Mercosur: Brazil will conduct educational assessment in the region.

247 - On the 29th of this month, Brazil will assume the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur, currently held by Argentina. In the area of ​​education, Minister Aloizio Mercadante will have the mission of establishing a technical committee to discuss the quality of teaching and the evaluation of educational systems in Latin American countries.
The topics to be discussed were defined in a closed agenda by the delegations of the Mercosur member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and associated countries (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela) at the last meeting of ministers in Buenos Aires. On October 26, experts will participate in a regional seminar on educational assessment in the Argentine capital.
A meeting is also planned with the committee of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an exam conducted every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The objective is to analyze the assessment criteria and the impact of the PISA methodology on the educational reality of Latin American countries.
For Mercadante, the challenge for Brazil's next pro tempore presidency is to deepen the democratic process in Latin America and intensify integration through the exchange of knowledge. "There is a great demand for mobility so that identity can be created and the circulation of people, not just goods, can occur," he emphasized.
On the Mercosur education sector's agenda for this semester is also the search for mechanisms that give greater emphasis to language exchange programs and the inclusion of regional integration content in school curricula and teacher training. Also on the agenda are the drafting of a scholarship program, with an emphasis on scientific and technological development, and the strengthening of mobility and exchange of basic education teachers in the region. The proposal is to invest in the exchange of experiences and successful pedagogical practices developed in the classrooms of each country. This should be done through the circulation of teachers through diverse locations and cultural realities.
There are also plans to create a regional repository of educational audiovisual content for children and adolescents, aimed at promoting the exchange and circulation of teaching materials among the countries of the region. In addition to the repository, a high-quality regional periodical publication on humanities and social sciences will be produced.