Primero Aprendo is a rights-based advocacy project. Its purpose is to translate into effective policies the right to education of working children in six countries of Central America (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala) and the Dominican Republic.

Primero Aprendo´s advocacy is evidence-based. On the one hand, Primero Aprendo operates a pilot project program which tests various educational models for working children. After three years of operation, twenty different educational models are being tested in 51 pilot projects in 4 countries. Under the guidance of an independent consultant, Primero Aprendo is validating each model piloted according to two key criteria: retention of working children in the program and reduction (or elimination) of hours worked by children enrolled in the program. Of the 20 models piloted, 14 have been deemed valid according to the criteria established for this purpose. In this fashion, Primero Aprendo is able to demonstrate to education ministries, decision makers, and international donors which models might be most appropriate for replication on a wider scale.

Primero Aprendo is also garnering evidence for effective advocacy through comprehensive policy analysis. In partnership with the prestigious Program for Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PREAL, sponsored by the Inter-American Dialogue), thorough reviews of the educational policy environment in the 6 countries that participate in Primero Aprendo were conducted. The country studies were synthesized in a comparative regional analysis, which in turn was the basis for a policy reform agenda which was developed in 2007, in consultation with select regional authorities in education and child labor. The policy reform agenda is guiding Primero Aprendo’s targeted advocacy work during the final two years of the project.

Primero Aprendo has also been working for three years to build consensus among ministers of education behind efforts to improve the access of child workers to quality education. Primero Aprendo and the Central American Education and Cultural Commission (CECC, essentially the regional body that represents collectively the ministers of education of the region) introduced in the 25th meeting of the Central American ministers of education (Nicaragua, April, 2006) a resolution calling for concerted effort to assign more resources to educational programs for the child worker population, introduce curricular reforms to make the educational environment more attractive, provide new and better vocational training opportunities for adolescents, and create conditions conducive to participation by broad sectors of society in the search for solutions to the problem of child labor. By signing the resolution, the ministers have affirmed their commitment to improving the educational conditions for working children in the various countries.

Primero Aprendo and the CECC joined with representatives of the ILO/CA and SEDAC (Central American Bishops’ Secretariat) to form a steering committee for promoting the implementation of the ministers’ resolution. A regional summit meeting of ministers was held in Panama on 8-9 August, 2007 to come to agreement on priority areas for joint and individual action over the coming years around the theme of child labor and education.

More information on Primero Aprendo is available at: http://primeroaprendo.org/.