Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) face significant challenges in the context of climate change, but they also have a unique opportunity to lead the transition toward more sustainable and low-carbon economies. To achieve this, it is essential to have a workforce capable of adapting to the demands of both emerging sectors and traditional ones that are undergoing changes, thereby contributing effectively to the economic transformation required by the green transition. However, the region faces a considerable gap between the skills available and those required to meet these objectives.

In a context of accelerated digital transformation and a persistent learning crisis, this report presents a regional overview of how teachers in Latin America perceive their digital competencies. Based on a self-assessment completed by more than 28,000 educators across six countries, the analysis provides key evidence to inform teacher training strategies in the region.

This publication compiles the experiences and lessons learned from the Early Childhood Development Innovation Fund (ECD Fund), an alliance between the IDB and several donors (Fundación FEMSA, Van Leer Foundation, Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, Porticus, and Open Society Foundations) that supports innovative early childhood development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Since 2007, the Ecuadorian government has required teacher candidates to pass cognitive and knowledge tests before they are allowed to participate in merit-based competitions for tenured positions. We evaluate this policy by linking administrative teacher information to data from an experimental study that randomly assigned nearly 13,000 children to their teachers. We find that test-screened tenured teachers had a significant effect of at least 10.5 percent of a SD on language learning outcomes.