standards for steps taken. Inaddition, the second institutional evalua-tion and diffusion of the project shouldstart.

On-Line Training: Program, course andsequence of same defined after the agree-ment executed with CEDDET (provider ofmethodology) and EDUCTRADE (providerof contents) executed the four on-line cour-ses for teachers with 30 passing. The firstcourse on line for principals with a highdegree of follow-up and 30 participants wasexecuted. Replicas for 800 teachers in 22provinces were concluded in 25 courses withthe subject matter, “Curriculum for WorkSkills and Teaching for Learning in theClassroom.” A course for systems adminis-trators is currently in progress with 30 parti-cipants. Technical-Teaching coordinatorswere trained for replica courses organizedfrom Ecuador. An agreement was executedwith DINAMEP for recognition of an on-line program for a teaching career. The planfor university recognition and diplomas fromthe program was approved.

Training in Person: Provided to provincialheads of Technical Education in manage-ment standards, curricula application inthe classroom, preparation of a provincialPOA. In person training in schools is per-formed by chiefs from DINET and provin-cial technical commissions made up ofprincipals and assistant principals fromschools that received training in the firstphase of the project.

Productive Enterprises: Updated the regu-lations for productive enterprises through aprocess that involved schools, officials fromthe Ministry of Education, the StateComptroller’s Office, the Internal RevenueService (SRI) and the Ministry of Economyand Finance. We trained in schools on thenew legal framework and methods of pro-ductive enterprises. We provided supportfor health registrations and patents, prepa-ration of their instructions and training.We did consulting to define improvementrequirements for buildings and facilitiesrelated to installed machinery. We took adata survey on the status of the enterprises.We provided training on a business planand support to provincial education fairs.

The Technical Orientation Division hasperformed the following activities: Adiagnosis of the DOBES at technical highschools in Ecuador; drafting guidelines forthe work action plan; definition of themanual and guidebook for training at workcenters; drafting Student Welfare guidebo-ok; drafting guidebooks for scholarships,Consulting Councils; guidebooks draftedfor research and productive development;execution of workshops on systematizingDOBE technical tools; design of the pro-ject “Improvement of Integration intoWork for Young People at Risk of SocialExclusion in the Cities of Loja andCuenca, Ecuador.” The second phase is to


be presented at OEI for its analysis andapproval; DOBE technical assistance andinstructions for schools that offer techni-cal training.

The Technology Division has provided:technical assistance for the application ofthe new curriculum for Technical Educationon the national level; permanent assistanceto the entire Technical Education subs-ystem; technical and pedagogical coordina-tion in replica courses on curricula based onwork skills and teaching professional lear-ning at the Polytechnic School’s Latacungasite; participation in the II NationalCongress on Public Education, getting theword out on the Reform; presentation of thecurricula Reform focusing the TechnicalHigh School Diploma at fairs with displaysof provincial and regional technical schools.

11.Special EducationSpecial Education under the modality ofinclusive educational attention is inscri-bed with the same principles and goals asgeneral education, maintaining an inter-dependence relationship with the rest ofthe system; offers a group of human, tech-nical and pedagogical resources to developand strengthen educational processes thatallow quality education for all boys, girlsand adolescents with special educationneeds regardless of whether they are deri-ved from disabilities in order achieve edu-cational inclusion.

We are working for disability persons intwo directions; at Special Education scho-ols for those students with severe, deep ormultiple deficit disabilities which preventthem from integrating into regular educa-tion; and, integrated education for thosestudents capable of doing so.

This year we performed the followingactivities: participation in the drafting ofthe project “Implementation of EarlyStimulation in Special EducationSchools,” developed by the Office of theVice President and CONADIS; theMinistry of Education participated in the

First Ecuadorian Congress on theDevelopment of Children’s Talent, repro-gramming the POA of the Division; atten-tion in educating students with specialeducational needs in high school; works-hops on deafness-blindness, genius, draf-ting of the National Plan for EducationalInclusion; master’s degree in SpecialEducation with a major in VisualDisabilities; and structuring the NationalPlan for Initial Education linked toSpecial Education.

We signed an Agreement withFundacion General Ecuadoriana(Ecuadorian General Foundation) todevelop the Pilot Project for EducationalInclusion with financing from theSpanish Agency for InternationalCooperation within the framework ofthe debt exchange program.

We held training courses for the blindin coordination with AGORA – NationalFederation of the Blind Project. We pro-vided thirteen provincials chiefs in thisarea, 32 Perkins Braille machines whichwill be used as a teaching resource in diffe-rent schools in the educational system.

12.National Plan for Health EducationThe National Division of HealthEducation attempts to improve the livingconditions in the educational communityin the urban marginal and rural sectorsthrough the development, protection, andpromotion of health and prevention ofdisease through the application of actionsimmersed in plans, programs and projectsthat allow them to manage for necessaryresources.

Based on the above, we held a semi-nar/workshop for validation of the JointNational Plan in Health Education whichprovided general guidelines for the deve-lopment or programs, projects and actionsaimed at achieving healthy lifestyles inthe schools and the general community.

714 schools, 83,783 boys and girls,3,182 teachers, 199 provincial supervisors,32,046 fathers and mothers have partici-


pated within the project “SchoolsPromoting Health.” Modules are in thereproduction phase. Within the Project,the Technical Secretariats for SchoolsPromoting Health were started, and thereare 4 technical secretariats in action in theprovinces of: Carchi, Imbabura, Azuayand Cotopaxi. The Education Project forAdolescent Health has 271 participatingschools, 7,865 students from the secondyear of high school, 813 teachers and11,798 fathers and mothers.

13.Reinforcement of Environmental andTraffic EducationEnvironmental Education is an integral,continuous, systematic and necessary pro-cess for developing, producing and trans-mitting expertise, skills, abilities and fee-lings that contribute to the reinforcementof environmental awareness through theactive participation of the education com-munity in solving problems caused by misu-se of natural resources. The Division, basedon the agreement signed with the Ministryof the Environment, has drafted theNational Plan for EnvironmentalEducation for Elementary and High Schooland their respective curriculum designs.

This year we have held 11 provincialworkshops with 456 participants fromElementary School, High School, municipalgovernments and provincial councils fromCotopaxi, Tungurahua, Carchi, Imbabura,Morona, Azuay, Cañar, Loja and Zamora forthe “Analysis and Recommendations for theNational Environmental Education Plan forIts Application in Elementary Schools andHigh Schools.” We have drafted and revisedplans through a cooperation and coordina-tion agreement with the Ministry of Energyand Miens In “Educating to Save Energy.”We have drafted and validated the docu-ment to be included in the curriculum as thefocal point of a cross-section in Elementaryand High School Education.

Under an agreement with the Ministry ofCommerce we have held a child’s paintingcontest “Let’s Take Care of the Ozone Layer”

and training workshops for teachers oncaring for the ozone layer. 16,000 studentsparticipated in traffic education in additionto 10,000 students in their junior year ofhigh school from the Highlands andAmazon Basin school systems inEnvironmental education.

Under the project “GlobalEnvironmental Citizenship Ecuador,” wehave drafted the following documents:“Climate Change,” “Biodiversity,”“International Waters,” “Ozone Layer,”“Teachers’ Manual for ElementarySchool,” “Methodological Guide forApplication in the Classroom,” and“Ecuadorian National Brochure.”

14.National Program for Education forPrevention of Drug UseWith the goal of responding to educationalneeds in the national community and incompliance with what has been determi-ned in policies, norms and national plans,we are executing the project “PreventiveEducation Communities,” in the countrywith direct participation from authorities,teachers, elementary and high school stu-dents, parents and community leaders.

This year, the people associated withthe aforementioned project is 3,651 stu-dents, 126 trained coordinators (Highlandsschool system), 1,745 sensitized educationauthorities and teachers, 32,139 elemen-tary school students reinforced with pro-tective factors, and 14,948 sensitizedparents. According to the planning in theCoast school system 30,000 workbookshave been prepared for Basic GeneralEducation, 45,000 information guides havebeen published for parents and 136 preven-tive micro projects have been executed forbrigade students.

15.National Education Program for Sex andLove (“PRONESA”)The Ministry of Education through theNational Education Program for Sex andLove, PRONESA, reaches students, tea-chers and parents to inform, communica-



te, educate and orient them in this areabased on principles and values as well asthe ability to exercise their rights, genderequality, decreasing maternal death, inci-dence of adolescent abortions, interfamilyabuse and violence including the contentsof sex education in the curriculum of theeducational system.

To comply with these goals, sex educa-tion was institutionalized in the curricu-lum of the national education systememphasizing reducing the incidence ofHIV/AIDS. In this context, we workedon executing education policies for sexua-lity, its instructions, coordination, follow-up and evaluation with the organizationand administration of a national plan. Amultidisciplinary consulting committee,national technical equipment, provincialtechnical equipment and institutionaltechniques were formed, establishing agre-ements with NGOs and government orga-nizations to implement the Plan.

Sex Education from the Ministry ofEducation has a strong component empha-sizing prevention of HIV/AIDS. During thefirst half of 2007, we trained 2,214 teachersfrom 929 schools and 40 officials from theProvincial Directorate of Education inEsmeraldas; 4,205 teachers from 1,500 scho-ols and 10 officials from the ProvincialDirectorate of Education in Manabi; and1,750 teachers from 257 schools inSucumbios. We also sent out the mastercurriculum with sexual education themesemphasizing prevention of HIV/AIDSaccording to the stage of development andschool year for Basic General Education andHigh School.

16.School for ParentsThe family participation project in the edu-cation process and prevention of gangs inhigh schools was approved and will beimplemented in the second half of the year.

17.National Campaign for Civic EducationThis year the National Campaign forCivic Education continues as a project for

Ecuadorian society, and this year willbecome permanent in the educationalsystem. Based on identification and asense of belonging, we seek to sponsoractivities and spaces for participation inwhich students and teachers can improvetheir knowledge and then exercise theircitizenship for the benefit of a bettercountry for all.

Among the areas of progress, we can high-light:- Co-design of the Regulations for the Law

of Education for Democracy togetherwith Simon Bolivar Andean University;

- Reconsideration of the Campaign for itsinstitutionalization as a permanent pro-gram within the Ministry;

- Transformation of the NationalCampaign of Civic Education in theNational Program of Education forDemocracy;

- Co-design of the National Project ofEducation in Democratic Values andPractices with the OAS;

- Inclusion of contents on identity in scho-ol books (from 1st to 10th of GeneralBasic Education) of the Coast schoolsystem;

- Design of primers on Civic Education andHuman Rights for the national Programof Basic Education for Young People andAdults;

- Design and implementation of the work-book collection “Rostos de mi Patria”(Faces of My Country), with identifica-tion and rights contents;

- Participation in the National Program ofRegistration and Identity Cards “Put YourName in Ecuador”;

- Participation and socialization of the pro-posal of Education for Democracy in dif-ferent forums and meetings of the natio-nal education system; and

- Coordination inside the Ministry ofEducation in generating initiatives andspecific activities related to Education forDemocracy within different areas anddirectorates.

18.Hospital ClassroomsHospital Classrooms is a program createdto provide psychological and social sup-port and assistance in the search for emo-tional and educational development forchildren who are ill with cancer, to sup-port them in the continuation of theirstudies, to prepare, lead and execute offi-cial policies in educational areas.

The Juan Jose Martinez foundation isresponsible for “Hospital Classrooms.” Apilot plan was started in the SOLCA hos-pitals in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuencawith projections for national coverage. Itseeks to improve the quality of life ofchildren and adolescents who suffer fromthis disease and who can regularly attendclasses.

Under the respective agreement, theprovincial directorates of Spanish andbilingual education are responsible forcertifying grades and passing for boys,girls and adolescents who participate inthe program

19.Integral Education Reform in theGalapagos (“REIG”)Support and assistance for REIG isshown in the 2007 POA and the back-ground and study of the 2001 BasicDocument; the basis, among others, hasbeen revised for the drafting of theSample for Processing which was sub-mitted to this Ministry for approval.

This information was relevant for thedrafting of the report requested from theMinister by the National Congress aboutthe education actions provided anddeveloped for the Galapagos province.

The Ministry of Education, the insti-tution controlling national education,coordinated with authorities from theGalapagos Province to define theSample for Processing, analyze progressand limitations in the educational areaand propose strategies for solution.

20.Ecuador’s Participation in the WorkingGroup for Educational Integration in theUnion of South American CountriesIn compliance with the Declaration ofCochabamba executed by the presidentsof the South American countries at the IISummit of Heads of State of the SouthAmerican Community of Nations(December 8th and 9th, 2006) regardingthe decision for South AmericanEducational Integration, the Ministry ofEducation participated with educationproposals within the framework of the TenYear Education Plan, 2006-2015 in pursuitof integrating the region in the area ofeducation.

21.Ministry Accords to Improve the Qualityof Education

• Ministry Accord No. 165 dated May 11,2007, institutionalizes youth innovation,science and technology fairs on a nationallevel.

• Ministry Accord No. 166 dated May 11,2007, regulates student parades, studentbands and the election of beauty queens.

• Ministry Accord No. 182 dated May 22,2007, institutionalizes coexistence codesat all schools in the country on differentlevels and system modalities. Drafted in aparticipatory manners at three work ses-sions in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuencawith 100 teachers.

• Ministry Accord No. 183 dated May 22,2007, reforms the Special SubstituteRegulations for the election of flag bearers,flag carriers and escorts at schools in ele-mentary and middle school levels.


POLICY 4

Eradication ofIlliteracy andStrengtheningAlternative Education


Goal: Guarantee access, permanence, conti-nuation and effective conclusion of the popula-tion’s studies with lower educational achieve-ment, through national alternative educationprograms, considering illiteracy as its startingpoint in the framework of inclusive education.

Principal lines of action:1. Literacy teaching in native languages for

all populations and nationalities (1st, 2nd

and 3rd grades).2. Basic alternative education for 4th to 10th

grades in Spanish and native languages.3. Reorganization and reforming an alterna-

tive high school program in modalities ofbeing physical presence, via correspon-dence and tele-secondary.

Achievements for 2006:1. Analysis of the status of the compensatory

education subsystem.

2. Definition of critical knots and technicaland legal solutions.

3. Resizing the demandWe performed a rescaling of the demandfor literacy, basic education and high scho-ol diploma program in Spanish and inindigenous languages.

Currently, close to 30% of theEcuadorian population are actually orfunctionally illiterate. 42% of the popula-tion has not finished the ten years of gene-ral basic education, and only 12.1% of thepopulation has finished the complete stu-dies for a high school diploma.

4. 55,000 taught to read.

5. Redesign of the curriculum to handle edu-cational achievement.

Main actions:– Design a curriculum including 1 to 10

grades of basic education and 1 to 3 yearsof alternative high programs for youngpeople and adults.

– Redrafting and graphic design of educa-tional materials for grades 1 to 7 of alter-native basic education using literacy tea-ching as a starting point.

– Proposal for streamlining and redistribu-tion of subsidy resources.

– Renewal of standards covering the per-manent Popular Education Subsystem.

– Establishment of links between technicalwork and the proposal to create aNational Coordinating Commission forAlternative Education with the partici-pation of several national educationdirectorates from the Ministry ofEducation, IRFEYAL, SINEDE, ANIED,CONAMU, CODAE, JNDA, NationalDirectorate of Social Rehabilitation(“DNRS”), National Council for theDisabled (“CONADIS”), UNE, FENA-DEC and bilingual receivers of subsidies.

– The Ministry of Education together withthe Latin American Institute forEducational Communication (“ILCE”) isworking on co-designing and the futureimplementation of the Ecuadorian tele-secondary school with the educationproject, “Latin American TeachingModel: Towards Merging Media –Ecuador Version,” an alternative moda-lity for eighth, ninth and ten grades inbasic education and first, second andthird years of high school.

– Design of a curriculum and production ofeducational materials for BGE and highschool.


Achievements for 2007:1. National Program of Basic Education for

Young People and AdultsThe country has a high degree of undera-chievement in schools which includes 5year old boys and girls, 10 to 14 year oldadolescents who drop out of the regularsystem, and the population that is over15 years of age. Furthermore, within thislarge group of the population there areother specifications that require atten-tion and we have performed the follo-wing actions towards this end:• Drafting agreements among the

Ministry of Education throughDINEPP with mayors from 219 cantonsas well as drafting commitment letterswith 1,300 parish councils.

• Revised, corrected and updated modu-les and guidebooks in Spanish andKichua for literacy and post-literacy.

• Designed training plan.

Reinforcing DINEPP• Drafting a self-evaluation plan for

DINEPP institutional management.

• Design of files for evaluating theDINEPP management at differentlevels.

• Building a DINEPP file with textbooks, primers, complementary rea-dings, posters, newspapers, press clip-pings, etc. and legal documents.

• Collecting documents used in youthand adult education through inter-views and films.

2. Special Projects – Prisons“Educate with Intent for Truth, Changeand Freedom”• Project prepared and approved.• For the first time Ecuador was admitted

into the “Latin American Network ofEducation in Prisons”.

• Coordination of the project throughthe Ministry of Education – DINEPP –with the National Directorate forSocial Rehabilitation (“DNRS”), theLatin American Network forEducation in Prisons, Euro Social-Education France, national and inter-national organizations and all coopera-tive agencies.


3. Attention to Education in Ecuador-Colombia-Peru Border Strip• Identification of areas: provincial, can-

tons, parishes and communities.• Design and approval of diagnostic

charts.• Redesign of diagnostic chart.• Plan drafted for training prior to the

execution of the diagnosis

4. Eradication of Illiteracy in IndigenousPopulationThe Assistant Secretariat of Education forIntercultural Dialogue supported the orga-nization of several workshops with theNational Commission on Literacy fromDINEIB, among others the following:• Meetings with literacy specialists.

• Workshop with technicians from SISEon education statistics from the 2001census in indigenous populations.

• Workshop on literacy and indigenouspopulations attended by leaders of indi-genous organizations, DINEIB techni-cians and guest specialists.

Within this framework, the thematicfocus points were defined for literacy pri-mers and the formation of a work teamfrom the nationalities to carry out theaforementioned program. Also it wasapproved the literacy proposal draftedwith the DINEIB team.


POLICY 5

Improvement of thePhysical Infrastructureand Equipment forEducation Institutions


Goal: Contribute to improvement in thequality of educational services with adequatephysical and technological resources; comple-ment, adapt and rehabilitate the infrastructu-re and equipment and education units compl-ying with minimum standards that contributeto the correct application of educationalmodels, providing furniture and technologi-cal supports and establishing an accreditationsystem of physical resources.

Principal lines of action:1. Streamlining physical resources: covera-

ge, optimization of resources and greateruse of operating capacity.

2. Quality of educational infrastructure:design (function and aesthetics), appro-priate construction, furnishing technolo-gies and technological supports.

3. Infrastructure with identity according tothe region and rescuing the architecturaltechnology of different peoples.

Achievements for 2006lones de dólares invertidos en infraestructura escolar, cifra récord en los últimos diez años; aproximadamente el 70% de la ejecución desconcentrada a gobiernos seccionales.1. 1. In 2006, 73 million dollars from diffe-

rent sources were invested in schoolinfrastructure to improve the infrastructu-re of 2.408 schools.

Infrastructuregoals achievedIn 2006, investmentin school infrastruc-ture exceeded withinterest the totalinvestments madeduring the last sevenyears as seen in thetable attached here-to.

* Includes theinvestment made of$ 22,000,000 andtransferred inDecember 28, 2005.

2. Intervention at 2,408 schools, 1,927new classrooms, and 271,464 studentsbenefited.

Achievements for 2007:Low investment in school infrastructure inthe past has left schools in a sad situation.Although investments in the year 2006 andinvestment plans for the year 2007 triple theamounts of the 7 prior years (1999-2005); wewill only manage to cover 14% of the require-ments of this area. If that investment conti-nues to be applied during the 10 years of theexecution of the 10-Year Plan, then we willbe able to cover all of the integral infrastruc-ture needs to offer quality and warm publiceducation.

The concept of integral interventionincludes the complete repair and building ofclassrooms, sanitary facilities, walls, roofs,blackboards and benches as well as providingequipment and furniture.

Through the execution of 92 agreementswith sectional organizations throughout thecountry, 620 schools will be targeted for inter-vention with a total investment of$40,114,215. For its part, DINSE will workdirectly in 515 schools with a total of$40,670,414 for a total of 1,135 schools withan investment of $80,784.827.22.

Agreement with theMunicipality of Guayaquil$9,000,000 for rehabilitating 163 public schoolsin Guayaquil.

Minister Raul Vallejo Corral and MayorJaime Nebot executed an agreement in theamount of $9,000,000 to rebuild 163 schools inthe main port city. The works are performedunder the responsibility of the Unit for ProjectsAssociated with the Community of the StateUniversity of Guayaquil, the auditing of theGuayaquil city council and the supervision of theMinistry of Education through the NationalDirectorate of Education Services (“DINSE”).

This agreement is financed with $6,000,000from the Ministry of Education and $3,000,000from the Municipal Government of Guayaquil.The goal of this important program is to improvethe current status of the infrastructure of publicschools and preschools that operate in the urbanarea of the City of Guayaquil.


YEARINVESTMENTIN DOLLARS

29Continúa...

EMERGENCY EDUCATION PROJECT 2007

30 Plan Decenal de EducaciónContinúa...

31Continúa...

32 Plan Decenal de EducaciónContinúa...


The specific goals are to intervene in schoolsunder the principles of priority and fairness.Rehabilitation work started at the schoolsthat had been destroyed the most.

For more information go to the webpage of theNational Directorate for Education Services,DINSE, at the Ministry of Education website,www.dinse.gov.ec or through the link:http://www.educacion.gov.ec/servicios/dinse

“República de El Salvador” school, GUAYAS

Before After

Before After

“Alejandro R. Mera” school, CARCHI


Before After

“Ignacio Martínez” school,San Pedro, TUNGURAHUA

Before After

“Mercedes Echeverría” school, GUAYAS

Before After

“Corralia Aguirre” school, GUAYAS

Before After

“José Paladines” school, GUAYAS

After

POLICY 6

Improvement inthe Quality andFairness of Educationand Implementationof the NationalTesting System


Goal: Guarantee that students enteringthe education system have pertinent skillsfor correct development and social inclu-sion.

Principal lines of action:1. Development and implementation of the

national testing system (measurement ofacademic achievements, testing institutio-nal work and evaluation of teaching per-formance based on standards for all levelsand modalities in the system).

2. Development and implementation of tea-ching models that evolve and adapt to thesocio cultural and national developmentneeds.

3. Implementation of a system for renderingaccounts in all of the EIB social actors.

Achievements for 2006:1. The country’s rejoining and taking tests

within the Latin America Laboratory forEducational Quality (LLECE) fromOREALC UNESCOThe system did not have evaluation orrendering of accounts and did not applynational testing in effect. The educatio-nal system has lacked an evaluation sche-me since 2000, the last time APRENDOnational tests were performed.

The country has not participated intests measuring educational quality on aLatin American or global scale; damaginga comparative development process allo-wing educational policy to be restated.

Based on this background, in 2006 as astarting point we applied the operationfrom SERCE (Second Regional Study onEducation Quality) from the LatinAmerican Laboratory for EducationalQuality (“LLECE”) of the Regional Officefor Latin America and the Caribbean(“OREALC”) of UNESCO.

The operation was performed for boththe Highlands and Coastal systems with11,500 students, and it evaluated the levelof development of language and mathskills of children from fourth and seventh

grades in Basic Education in the 22 pro-vinces of the country. The result of thesetests will be available in November 2007.

2. Application of the operations system ofthe Second Regional Study of EducationalQuality in both systems for the testing ofeducational language and math skills in11,5000 children in fourth to seventhgrade of basic education.

3. Drafting national plans for inclusive edu-cation, for environmental education, neworientation model and student welfare.

4. Starting membership in the InternationalBaccalaureate Organization for 23 stateschools.

5. Processes of quality steps at 23 educatio-nal institutionsWe have performed a diagnosis of thestatus of 23 experimental schools in theprocess of implementing the QualityPerformance system. We have providedassistance for the requirements of thestandard ISO 9001:2000 to 23 schoolsin the provinces of Pichincha,Cotopaxi, Tungurahua, Chimborazo,Manabí and Guayas. We have held twonational workshops on managing thestandards of the Quality andProgramming Committees and schedu-ling of courses for internal auditing forteachers and supervisors.

6. Organization of the Second EcuadorianTeaching Meeting in Manta in September.

7. To ensure quality, the Ministry ofEducation regulated the selection and pro-duction process for text books at the endof 2006 after holding work sessions withthe Association of Text Book Publishers.In the selection of schools’ books and tea-cher training, the Ministry of Educationcalled for the process named “TeachingShowcases” in order to select the bestcollections of text books for our studentsfrom first to tenth grade in EGB.

Achievements for 2007:1. 1. “I Learn” (Aprendo) Tests


The fifth operation of the application of“2007 Aprendo” tests was held throughoutthe country in 1,358 schools, 626 highschools and 72,000 students from third,seventh and tenth grades in BasicEducation from: government, “fiscomisio-nales” (government schools under theadministration of religious missions),municipal and private schools.

“Aprendo” Tests includes the basicareas of Math and Language and alsoapply questions about factors associatedwith learning aimed at teaches, stu-dents, school principals and parents toinvestigate the surroundings in whichstudents develop, the social and culturalfactors that may influence the perfor-mance and family relationships in addi-tion to the type of infrastructure thatschools have, the materials they use, theteaching methods and the evaluation

used by teachers and the quality of thecurriculum.

The National Directorate of Planningtrained teachers at selected schools aboutthe type of test designed and provided agroup of exercises similar to those contai-ned in the test to familiarize the boys, girlsand adolescents with the test.

In the Highlands school system, testswere taken from June 18 to 22 at 297 ele-mentary schools and 277 high schools, tes-ting 32,260 students. In the Coast schoolsystem the tests will be taken in themonth of November.

The results will permit the Ministry ofEducation to propose strategies to impro-ve the quality of education throughstrengthening initial teacher training andprofessional development as well as theredesign of the curriculum in the perti-nent areas.


2. Teaching ShowcasesThe process of “Teaching Showcases” wasdesigned based on the need for the educa-tion system to provide all students fromgovernment schools in the country withbetter school books to reduce unfairnessstarting with new opportunities for learningand improving the quality of teaching.

In the month of December, 2006, theMinistry made a public call to private indi-viduals and corporations in newspapers cir-culated throughout the country. Then, theTechnical Teaching Committee was res-ponsible for performing a selection processfor the collections of school books with theparticipation of approximately 300 teachersfrom different provinces and technical ins-tructors who were responsible of evaluatingmore than 400 volumes from three publis-hing houses and with constant oversightfrom UNESCO and the Association ofText Book Publishers which graded theprocess as “transparent and fair.”

The text books selected in this phasewere sent to the four Teaching Showcasesdefined (Guayas, Manabi, El Oro andLoja) for final analysis by the teachers. Ateach Teaching Showcase a group of 50teachers participated from different scho-ols chosen by their areas of expertise andthey graded the text books chosen by theTechnical Teaching Committee again.The Showcases were held on February26th and 27th, 2007, and results were senton February 28th. The following textbooks were selected:• Integral Text Book for the First Year of

Basic Education: EDINUN.• Math for Second to Seventh Grades of

Basic Education: Norma PublishingGroup.

• Language from Second to SeventhGrades of Basic Education EDINUN.

• Natural and Social Surroundings: fromsecond to third grades of basic educa-tion: Don Bosco publishers.

• Natural Science from Fourth toseventh Grades of Basic Education:PROLIPA PUBLISHERS.

• Social Studies from Fourth to SeventhGrade of Basic Education: EDINUN.

• Math for Eighth to Tenth Grades ofBasic Education: José Sanchez.

• Language for Eighth to Tenth Gradesof Basic Education: EDIPCENTROPublishers.

• Natural Science from Eighth to TenthGrades of Basic Education: BiologistAgustin Alvarez.

• Social Studies from Eighth to TenthGrades of Basic Education: Don BoscoPublishers.

3. The Quality of Bilingual InterculturalEducationIn order to identify the treatment given bythe Spanish and bilingual system in each ofthe programs in the diversity and multicultu-ral areas, the identification of text books dis-cussing the subject as well as the preparationof policies that recognize multicultural andlinguistic rights and of the indigenous andAfro-Ecuadorian people, etc., in April, Mayand June the following workshops were held:Preschool Education, Basic Education andHigh School Education. At these works-hops Spanish and Bilingual technicians andtechnicians from the universities and NGOswho work in this area participated.

The Ten Year Plan for Education identi-fies as critical points the legal complexity ofthe educational system. The bilingual systemstarting with its creation and due to itsdecentralized character has furthered normsaimed at avoiding intervention fromMinistry authorities, achieving its isolationand independence situation which influen-ces the relationship among the institutionswith the Ministry in the same scope of actionand specific way of providing proper care tosmall groups of people. We have taken thefollowing actions to resolve this situation:• Reprinting Kukayus Pedagogicos which

were published and distributed in theyear 2006 free of charge to schools inthe bilingual system.

• Promoting the project entitled“Colección de Diccionario Escolar de


las Lengugas Indígenas en Ecuador”(Dictionary Collection for Schools onIndigenous Languages in Ecuador),which will publish this year the follo-wing languages dictionary: Kichua,Chachi and Zapara.

• Preparation of modules that will allowholding the “Course in LanguageTeaching Methods” in the months ofJuly and August.

• Work meetings with the leaders andteachers from the Siona, Cofan, Awa,and Chachi nationalities for the purpo-se of reviewing the education status ofthe nationalities.

4. Millennium SchoolsMillennium Schools contain a new visionfor the education process: they must becomplete; and they shall cover Preschool(3 to 4 year olds) through High School.They must contribute to the education ofintegral, supportive and independenthuman beings. Their locations give prio-rity to people in rural or marginal urbanareas favoring border areas and correctinghistoric injustices. They shall offer qualityand warm education within an inclusiveframework, development of citizens’ com-mitments and respect for preserving the

environment by means of incorporatingthe use of new technologies as supporttools for the teaching-learning process.The Millennium School is conceived as aninstitution that:

1. Allow individual and the group workamong groups and facilitate theexchange of experiences contributingto experimentation.

2. Have thematic rooms and not rigidclassrooms allowing a greater displayand specialized surroundings favoringstudents’ learning.

3. Have the necessary equipment forapproaching the scientific world andpermit student experimentation in theframework of sciences.

4. Favor a curriculum that integrates andencourages the sciences, arts and letters.

5. Get students to approach an efficientmanagement of information and com-munications technologies.

6. Promote the habit of reading throughlibraries that are well stocked withbooks, with games and information andfor student research.

7. Allow a link between education andsports as a valid response for recreationperiods for students.


Millennium Schools will be built in:

The first three schools are under contract, and their designs are ready. Locations of the others havebeen assigned and the process of collecting information for doing the design are undergoing.

LOCATION NAME

POLICY 7

Reevaluation of theTeaching Profession,ProfessionalDevelopment,Working Conditionsand Quality of Life


Goal: Encourage entry into teacher trai-ning studies, improving their initial training,the offer of its work conditions, quality oflife and the perception of the community ofits role.

Principal lines of action:1. Review, updating and intercultural infor-

mation on the curriculum for initial trai-ning.

2. Development and implementation of apermanent professional training and deve-lopment system.

3. Establishing of a salary policy in accordan-ce with the job market.

4. Training and Skills Development forBilingual Intercultural Staff.

Achievements for 2006:1. 1. Incentives to Teachers’

Voluntary RetirementReform of the Regulations of theTeaching Career Law and SenioritySystem increasing the incentive for retire-ment from five basic monthly wages to$12,000 through the Executive Decree1563 dated June 29, 2006.

2. Delivered 1,255 incentives for voluntaryretirement. In December 5, $ 12.000 weretransferred to the accounts of each of theretired teaches.

3. USD 5 salary increase.4. 850 housing subsidies delivered in the

amount of $1,800.

Achievements for 2007:1. Teachers’ Voluntary Retirement

One of the strategies for increasing educa-tional coverage and achieving generaliza-tion of education is providing encourage-ments for teachers’ voluntary retirement.Once the retired teachers’ positions havebeen released, the financial space genera-ted is enough to appoint between 2.2 and2.4 new teachers for each retired teacherand by locating them in areas with thegreatest needs we can achieve an increasein educational coverage.

During the first half of 2007, the regu-lations were amended for the purpose ofproving more humane treatment to tea-chers who are older and with physicaldisabilities. Likewise, a new timeframewas set up, which started in March withthe registration of interested teachers. Inthe following summary table we can obser-ve the evolution of the program betweenthe months of March and June.

From the 2,208 teachers qualified byJuly 12th of this year, a total of 1,881 tea-chers have resigned and, therefore, theywill receive a stimulus to their retirement.They will be paid $12,000 on August 31,2007, when their 60-day leaves expiretogether with the salary they are entitledto in order to move forward with theirretirement processes.

We should point out that this year thealliance between the Ministry ofEducation and the Teachers’ RetirementFund continued assisting teachers withretirement procedures at a single window.Throughout the process of selecting bene-ficiaries of retirement we counted thecomplete time with officials from theDirectorate of Human Resources. Thewindows have been used to properly waiton teachers since it cuts the time for pro-cessing their retirement and avoids tea-chers’ having to perform several long pro-cedures at the Ecuadorian Social SecurityInstitute.

Detailed information on the beneficiariesof this program is on the Ministry ofEducation’s webpage, http://www.educa-cion.gov.ec through the link “SystemInformation, Human Resources, RetirementIncentives.”

2. Raises in SalaryThe President of the Republic togetherwith the Ministers of the Economy andFinance and Education executed theExecutive Decree 452 on July 2nd of thisyear which was published in the OfficialRecord 123 dated July 10th, in which tea-chers’ salaries were increased as follows:


• $5, starting in January

• $2, starting in July, retroactive sinceJanuary

• $8, starting in October

The Head of State signed the afore-mentioned decree based on the need toencourage those who work in the educa-tion sector for whom it is necessary toguarantee better living and working con-ditions which is closely linked to theapplication of the seventh policy of theStatus of the Ten Year Plan for

Education, 2006-2015 because it is indis-pensable to reevaluate the teaching pro-fession and the improvement in initialtraining, professional development, wor-king conditions and quality of life.

Financing of this raise in the basicsalary for teachers for this year 2007,comes from the budget organization ofthis fiscal year, from the fiscal savingsresulting from the process of purging thedata base of teaching and administrativestaff and services from the educationalsector as necessary in reprogramming thesector’s budget.


Retirement Program Results* No hubo solicitudes de jubilación en las provincias de Napo y Galápagos.

Province Registrations Complete Qualified Selected Retireddocumentation

3. Housing for One Room School TeachersOne room schools constitute the instancein the education system characterized bythe care provided by a single teacher to allgrades and which are located especially inrural areas that are distant from the can-ton schools.

It is a program for improving educationand is designed under an emergency andsocial protection focus. It works withmedium and long term strategies andactions that guarantee access and boys’and girls’ staying in school, and preferablybelongs to the poorest social groups in thecountry. The needs of these Basic GeneralEducation schools are multiple, and someof them are teachers training, provision offurniture, guidebooks, text books andbooks, technical assistance in the classro-om, among others.

This administration executed an agre-ement among the Ministries ofEducation, Urban Development andHousing and sectional governments for

the purpose of improving the teachinginfrastructure in the country, consideringthat a rural teacher lives at his/her work-place, and guaranteeing him or her pro-per living conditions.

Therefore, 159 housing units were builtfor teachers and their cost is close to anamount of $500,000. These works haveprogressed in most cases up to 60%. 21housing units were delivered and startedworking.

PublicationsAlso, according to the Operating Plan,during the first half of this year 58,739self-learning guidebooks in Math andReading called “Mi pequeño picaflor azul”(“My little blue hummingbird”) readingbooks, Beginning Math books and RedSeries Math books for the same number ofboys and girls in second and third grade ofBasic Education in several provinces weredelivered.


PROVINCE CANTON HOUSES UNDERCONSTRUCTION

PROVINCIA No. of guidebooks

El Oro 2.435

Guayas 15.015

Los Ríos 8.914

Manabí 20.662

Esmeraldas 11.713

Total 58.739

4. Bonuses for the BorderIn order to regulate the coverage of thisBonus to teachers who work in schoolslocated 20 kilometers from the interna-tional border of the country, it was

necessary to issue the Ministerial AccordNo. 351 on July 14, 2006, according tothe pronouncements issued by theAttorney General of the State in OfficialLetters Nos. 12498 and 15778 onOctober 21, 2004 and April 1, 2005, res-pectively.

This fiscal year, $11,338,179.78 hasbeen assigned and $3,502,470.42 hasbeen transferred. These amounts arebeing paid.

The delay in the transfer was due tothe need to purge the information perti-nent to different Provincial Directoratesof Education and schools. In the tablehere below the information is listed forprovinces.


Bonuses for the Border

Province

Total numberof teachersbenefiting,

Exhibits 1 and 2

Bonus amount forteachers at the border

earned since 2006

Bonus amount forteachers at the

border who startedwork in 2007

Total cost of bonusfor teachers at theborder for 2006

and 2007

Amount transferredJan/May 2007

Balance to betransfered year 2007


Function, retroactive to October-December, 2006

NameRetroactive

Requirement October-December 2006

Total teachersand technical

teachers benefited

Central Staff

National Directorateof InterculturalBilingual Education

Total

5. Increase in the percentage of activitiesSince 1998 when the Law for TeachingCareers and Seniority for Teachers wasreformed, no resources were allotted tocomply with this provision. The currentadministration analyzed the activitiestable in Article 94 of the GeneralRegulations of the Law for which it wasnecessary to revise Article 21 of the afore-mentioned Regulations regarding thetable of activities that indicates that thelatter “will be drafted by the Ministry ofEducation and Culture and the amountswill not be less than forty percent and nomore than one hundred percent.”

In order to comply with the seventhpolicy of the Ten Year Plan, representati-ves from the unions of the governmentteachers were called including ARECISEand ANDEJ and later UNE was included.

In October 2006, this project with thenew proposal was sent to the Minister ofEconomy and Finance for the drafting ofthe technical and budgetary report.Finally, it was approved under ExecutiveDecrees Nos. 2151 and 2182 on December

12 and 29 in the same year, respectively,establishing that this retroactive paymentshould have been paid from October toDecember, 2006.

Currently, resources pertaining to theperiod indicated in the amount of$1,548,592 have been transferred whichhas allowed most of the provinces to makepayments and has ordered that those whohave not done so should do so immedia-tely. Once the distribution of the salariesfor 2007 is approved, a reform will berequested in order to make the respectivepayment starting in January, 2007.

6. Support for the Retirement Fund andTeachers’ Housing PlanThrough the Ministries of Education andUrban Development and Housing, theGovernment supports the housing programfor public school teachers handled by theEcuadorian Teachers’ Retirement Fund,FCME, in all provinces in the country,thus complying with the seventh policy ofthe Ten Year Plan that contemplates ree-valuation of the teaching profession and


improvement of the working conditionsand quality of life for teachers.

The program facilitates housing forteachers based on the plan entitledABC: Teachers’ savings; a $3,600 Bonusfrom the Government through theMinistries of Education and UrbanDevelopment and Housing; and a Creditprovided by the Ecuadorian Teachers’Retirement Fund.

Towards this end, on February 27th ofthis year, the Constitutional President ofthe Republic, Economist Rafael Correa,issued the Executive Decree No. 110

according to which the bonus for teachers’housing is $3,600 provided the cost of thehousing does not exceed $20,000 (it was$1,800 in the past).

Also, according to the aforementio-ned Decree, the National Government,through the Ministry of Economics andFinance and the Ministry of UrbanDevelopment and Housing shall includein the draft budget each year financingfor at least one thousand housing bonu-ses for SIV Teachers according to theavailability of funds in the budget ofeach fiscal year.


POLICY 8

0.5% Annual Increasein the Allocation forthe Education Sectorof the GDP until Itreaches at least 6%


Goal: Guarantee necessary financial resour-ces so that the education system promotessustained and sustainable development forthe country.

Achievements for 2006:1. Approval of policy in the referendum on

November 26, 2006.

2. Design of the Educational FinancingLaw.

Achievements for 2007:During its 6 months in office, theGovernment of President Rafael Correa hasincreased investment from 2.9% to 3.2% ofGDP with funds from the education emer-gency declared on March 16, 2006. To com-plete the goal of 0.05%, social investmentwill be reprogrammed and a bill will be sentto Congress to comply with the annual goalso that at the end of the year we will have anincrease of 0.5% in GDP.


Strengthening the National Council onEducation

The current administration has strengthe-ned and broadened the National Council onEducation.

As indicated in Article 25 of the Law ofEducation, the Council is the permanent orga-nization for consulting on educational, techni-

cal and scientific policies and in matters sub-mitted for its review.

Minister Vallejo enlarged the Council withparticipation of delegates from the SocialContract for Education, the Bilingual andIntercultural Education Council and somemeetings have been attended by representati-ves from UNESCO and UNICEF.


OTHER MATTERS

Bilingual Intercultural Education Performance

• Licentiate program for EIB-PLEIB (U.Cuenca- CONAIE Agreement).

• Professional training for teachers of indige-nous nationalities with smaller populationsin the Amazon Basin Region and the Coast.

• Graduation of the first licentiates inBilingual Intercultural Education inJanuary, 2007. (250 teachers of the Shuar,Siona, Secoya, Cofan, Kichwa, Awa,Chachi, Wao nationalities).

• Master’s Program in Higher Education,major in Intercultural Management.

• 38 technicians specializing in BilingualIntercultural Education being trainedunder an agreement among the Universityof Cuenca, DINEIB and GTZ.

• SASIKU Project (with support from theCatalan-Spain government).

• Support for the second phase of professionaltraining for EIB teachers from the AmazonBasin Region and Coast; Strengthening ofthe EIB Institution; Drafting theDevelopment Plan for the EIB System; 40%of project in the process of execution.

• EIB-AMAZ Project (with support fromthe Government of Finland).

• Linguistic and cultural research; redesignof the curriculum of the Bilingual andIntercultural Advanced Teaching

Institutes; publication of complementaryteaching materials. The first stage of theproject is being executed in Ecuador, Peruand Bolivia; started in November, 2006.

• EIB (SISEMOE) Follow-Up, Evaluationand Monitoring System.

• Determination of indices of quality lear-ning and basic services in bilingual inter-cultural education.

• The Regional Team of EIB Kichwa in theHighlands has drafted instruments for measu-ring the quality of learning in the Highlandsin the areas of Math, Kichwa and Spanish.

• The final report on the evaluation of indi-ces of quality in the Ecuadorian Highlandshas been drafted.

• Coverage for the entire country is required.• Agenda for the Rights of Indigenous

Children and Adolescents.• Socialization and incorporation of childre-

n’s and adolescents’ rights into theBilingual Intercultural Basic Educationcurriculum.

• An agreement was signed among DINEIB-UNICEF and ECUARUNARI and wasexecuted for promoting children’s and ado-lescents’ rights.

• Last May the Agenda was presented at theannual session of the UN.

– Declaration of a State of Emergency in Education

– Suggestions for the draft of the Political Constitution, Dogma Section, Draft Forwardedto CONESUP

Congress on Experimental SchoolsThe National Directorate of Regular andSpecial Education of the Ministry organized aCongress and National Assembly of theAssociation of Experimental Schools –ANPEE – and was held in the auditorium ofthe Anthropology Museum at the Universityof Otavalo on May 16, 17 and 18 of this year.At this event attended several delegates fromgovernment, municipal and private schoolswith this type of modality.

Training Workshops for the InternationalBaccalaureateDuring May 15 to 18 there were two works-hops in Quito attended by 44 teachers from23 government schools offering theInternational Baccalaureate in the country,for the purpose of training for the final gra-ding process for this type of high schooldiploma.

Workshops on Intercultural Education andCurriculumDelegates from CARE International, GlobalVision, International Plan, UNESCO,Andean University and the InterculturalUniversity WINPI participated in works-hops on Preschool and Community FamilyEducation (DINEIB) and high school stu-dies in the two education systems.

Workshop on Literacy for IndigenousPeoplesA workshop was held on “Literacy forIndigenous Peoples” on April 9 and 10 atSimon Bolivar Andean University in Quito.The educational event was organized by theAssistant Secretariat for Education forIntercultural Dialogue, CARE International,Social Contract for Education and theNational Commission on Basic Education forYoung People and Adults from DINEIB.

Workshops for Discussion on Evaluation ofEducation“Workshops for Discussing the Evaluation ofEducation” were held to orientate learningabout experiences in countries that have eva-luation systems for quality of education; to dis-cuss their strengths and weaknesses in the faceof the drafting of the National EvaluationSystem of Ecuador.

Seminar/Worship: Quality Control of the FoodIndustry in Technical High SchoolsWithin the framework of the project“Consolidation of Technical EducationReform” (“RETEC”) which this Ministry andthe Spanish Agency for InternationalCooperation (“AECI”) are executing, onJune 14th a seminar/workshop was held totrain principals and technical teachers fromprocessing plants at RETEC Technical HighSchools with the theme of “Quality Controlin the Food Industry.”


Congresses and Workshops

Cultural Activities

Juan Montalvo Prize The “Juan Montalvo” Annual Prize was crea-ted under Ministerial Accord No. 00154 onApril 4, 2006, and covers the educationalscope for the male or female educator or com-munity educational experience that havecontributed to the development of nationaleducation. This year and after the theme waspresented by the National Council on

Education, the Ministry decided that the win-ner was Father Francisco Javier Cortes Garcia.

Juan Leon Mera PrizeThe Juan Leon Mera Prize was created underMinisterial Accord No. 270 on May 25, 2006for the man or woman of letters and arts in dif-ferent areas such as: literature, film, theater,dance, plastic arts and music with the goal of

promoting the country’s culture. The prize forthe year 2007 was given in the area of film.

This year, the filmmaker Camilo LuzuriagaArias won the Juan Leon Mera National Prizefor Film. The prize was handed out on June28th, the birthday of the Ambato writer JuanLeon Mera, in the Atocha Farm at the city ofAmbato. The Minister of Education, RaulVallejo Corral, gave the winner a MinisterialAccord, a medal and an economic stimulus of$5,000.

Jubilee Year of Alfredo ParejaThe Minister of Education, Raul VallejoCorral, declared 2007 as the “Jubilee Year ofAlfredo Pareja Diezcanseco,” a distinguishednovelist, historian and diplomat of ourcountry. He was one of the renovators of theEcuadorian novel in the Twentieth Century,and was part of the “Guayaquil Group,” whodid their utmost to demand freedom for crea-tors to do their work.

For this reason, the Minister of Education,the National Library System (“SINAB”) andthe Cultural Center of FLACSO held a cycleof round tables starting on May 17th in theFLACSO Auditorium where the life andwork of this distinguished historian, novelistand diplomat were displayed in preparationfor the tribute on the 100th anniversary of hisbirth.

Eugenio Espejo PrizesThe “Eugenio Espejo” cultural prizes, one ofthe most distinguished in the country aregiven to representatives of artistic, literary,scientific and cultural activities and a publicor private organization.

Winners of this important prize were:Ramon Lazo, in sciences; Miguel DonosoPareja, in literary activities; Edgar Palacios, incultural activities; Diego Luzuriaga in artisticactivities; and the National SymphonicOrchestra, as a public or private organization,with Hernan Vasquez receiving the prize forthe entity.

Starting with this edition, reforms to theamount and frequency of the prizes went intoeffect. Now the prizes are annual. A medal,

$10,000 and a lifetime payment of five uni-fied minimum monthly salaries are awarded.If the winner dies, then the lifetime paymentof five unified minimum monthly salaries willbe paid to his or her spouse or minor children.These reforms were effective under thePresidential Decree No. 2179, datedDecember 21, 2006.

International Day of the Book and the RoseThrough the National Library System andProvincial Directorates, for the second conse-cutive year the Ministry of Education celebra-ted the International Day of the Book and theRose and Copyrights on April 23rd. Thisyear there was a special tribute to AlfredoPareja Diezcanseco.

Programs for this celebration were on anational level in Quito, in the Ministry ofEducation, with schools and officials from theMinistry attending and in the Theater Plazawith the participation of the NationalSymphonic Orchestra, the National DanceCompany and several local poets who displa-yed their works.

In Pichincha the program was extended toTabacundo, Mejia, Puerto Quito, Calacaliand Cayambe.

In Guayaquil, at the Office of theRegional Assistant Secretariat for Educationthe celebration was made through book fairsand cultural activities. There were also pro-grams in Triunfo, Daule and Salinas. Thecity of Quevedo, in Los Rios Province, wasincluded.

Libraries Throughout its 20 years of existence, theNational Library System (“SINAB”) has mana-ged to create a network made up of 544 publicand popular libraries used by boys, girls and ado-lescents and members of communities located inrural and marginal urban areas in the 22 provin-ces of the country.

SINAB offers library service to social groupsthat do not have economic opportunities to buybooks. It also works, in a participatory manner,through agreements and free loan agreementswith municipal governments, provincial govern-


ments, parish councils, NGOs and communityorganizations.

• In January and February 600 male andfemale library promoters were trained inall of the provinces of the country. Thiswas done in order to relaunch the projectof Community Cultural Centers (“CCC”).

• 58 popular libraries in 22 provinces wereraised to CCC providing them with com-plete computer equipment, audiovisualequipment, shelves, tables and chairs inaddition to new bibliography funds.

• In a special manner SINAB covered 22libraries located in Social RehabilitationCenters throughout the country. Theywere given equipment and furniture and,especially, specific bibliography funds forthe inmates particular needs.

• In 2007, planning was designed to receiveand execute the CCC project.

• Through instructions from the centraloffice, in January our provincial coordina-ting offices started a strengthening processand their own initiatives in encouraginglibraries in each region and coordinationwith provincial education directorates,once SINAB stopped being a part of theOffice of the Assistant Secretariat ofCulture and became an agency in theMinistry of Education.

• Communication with CERLALC wasretaken.

International Cooperation“National Program for Education onDemocratic Values and Practices in Ecuador”.

This project was discussed with educationauthorities in draft form for submission toSENPLADES. It is within the Latin-American Program in Education in Values ofthe OAS and is coordinated with State enti-ties in Values Processes.

Mediation Center and Other AlternativeMethods of Conflict Resolution

It was legally formed, approved and regis-tered with the National Judiciary Council onJanuary 30, 2007 under No. 99, the center

was created for the purpose of being a firstspace instance for resolving conflicts volunta-rily, confidentially and impartially for themesopen to compromise and recognized by theLaw through dialogue, harmonizing, andaccords in the face of educational conflictsamong authorities, teachers, students andparents, thus generating sustainable spaces fora culture of peace.

Juan Montalvo Traveling Teaching ChairThe Juan Montalvo Traveling Teaching

Chair was unanimously approved by theMinisters of Culture and the individuals res-ponsible for cultural policies in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean at the V Meetingin Caracas where the initial site was definedas Ambato.

The work and thought of Juan Montalvohave become known as one of the great lite-rary figures and ideologues of the Americancontinent. For this reason, the SecretariatGeneral of the “Andres Bello” Agreement,within the framework of the new vision, hasresolved to revitalize the image of this renow-ned writer.

Young people require paradigms serving asan inspiration and guide to become protago-nists responsible for building the destiny oftheir country and Latin America. Therefore,Casa Juan Montalvo, with its headquarters inthe city of Ambato, coordinates with provin-cial Directorates of Education the activitieslinked to the diffusion of said teaching chairand cooperates with its execution.

Miscellaneous Ministerial Accords(“M.A.”)• Regulations for processing rural and mar-

ginal urban Spanish education networks(M.A. 103, March 21).

• Establishment of Innovation, Science andTechnology Youth Fairs on a nationallevel which will be held annually on anational wide and in each provincial capi-tal with the participation of all high scho-


ols in the country, especially experimentalschools (M.A. 165, May 11)

• Organization of parades that must have acivic and festive character in such a waythat costumes, national, regional and localfolklore and other cultural expressions aredisplayed (M.A. 166, May 11)

• Special Regulations for experimentalschools in the national education system(M.A. l67, May 11)

• Special Regulations for the Establishmentof Codes of Coexistence at all schools inthe country at different levels and modali-ties in the system as an instrument forcollective building by the education com-munity based on internal norms and regu-lations and converted to a new model forcoexistence in said community (M.A.182, May 22)

• Reforms to the special substitute regula-tions for the election of flag bearers, flagcarriers and escorts at schools at the ele-mentary and middle school levels (M.A.183, May 22)

• Establishing the application of the“Aprendo” test at government schools,“fiscomisionales” (government schoolsunder the administration of religious

missions), municipal and private schoolsevery three school years starting in 2008as a policy for periodic and permanentexecution that will be used strictly as atool for obtaining the information neces-sary in the orientation and strengtheningprocess in the areas of learning basicskills and factors associated with impro-ving the efficiency of the national educa-tion service. In 2007 a pilot programwill be held which will allow us to havea survey of pertinent information forbuilding a measuring system for acade-mic achievements and for making deci-sions at the teaching level (M.A. 195,May 30).

• Reforms to the special regulations for pro-cedures and means for learning and trea-ting sex crimes in the education system(M.A. 196, May 30).

• During the school year 2007-2008, theSchool named Balandra Cruz del Sur wasawarded with the prize “EnvironmentalCertification for Schools in Ecuador”.Following the results of the execution ofthe pilot project, we will establish andextend the certification to other schoolsin the country.


Agreements

• Inter institutional agreement for coopera-tion and coordination between theMinistry of Education and the ChasquinetFoundation, 01-18-07.

• General Academic CooperationAgreement between the Ministry ofEducation and Culture and Simon BolivarAndean University, 01-25-07.

• Addendum to the Cooperation Agreementbetween the Ministry of Education and theNational Directorate of Education Services(“DINASE”), 02-8-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the ElComercio Group, 03-7-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the NationalTeachers’ Retirement Fund, 03-16-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the NationalCerebral Palsy Foundation (“FUNAPA-CE”), 03-16-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the EcuadorianEpiscopalian Conference for the operationof the SINEDE.

• Commitment of the Ministry of Educationto the boys, girls and adolescents ofEcuador, 03-17-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and “ManosTrabajadoras Foundation” (WorkingHands Foundation), 03-30-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the Universityof Guayaquil, 03-30-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the MunicipalGovernment of the Metropolitan District ofQuito – Municipal Education Directorate,04-16-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education and the RetirementFund for Ecuadorian Teachers, 04-18-07.

• Addendum to the specific inter-institutio-nal cooperation between the Ministry ofEducation and Casa Grande University ofGuayaquil, 04-19-07.

• Inter-Institutional CooperationAgreement among the Office of the VicePresident of the Republic of Ecuador,Ministry of Welfare (“MBS”), NationalCouncil on Children and Adolescents(“CNNA”), Ministry of Education, andNational Institute of Children andFamilies (“INNFA”), 04-20-07.

• Cooperation Agreement between theMinistry of Education through the natio-nal Library System (“SINAB”) and theIllustrious Municipal Government of the

Canton of Pastaza, Pastaza Province, 04-26-07.

• Agreement serving as the framework forcooperation between the Ministry ofEducation and the Corporation forTransfer and Development of Technology,Expertise and Skills (“TECNHA”), 04-27-07.

• Inter Institutional Cooperation Agreementbetween the Internal Revenue Service(SRI) and the Ministry of Education, 04-27-07.

• Inter Institutional Cooperation Agreementamong the Ministry of Education throughthe National Directorate of EducationServices (“DINSE”) and the MunicipalGovernment of Zamora, ZamoraChinchipe province, 04-30-07.

• Amendment to the lease contract betwe-en the Ministry of Education and“Edificaciones, Industrias y Comercio”(“EDINCO”) Cia. Ltda., 05-9-07.

• Cooperation and CoordinationAgreement between the Ministry ofEducation and the Foundation “Libertad,Igualdad y Fraternidad” (Freedom, Equalityand Fraternity) (“FUNLIF”), 05-28-07.

• Agreement between the Ministry ofEducation and “Fundación GeneralEcuatoriana” (Ecuadorian GeneralFoundation), 05-29-07.

• Inter Institutional Cooperation Agreementbetween the Ministry of Education and theEcuador Automobile Club (“ANETA”),06-7-07.


TenYearEducationPlanforEcuador2006-2015

Making Early Education Universal for 0 to 5 years of age.

Universalization of Basic General Education from 1stto 10th Grades.

Increasing High School Registration to Reach at Least 75% ofthe Population of that Age Group.

Eradication of Illiteracy and Strengthening AlternativeEducation.

Amélioration de l’infrastructure et de l’équipement des établissements scolaires.

Amélioration de la qualité et de l’équité de l’éducation et la mise en œuvre d’un système national d’évaluation et de responsabilité sociale du système de l’éducation.

Revalorisation du corps enseignant et amélioration de la formation initiale, de la formation permanente, des conditions de travail et de la qualité de vie.

Augmentation annuelle de 0,5% de la participation du secteur de l’enseignement dans le PIB jusqu’à l’an 2012 ou jusqu’à atteindre un pourcentage d’au moins 6% du PIB.

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Ten Year Education Plan for Ecuador - UNESCO.org

Documents

Transcript of Ten Year Education Plan for Ecuador - UNESCO.org