From May 10-12, the EI Regional Office in Latin America, together with the Norwegian Education Union (UEN) and all 18 Latin American EI-affiliated unions met in Managua, Nicaragua to analyse the impact of the policies of the International Financial Institutions – namely the World Bank and the IMF - on education.
The Managua meeting sought to assess the consequences of the Fast Track Initiative (FTI) in Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia. At the event, Nicaraguan Minister of Education Professor Miguel De Castilla Urbina issued a clear statement declaring that ‘the educational autonomy project imposed by the World Bank to privatise education (is a) failure.’
The participating organisations concluded their discussions by requesting the EI Regional Committee to produce a document that reflects their position on the policies of the International Financial Institutions against a backdrop of the increasing commercialisation of education. This document, to be entitled the Managua Declaration, will soon be available. For more information, please contact us at efaids@ei-ie.org.