The Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Edgardo Riveros, inaugurated today the conference titled "The Role of Teachers in Vulnerable Contexts: Chile and South Africa". The event focused on sharing experiences between representatives of both countries in order to reduce vulnerability in Chile as well as South Africa.
The conference was organized by the Chilean International Cooperation Agency (AGCI) and the Ministry of Education in collaboration with Educ-Africa, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Choose Teaching, the Technological and Commercial Institute of Recoleta, Fundación Chile and the University of the Witwatersrand, a public university in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In the event also participated the Ambassador of Chile in South Africa, Hilton Fisher, AGCID's executive director Ricardo Herrera, representatives of the Ministry of Education from Chile and South Africa, academics, school principals, teachers as well as civil society representatives.
"Our foreign policy aims to reinforce the continuing interchange and technical collaboration that Chile looks for in the context of the South-South Cooperation, enlarging its frontiers and presence beyond the American Continent. In this context, Africa is a main priority in Chile's foreign policy" Under-Secretary Riveros explained during his inaugural speech.
Moreover, he said that "our interest is to share our strength in terms of public policies in order to build institutions that bring wellness to the population in an equal and sustainable manner". Under-Secretary Riveros also signaled that "this experience from the south, under the gaze of other countries of which their development is equal or less related, is to be able to more closely build a source of knowledge that adjusts to different realities and challenges".
In this regard, the AGCID Executive Director indicated that "this conference has been implemented in the context of our strategic objective of international cooperation which aims to make progress towards an inclusive and sustainable development. There are areas where Chile offers technical expertise which is internationally renowned". In this respect, the Ambassador of South Africa in Chile signaled that "cooperation allows us to be able to share experiences from cultural differences to best practices, therefore we are able to get the best of each country and to implement it in our public policies".
The conference was divided into three different parts. Firstly, the role of teachers in vulnerable contexts. In this regard, a representative from the Ministry of Education of South Africa indicated that the "cooperation between countries around the world allows us to share experiences and develop strategies towards global challenges, promoting global citizenship and collaboration because we learn from other cultures and we eliminate stereotypes".
The second part focused on the question whether is necessary a different education for those teachers who work within vulnerable contexts. Finally, representatives of several educational Chilean institutions presented learning strategies and challenges facing the new century. In this regard, Carlos Mellado from Casa Azul signaled that "times are changing therefore this kind of experiences are vital. In my case, I am very interested in education for vulnerable children that is why is good to learn from different realities in order to improve".