Ecuador

DVV International has been working in Ecuador since 2010, with a regional office for South America in the capital city of Quito since 2014.

A complex political situation in Ecuador has resulted in enormous challenges in the education sector. Around a third of Ecuador’s inhabitants were illiterate and/or had not completed school in 2024. The proportion of young people who were neither working nor in education was 27% among young women and 11% of young men. Ecuador is also a destination country for migration and refugees, especially from Venezuela.

To date, DVV International’s work in the country has been notable in establishing partnerships with state institutions as well as civil society and academic networks in order to promote professional discourse and lobby for a holistic concept of education. In cooperation with the Ministry of Education, a competence curriculum for the specific needs of young people and adults was developed and implemented. With the aim of improving the training of adult educators, the Curriculum globALE was incorporated into the official further education programme of the Ministry of Education and, together with the national teacher training college, a Master's and Bachelor's degree programme in adult learning and education (ALE) and a digital continuing education programme were established to better link science and practice in the entire Latin America and Caribbean region.

Main focus of work

• Promoting a holistic understanding of education: Broadening the view of adult learning and education (ALE) towards a holistic understanding of education that meets the specific needs of the country, contributing to social transformation and improving the living conditions of vulnerable target groups.
• Professionalisation of adult educators: Systematisation and institutionalisation of existing courses of study and further education for adult educators in order to improve their qualifications and the overall quality of education.
• Expansion and diversification of educational programmes: Broadening the range of topics covered by ALE offers and developing improved, specifically adapted programmes for vulnerable target groups such as NEET (young adults “Not in Education, Employment, or Training”), prison inmates and people with disabilities.
• Strengthening networks and advocacy: Promoting innovation along with building and strengthening cross-sector alliances and networks at national and supra-regional levels, including in cooperation with Latin American education networks, for the further development and stronger anchoring of ALE.

Partners

In addition to the cooperation with the national Ministry of Education MINEDUC and its department “Education for People without Completed Schooling”, key civil society partners in Ecuador are the Fundación Educativa Mons. Cándido Rada (FUNDER), the Fundación Humana and the non-profit organisation FUDELA.

Strategic partners include the National Service for the Comprehensive Care of Adults Deprived of Liberty and Juvenile Offenders (SNAI), the National University of Education (UNAE) in Azuay and the National Polytechnic University (EPN) in Quito, as well as the Secretariat of Education, Recreation and Sports of the Municipality of Quito, the Organisation of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and the UNESCO Office Ecuador.