The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Emiliana Vegas

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2009-12-03

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0821381644

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Early childhood development outcomes play an important role throughout a person's life, affecting one's income-earning capacity and productivity, longevity, health, and cognitive ability. The deleterious effects of poor early childhood development outcomes can be long-lasting, affecting school attainment, employment, wages, criminality, and social integration of adults. The authors first take stock of early childhood development indicators in the region and explore access to early childhood development services for children of different backgrounds. They review recent evidence on the impact of early childhood development interventions in the region and investigate more deeply a selection of programs in Latin America and the Caribbean to distill lessons related to their design, implementation and institutionalization processes. The book concludes with a discussion of the challenges of scaling up and presents policy options to develop national early childhood development policies and programs that may be effective and sustained over time.


Cashing in on Education

Cashing in on Education

Author: Mercedes Mateo Díaz

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2016-10-19

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1464809038

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Investments in education across countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have transformed the lives of millions of girls and the prospects of their families and societies. Unleashing the full economic potential of women is nevertheless still a curtailed issue in the region: just about half of women are unable to participate in paid work. The majority of the population out of the labor market is women between the ages of 24 and 45. This is the largest share of the available pool of unused human capital countries have, and where mothers of young children are concentrated. This book argues that more and better childcare constitutes a fundamental policy option to improve female outcomes in the labor market, but countries need to pay particular attention to the design and features of such services. First-rate educational programs will be useless if children are not enrolled or do not attend formal education centers. A large program expansion will be wasted if parents cannot enroll their children because they are unable to reach the center, don’t trust its quality, if the program is too expensive, or if work and care schedules are not compatible. Through an integrated framework applied to each country and an overview of the existing evidence, this book addresses the why and what questions about policy relevant instruments to achieve female labor participation. Parts I and II of the book lay out the motivation for Latin-American and Caribbean countries to act depicting their current situation both in terms of women’s labor participation and the use and provision of childcare services. Moreover, this book tackles the how question contributing to the incipient evidence about factors affecting the take-up of programs and demand for childcare services and other informal care arrangements. Part III of the book explores how to improve services and implement more and better formal, center-based care arrangements for young children. It looks at international benchmarks, discusses different experiences and proposes specific actions to solve potential inequalities in access to childcare.


Escaping the Poverty Trap

Escaping the Poverty Trap

Author: Amartya Sen

Publisher: IDB

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9781931003568

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Basing their discussions on the concept of "intergenerational transmission of poverty"--the "process by which poor parents pass on poverty and disadvantage to their children," in the words of editor Moran (until recently a senior economist with the International Development Bank's Sustainable Development Department)--five essays reflect on political, philosophical, social, and other dimensions of investing in early childhood in Latin America. The essays include Amartya Sen's discussion of early childhood investment within the context of the overall development process, as well explorations of the relationship between health, nutrition, and cognitive and social dimensions of poverty; the impact of early childhood investment on economic growth and equity; and the role of the state in marshalling resources for early childhood investment. Distributed by Johns Hopkins U. Press. Annotation : 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).


At a Crossroads

At a Crossroads

Author: María Marta Ferreyra

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2017-05-18

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 146481015X

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"Higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean has expanded dramatically in the past 15 years, as the average gross enrollment rate has more than doubled, and many new institutions and programs have been opened. Although higher education access has become more equitable, and higher education supply has become more varied, many of the 'new' students in the system are, on average, less academically ready than are their more advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, only half of higher education students, on average, complete their degree, and labor market returns to higher education vary greatly across institutions and programs. Thus, higher education is at a crossroads today. Given the region's urgency to raise productivity in a low-growth, fiscally constrained environment, going past this crossroads requires the formation of skilled human capital fast and efficiently. 'At a Crossroads: Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean' contributes to the discussion by studying quality, variety, and equity of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. The book presents comprehensive evidence on the recent higher education expansion and evolution of higher education labor market returns. Using novel data and state-of-the-art methods, it studies demand and supply drivers of the recent expansion. It investigates the behavior of institutions and students and explores the unintended consequences of large-scale higher education policies. Framing the analysis are the singular characteristics of the higher education market and the market segmentation induced by the variety of students and institutions in the system. At this crossroads, a role emerges for incentives, information, accountability, and choice."


The Fast Track to New Skills

The Fast Track to New Skills

Author: María Marta Ferreyra

Publisher: World Bank Group Publications

Published: 2021-11-09

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9781464817069

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Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs) form skilled human capital in two or three years. Through original empirical research, this book explores SCPs? outcomes and returns, their supply, and what makes them good. It draws attention towards a higher education sector that has been typically overlooked in research and policy.


Early Childhood Learning Guidelines in Latin America and the Caribbean

Early Childhood Learning Guidelines in Latin America and the Caribbean

Author: Christine Harris- Van Keuren

Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank

Published: 2013-01-15

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13:

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This report details a comparative analysis of early learning guidelines (ELGs) for infants and toddlers less than 3 years of age in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 19 ELGs evaluated are utilized by 12 national and 7 regional programs located in 13 countries in the region. Three types of programs are included in this report: parenting programs (n=3), community centers (n=4) and child development centers (n=12). Two of the twelve child development center programs fall beyond the age range of this research (0-3 years) and are included as case studies. While parenting programs are included in this analysis, caution should be given to directly comparing their results to the results from community center or child development center programs. As described in the paper, parenting programs represent a distinct type of intervention.


Higher Education in Latin America

Higher Education in Latin America

Author: World Bank

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 9780821362099

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Based on studies of higher education in seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru), the volume identifies opportunities for raising Latin America's profile on the global stage"--Jacket.


Young Children in the World and Their Rights

Young Children in the World and Their Rights

Author: Adrijana Višnjić-Jevtić

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-04-20

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 3030682412

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This book provides different perspectives on the concept of children’s rights, including policy, educational, and children’s perspectives. It examines how the crucial ideas of the Convention on the Rights of the Child are respected and implemented in 14 countries in five regions of the world. It looks at early childhood education, children’s participatory rights, and at how these rights are promoted and guaranteed in different countries. It explores the professional practice of education and its complexities, challenges and dilemmas, as well as the role of play, and of listening and participation. The book advocates children’s rights today, arguing for its vital importance, in the best interests of the children. In doing so, it furthers the understanding of children’s rights and spreads knowledge about the Convention, as a means of celebrating its 30th anniversary. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) comprises the potential to change the lives of children to the very best. It may exalt children from the position of marginalized citizens to the centre of policies all over the world. Even though the concept of children’s rights is omnipresent, the respect for children’s rights must be discussed. While the Convention brings the new perspective of children as citizens to the world, there are still challenges in its application. The book interrogates challenges in understanding and applying children rights and offers possible answers to these challenges. The ratification process itself, does not guarantee that children’s rights are respected. While all adults should take responsibility for implementing the UNCRC in everyday life, Early Childhood Education should give opportunities for children to learn and live their rights.


Minor Omissions

Minor Omissions

Author: Tobias Hecht

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 2002-09-07

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 0299180336

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Latin American history—the stuff of wars, elections, conquests, inventions, colonization, and all those other events and processes attributed to adults—has also been lived and partially forged by children. Taking a fresh look at Latin American and Caribbean society over the course of more than half a millennium, this book explores how the omission of children from the region's historiography may in fact be no small matter. Children currently make up one-third of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean, and over the centuries they have worked, played, worshipped, committed crimes, and fought and suffered in wars. Regarded as more promising converts to the Christian faith than adults, children were vital in European efforts to invent loyal subjects during the colonial era. In the contemporary economies of Latin America and the Caribbean—where 23 percent of people live on a dollar per day or less—the labor of children may spell the difference between survival and starvation for millions of households. Minor Omissions brings together scholars of history, anthropology, religion, and art history as well as a talented young author who has lived in the streets of a Brazilian city since the age of nine. The book closes with the prophetic dystopian tale "The Children's Rebellion" by the noted Uruguayan writer Cristina Peri Rossi.