The Secondary Education Curriculum in Latin America: New Tendencies and Changes. Final Report of the Seminar Organized by the International Bureau of Education and Held at the International Institute for Educational Planning (Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 2-3, 1999).

This report was presented and discussed at a seminar on "The Secondary Education Curriculum in Latin America: The View of Specialists" which took place at UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning. It also incorporates information and comments put forward at the seminar by participants from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil. Its purpose is to initiate dialog and international cooperation with respect to new global trends and secondary education curriculum changes in Latin America in the 1990s. The introduction briefly surveys the question within the context of Latin American educational reforms and the institutional characteristics of individual countries in the region. The report looks at some of the main changes occurring in the world and the new challenges these represent for the education of young people. It also puts forward some considerations regarding the shape that is being given to new curriculum material to meet these challenges in the context of Latin America. The report focuses briefly on a few key features that are giving a renewed identity to secondary education, especially competencies and the development of personalities. It offers suggestions regarding the characteristics of official curricular elements in the 1990s. An appendix lists the structure of the education system, intermediate-level requirements in selected Latin American countries, and gross attendance rates for 1985 and 1995 at the intermediate level. A list of participants is also given. (Contains 37 references.) (DFR)