What education do we need for the world we want? The Latin American Campaign for the Right to Education (CLADE), along with other civil society organizations, are seeking ways to answer this question, through dialogue and collective reflection on the meanings of education envisioned for the positive transformation of our realities and societies.
In 2012, in an education working group formed by civil society organizations to advocate for the human right to education within the framework of the Rio + 20 Summit debates, CLADE proposed an education that was capable of stimulating people to think about the political, environmental, economic and social problems of the global order in which we live. These reflections aimed to propose a different economic, cultural, and social order to overcome inequalities and discrimination, and for dignity and justice, based on the transformative potential of social subjects and organized groups of civil society [read here the position paper that we published back then].
Identifying challenges in education systems
Following this debate, from November 11 -14, 2016, we held the IX Regional Assembly of CLADE in Mexico City, themed "Emancipatory education that guarantees rights: Challenges for Latin America and the Caribbean." 80 people from more than 16 countries, including specialists and representatives of national coalitions, regional networks and international organizations members of CLADE prompted debates on the situation of democracy and human rights in the region, as well as on the challenges and opportunities for the realization of an emancipatory education that guarantees rights.
Among the challenges faced, the following stood out:
- the rise of conservative groups within the governments of different countries in the region,
- the homogenization and instrumentalization of educational systems,
- the privatization of education,
- the criminalization and repression of social protest,
- the different forms of discrimination and violence in schools,
- the undermining of the debate on gender in schools,
- the reduction of resources for education and other social rights,
- the application of international and national standardized tests to measure educational quality, generating segregation, competition and inequality in education systems.