Strategies to improve learning equity and prevent school dropouts

Martín é sociólogo peruano que atuou como Ministro da Educação no início da pandemia de covid-19 em 2020. Ele supervisionou os sistemas de educação pré-primária, primária, secundária e superior do país e elaborou a estratégia nacional de educação a distância em resposta à emergência sanitária. Entre 2018 e 2020, atuou como chefe da Superintendência Nacional de Educação Superior Universitária do Peru (SUNEDU), órgão regulador do sistema universitário do Peru, onde liderou a reforma para melhorar a qualidade do ensino superior. De 2015 a 2018, Martín também foi membro de seu Conselho de Direção.

Wadzanayi is a seasoned development practitioner who combines social work and education passions into over 10 years of social change. She has worked at ECOZI for 7 years as a program officer overseeing projects tackling issues of quality, gender sensitive and inclusive education delivery in disadvantaged communities. Wadzanayi has also led advocacy efforts engaging key policy players such as parliamentarians, directors within the government offices and school development committees. She has also engaged at National and Transnational advocacy forums.

Philippe Lebreton is an occupational psychologist, inspector for the French Ministry of Education, and head of the office for guidance and combating school dropout rates at the Directorate-General for School Education within the French Ministry of Education. His career has led him to hold positions of responsibility in central government, academic services, and local government. He designs, manages, and evaluates the implementation of national programmes promoting career guidance, dropout prevention, and the return to education of young people who have left the education system. He coordinates the national network of staff responsible for guidance and combating school dropout in France. His professional commitment is deeply rooted in the fight against the reproduction of social, territorial, and gender inequalities. He works on a daily basis to make guidance a lever for empowerment and social justice, and to guarantee every student equal access to pathways to success.

Fernanda Luna is the Deputy Coordinator of Knowledge Generation and Mobilization (GMC) at the IIEP-UNESCO Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Her responsibilities include supporting team management, as well as coordinating and supervising research studies, the Information System on Educational Trends in Latin America (SITEAL), the Regional Forum on Educational Policy, and other customised studies conducted by the Institute. She has an extensive background in public educational management.

Irvin is a psychologist, university lecturer, and civil servant in Costa Rica. He has served in various institutions, including the Ministry of Public Education and the Joint Social Welfare Institute (Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social) from 2021 to 2022, where he led the Socio-Educational Development Area.

With over 22 years of experience at the Ministry of Public Education, Irvin has worked across all levels of the institution, including educational centres and regional education directorates. Since 2009, he has been a civil servant at the central level, where he has been involved in the coordination, design and implementation of policies, programmes and projects that promote student retention and re-enrolment in Costa Rica. He is currently the Coordinator of the Unit for Retention, Reintegration, and Educational Success.

Sociologist, Master in Educational Research and Development, both at Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. Educational researcher since 1970. She has published more than 400 articles, chapters and books on the quality of education, adult education, values education and intercultural education. She founded and was General Coordinator for Intercultural and Bilingual Education in the Education Ministry in Mexico. She chaired the governing board of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation of the OECD. She received the Joan Amos Comenius Medal from the Czech Republic and UNESCO for her contributions to education in 2008. She was head of the Research Institute for the Development of Education at Universidad Iberoamericana. She chaired the governing board of the now extinct National Institute for the Evaluation of Education. 

She is an honorary fellow of UIL and has received three honorary PhDs. She served as Academic Vice President of Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. She served as co-chair of the International Expert Group on SDGs in Higher Education, convened by UNESCO to write the report "Knowledge-Driven Actions: Transforming Higher Education for Global Sustainability." Currently, she serves as an Honorary Researcher at Universidad Iberoamericana and coordinates the Chair on Educational Justice, which bears her name.