IDB Targets Latin American Literacy Crisis with New Education Roadmap

The report, Built to Last, advocates for moving beyond isolated policy experiments toward systemic, evidence-based instruction. Its core recommendations focus on four pillars: rigorous early-grade literacy and math, rapid remediation for struggling learners, enhanced professional development, and long-term policy consistency. The IDB emphasizes that these changes are not merely pedagogical but economic, as the region’s future productivity depends on building foundational skills that enable students to process increasingly complex material.

Mercedes Mateo, chief of the IDB’s Education Division, specifically pointed to phonics-based reading and highly structured mathematics as essential tools. She also framed the crisis through the lens of modern technology, noting that without strong comprehension skills, students remain unable to critically assess the output of artificial intelligence. Ancel Scheker, the Dominican Republic's Vice Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Affairs, echoed this urgency, urging regional leaders to move past theoretical research and integrate proven practices into daily classroom operations. The initiative seeks to ensure that effective teaching methods are not restricted to pilot programs but are scaled to reach every student in the region.