Ministry of Education signs bilateral agreement with Chile during UNESCO mission

On Saturday, June 15, Brazilian Education Minister Camilo Santana, and the minister of Education of Chile, Nicolás Cataldo, signed a bilateral agreement on teacher training. The bilateral took place in the scope of the meeting of the SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris.  

During the bilateral, Santana stressed that teacher training is a concern shared by both countries. "We both seek initial and continuing training that focuses on the quality of the courses and qualifies teachers to work with autonomy, freedom and governance," he said.  

Ao assinarem acordo, ministros também conversaram sobre a elevação da equidade como tema estratégico - Foto: Divulgação / MEC

In addition to signing the bilateral agreement, the ministers also discussed the importance of raising equity as a strategic issue in discussions on global education goals at the meeting of the SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee held on Monday, June 17, in which they both took part representing South America. The agenda will also extend to the meeting of Education Ministers that will take place in October in Fortaleza, Brazil.   

Bilateral agreement – The Memorandum of Understanding for the exchange of teacher training aims to deepen the exchange initiatives between the two countries, with the support of the respective governments. The document also registers the intention to deepen joint research, organize colloquia and bring Brazilian and Chilean specialists closer to each other. Although Brazil and Chile are home to some of the best universities in the region, they are not yet on each other's list of top academic destinations, which indicates that there is room for more contact between the two.   

On the Brazilian side, the Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/Capes), a body linked to the Ministry of Education (Ministério da Educação/MEC), will be responsible for drawing up the call for basic education teachers interested in an exchange program in Chile. Courses on reading and writing, mathematics, education in the rural areas, human rights education, indigenous school education and education for sustainable development are eligible for the initiative.  

 *MEC's Special Social Communications Office, with information from the International Office