1. VII REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON EDUCATION STATISTICS 2009 - LAC  The growing concern about secondary education Cancún, Quintana Roo, México, December 9, 10 and 11, 2009 REGIONAL PROJECT OF EDUCATION INDICATORS (PRIE)

2. Secondary education is a fundamental education level which allows to overcome the vicious circle of poverty. Based on ECLAC, to have at least 12 years of schooling is the minimum education capital for the well-being of an individual; In turn, this leads to a probability of more than 80% of finding an occupation with an income which allows to have a decent standard of living. Ensure wider access to a quality secondary education in the region: Represents a possibility for the youth to have access later on to more decent and productive jobs. Greater probability of economic and human development for countries of the region. Importance of secondary education

3. Net Enrolment Rate: only 43% of countries have attained the threshold of 75% of the youth enrolled at this level. Percentage of completion of the population between 20 to 24 years old: 45% of the youth have not completed this level of education. The disadvantages of population from rural areas, from low socio- economic levels or coming from indigenous ethnic groups in terms of completing this level of education are serious. Panorama of secondary education<

4. I Summit, Miami 1994 Achieve, for the year 2010 an enrollment rate of a minimum of 75% at the secondary level II Summit, Santiago 1998 Ensure that at least 75% of the youth has access to quality secondary education by 2010, with a high percentage who complete their secondary education. V Summit, Trinidad y Tobago 2009 Give access to quality secondary education to all the youth of the region at the latest by 2015 with an additional focus on more vulnerable groups and youth who require special needs education. Commitments regarding secondary education, Summit of the Americas

5. Secondary Education at the Global level: World Bank publication “Expand opportunities and build competence for the youth; A global agenda for secondary education.’’ (2007) Biennial of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, main theme: “Beyond primary education: challenges and approaches for expanding learning opportunities in Africa’’ (Mozambique, may 2008). Conference of the Ministers of Education of French speaking countries on the theme: “Secondary education and perspectives” (Canada, June 2009). Sixth interamerican meeting of the Ministers of Education on the theme “Better opportunities for the youth of the Americas: rethinking secondary education. (Ecuador, august 2009).

6. The commitments of the Ministers of Education of the Americas Double the efforts to achieve the goals established during the two last Summit of the Americas (Santiago de Chile, 1998; Trinidad y Tobago, 2009) Develop strategies based on principles of equity, quality, pertinence and efficiency in education to give access to all the youth to quality secondary education for all by 2015.

7. Secondary education within the international commitments Millennium Development Goals ( MDG) 2015 Goal 3: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels of education no later than 2015. Education for All (EFA): Goals in Education 2015 Goal3: Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and training programs for life long learning. Summit of Iberoamerican States/ Organization of Iberoamerican States (OIE): Goals 2021 Goal 4. Universalize basic primary and secondary education and improve its quality. Goal 6. Increase participation of the youth in secondary education, technical vocational education and tertiary education.

8. The crisis increased the level of fragility of individuals and households. This could trigger a temporary or permanent interruption of the training process for some individuals or households. The evidence suggests that the 1994 crisis in Mexico had the effect of reducing by 15% the participation of girls from rural areas in secondary education. Even if information from the ILO suggests a positive tendence in the region, the proportion of time children and teenagers dedicate to work could increase. There could be a reduction in the levels of access to tertiary education, considering that families could be tempted to delay this educational investments. Consequences of the economic crisis on secondary education