IDB Sets Out Education Roadmap to Close LAC Learning Gaps

Mercedes Mateo, chief of the IDB’s Education Division, highlighted phonics-based reading instruction and highly structured mathematics lessons as examples of approaches supported by evidence.

The Inter-American Development Bank has presented a roadmap to strengthen reading and mathematics across Latin America and the Caribbean, putting early classroom instruction, timely student support and better preparation for teachers at the centre of its proposals. Introduced at the Regional Policy Dialogue 2026 on Education in Santo Domingo, the plan responds to learning gaps that restrict young people's opportunities and affect the region's productivity, economic growth and social mobility.

Organized with the Dominican Republic's Ministry of Education, the dialogue brought the launch of the IDB's flagship publication, Built to Last: Advancing Education Equity and Economic Development Through Literacy and Numeracy. The report brings together evidence on education policies and teaching practices, giving governments a basis for strengthening foundational learning and turning approaches supported by research into lasting improvements across schools.

Building reading and mathematics skills from the start

The roadmap identifies four priorities: more effective reading and mathematics instruction from the early grades, timely tutoring and remedial support for students falling behind, stronger teacher training and ongoing support, and sustained implementation of evidence-based policies at scale. These priorities connect what happens during daily lessons with the wider decisions that determine whether schools have the capacity and support to improve learning consistently.

Figures cited in the announcement and attributed to PISA 2025 indicate that more than seven in ten 15-year-old students in Latin America and the Caribbean do not reach minimum proficiency in mathematics, and more than half fall short in reading. The scale of those gaps underlines the importance of recognizing difficulties early and providing help before students move further through school without the skills needed to understand increasingly demanding material.

Giving teachers practical methods and students timely help

Mercedes Mateo, chief of the IDB's Education Division, highlighted phonics-based reading instruction and highly structured mathematics lessons as examples of approaches supported by evidence. Phonics helps children connect letters with sounds as they learn to read, making the relationship between written and spoken language an explicit part of teaching. Bringing these methods into classrooms across the region will require stronger teacher preparation and continued support, alongside tutoring and remedial programs for learners who need additional help.

Mateo connected the need for deeper reading comprehension with the growing presence of artificial intelligence, warning that people need strong understanding to question the answers machines provide. Her message placed foundational education within a changing technological environment, where the ability to interpret information and assess a response remains essential. The challenge described by the IDB is to make effective teaching approaches available widely enough to reach the students who need them.

Turning research into lasting classroom improvements

Dominican Republic Vice Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Affairs Ancel Scheker emphasized the urgency of improving learning, saying children could not wait for action. She explained that hosting the dialogue offered an opportunity to examine how countries could move forward together, learn from regional experiences and use new evidence to accelerate progress. The gathering provides a setting for education leaders to connect research findings with the practical choices facing their school systems.

The central challenge identified in Built to Last is translating accumulated evidence into sustained policies and effective implementation. The IDB's roadmap calls for approaches that extend beyond isolated initiatives, with effective instruction, teacher support and targeted assistance maintained across schools over time. Its focus is on making proven practices part of everyday education so that more children develop the reading and mathematics skills on which later learning depends.