Agreement with UTN to Unlock Student and Teacher Potential

As part of the Online Economics Courses Reinforcement Program for Public Universities in Latin America, CAF—development bank of Latin America—signed an agreement with Ecuador’s Technical University of the North (UTN), which aims to improve knowledge and management of the conceptual and practical aspects of economic theory in an effort to unleash the potential of human capital (students and teachers) of the university.

During the signing ceremony, CAF representative in Ecuador Daniel Rivera noted that the Program aims to contribute to the professional training of students and teachers, complying with high international standards, which will benefit course participants and the country as a whole. Rivera further emphasized that the Program seeks to establish a network of public universities in Latin America, which will produce a regional community of academic and student experts to exchange knowledge, methodologies and experiences, and to participate in joint research.

In addition, Marcelo Cevallos, rector of the Technical University of the North, thanked CAF for its contribution to academic training of future economists, who will help drive the nation’s development, as public officials, entrepreneurs, collaborators, in the private sectors or academia. Cevallos also pledged the institution’s efforts to coordinate the work of the university network, which he deems pivotal in understanding and seeking solutions to development challenges facing the region.

Currently, 13 universities in Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay and Bolivia are implementing the Online Economics Reinforcement Program for Public Universities in Latin America, which has several incentives such as: six-monthly student exchange between network universities, teacher workshops between the universities in the network, internships at CAF for students, applied research with CAF specialists for teachers, employability workshops for students of the network, and the creation or strengthening of research centers of universities that are part of this community.

It is important to highlight the fact that the Program focuses on education, both on-site and online. On-site classes will be taught by UTN resident professors of economics, while online courses—which will be managed by CAF—will be supplementary to their classroom counterparts and will include materials and methodology both for students and teachers.