With the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), GDN aims to strengthen the capacity of independent institutions in the 17 smaller countries of Latin America and the Caribbean to produce evidence on national efforts to increase quality of education, by analyzing public expenditure choices and processes. Beyond strengthening the capacity of institutions to produce high-quality research of direct relevance to policy efforts in the education sector, the program also helps link IDB’s research work on education more closely with the bank’s operations.
The program supports competitively selected independent research institutions to assess the implementation of national policies on quality of education. It currently involves two teams, one at the Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (FUSADES) working on the cost efficiency of teacher training programs in El Salvador, and a joint team from Grupo Faro and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) working on the impact of national investment in early-childhood and primary education in Ecuador. These institutions receive financial help from the IDB to conduct the study, and data and legal support from the ministries’ own research departments to ensure their relevance. Through interactions with a Scientific and Technical Advisor with extensive experience in education policy in the country, and the local IDB office, the teams work towards turning their findings into recommendations that inform national efforts to improve the quality of education.
Objectives
- Identify information requirements, knowledge and institutional gaps in the region
- Strengthen the research capacities of national research centers in relatively small countries in the region to undertake public expenditure analysis
- Create platforms for knowledge transfer and cross-learning
- Strengthen the relationships/links among policymakers, research centers, think tanks, and researchers to share and build on specific models that foster efficiency in public expenditure
Download the program fact sheet here.
Funding
The program is supported by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with US$ 350,000 from Jul 2015 to May 2019.
For further information contact Francesco Obino, Head of Programs.