Quarterly Report 22: January 1 - March 31, 2021

The Program operates in Honduras, Guatemala, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic, with a focus on improving technical education and workforce development. In the Dominican Republic, the Program signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA) and the Instituto Técnico Superior Comunitario (ITSC), two institutions that offer degree programs in software development, medical device manufacturing, gastronomy, logistics, event production, and nursing. The Program also conducted a rapid assessment to determine the feasibility of blended and virtual training formats for teacher training programs and delivered a three-hour workshop on competency-based approaches in technical degree programs to 220 teaching professionals and administrators. In Guatemala, the Program completed the seventh curriculum adaptation to URL's Primacy Care Nursing degree program, updating biosecurity protocols in practical courses to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and other viral diseases in health centers across the country. The Program also worked with all three partner universities to deliver two virtual 40-hour training certificates on entrepreneurship skills and on entrepreneurship for local economic development, with a total of 41 students participating in self-guided e-modules on labor bridging and employability skills. In Honduras, the Program developed a practical guide to provide university staff with a documented process for conducting a comprehensive curriculum mapping and revision process, incorporating the private sector's knowledge on specific hard and soft skills needed in the workforce. The Program also worked with academic coordinators of supported degree programs at UNAH, UCENM, and CEUTEC to develop graduation guides to properly document graduation requirements for students to follow and graduate on time. In Jamaica, the Program's completion of the online conversion of seven in-person courses for the Agroprocessing and Business Management and Health and Wellness Tourism degrees will allow the CCCJ to expand these two associate degree programs to other member colleges. The Program also supported the opening of the Agroprocessing learning lab at CCCJ's Knockalva Polytechnic campus, which will provide students with practical opportunities to make their products with guidance from industry specialists. The Program has also made progress in labor bridging, meeting with labor bridging working committees of ITLA and ITSC to identify their technical needs with respect to developing institutional alliances with the private sector. The Program also created a database of potential partners from the private sector and educational institutions. In terms of graduations, student support, and scholarships, the Program has made significant progress. In the Dominican Republic, the Program designed the scholarship plan and launched the call for applications. In Guatemala, 37 scholarship holders from the Fruit Production degree program completed coursework, professional practicums, and passed all final examinations. In Honduras, the Program worked with academic coordinators of supported degree programs to develop graduation guides to properly document graduation requirements for students to follow and graduate on time. In Jamaica, the Program ran a media campaign during National Career Awareness Week, with approximately 80 people contacting Advance and being given additional information about Advance-supported industries. The Program supports a range of universities, degree programs, and campuses across the four countries, with a focus on improving technical education and workforce development. The Program's activities are aligned with the Program's five intermediate results, core administrative activities, and monitoring and evaluation activities, and are designed to improve the quality and relevance of technical education and workforce development in the region.