The 4th KIX LAC annual meeting was held

On November 13 and 14, the fourth KIX Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Annual Meeting was held, with the outstanding participation of representatives from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. Also present were colleagues from KIX applied research projects and delegates from the countries that make up the LAC Hub —including both those who have recently assumed their roles and those with an established track record— from Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  

On the first day, the achievements and progress of the past year were then presented, including the Knowledge Mobilization Cycle in the Use of Evidence, the Strengthening Initial Teacher Training in Eastern Caribbean project between the University of the West Indies (UWI) and SUMMA, the Technical Learning Visits, and the Country Support mechanism.  

Raúl Chacón, Director of the KIX LAC Hub, presented the projects for the upcoming year, such as the new Early Childhood Knowledge Mobilization Cycle, new technical learning visits, new studies on the use of evidence in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the face-to-face meeting planned for May 2025. 

During the second day, participants worked to define priority issues and key challenges in early childhood and identify the main gaps in knowledge for these challenges. The key topics were: the importance of early education, regional diagnosis, national challenges, intersectoral collaboration and the dimensions of educational policy.  The meeting also focused on quality standards, curricular frameworks, effective pedagogical practises, teacher professional development, early literacy, transition to primary education, and monitoring and evaluation. 

At the end of the meeting, the participants were thanked for the two days of work, highlighting the value of strengthening the community of practise in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially in the field of early childhood. The relevance of prioritizing efforts and aligning initiatives toward common objectives was also highlighted, as well as the need to generate spaces for cooperation between different sectors, including national governments, civil societies, teachers’ unions and academia.