January 24: International Day of Education

Montevideo, January 22, 2021.

The right to education is fundamental and influential for the progress and development of individuals and societies worldwide, as established in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. Therefore, it is essential for governments and states to continue generating resources and implementing digital tools in support of this sector, contributing to the teaching-learning process to improve the quality of educational management and thereby build sustainable and resilient societies.

On January 24, we celebrate the International Day of Education, designated by the United Nations General Assembly to raise global awareness about the crucial role that education plays in achieving peace, development, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 4: Quality Education.

"We must do much more to advance the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all," says António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Since 2020, education has been significantly impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the temporary closure of educational institutions (including schools, universities, and other centers of learning) in most countries worldwide. In-person classes were suspended at all educational levels to prevent the spread of the virus and mitigate its impact. The disruption also affected teachers and school staff, who had to quickly adapt to new pedagogical concepts and ways of delivering instruction using digital tools and resources.

According to UNESCO, by mid-May 2020, more than 1.2 billion students at all levels of education worldwide had stopped attending in-person classes. Of these, over 160 million were students in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to disrupting educational paths, school closures affected the nutrition and feeding of students, especially in vulnerable populations.

In response to this context, the UN has designated this year's theme as: "Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation," emphasizing the need to strengthen education through increased collaboration and international solidarity to place lifelong learning at the heart of recovery.

In this atypical and unexpected situation, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have played a crucial role in allowing most children and adolescents to continue their education and complete the school year. For this reason, governments and states must continue creating contingency plans for potential health or natural emergencies by incorporating digital resources and tools for the educational community, with an emphasis on reducing the digital divide.

In this regard, Sofis Solutions has worked on more than 42 projects related to the education sector, including the following:

• Educational Management Information System of El Salvador (SIGES): An information system that centralizes data on students in El Salvador's education system, covering levels from early childhood education to upper secondary education in various modalities: Regular, Flexible, and Family-Community Based. This modern system supports data-driven decision-making for timely planning and implementation of educational programs and projects benefiting children and adolescents in the country.
• Unified Management of Records and Information (GURI): This information system centralizes the database of students and teachers and unifies educational management nationwide. The tool improves student and teacher database quality, facilitates national statistical data collection, and ensures student attendance compliance. As a technological advancement, it reduces time spent on tasks, allowing school staff to focus more on pedagogical activities rather than administrative ones.
• SKILLS Project: This project involved designing, developing, and implementing a digital management platform for Career Counseling as part of the "Education for Children and Youth" project in El Salvador. The solution provides vocational guidance to students through video tutorials (semi-in-person) and scheduled live video calls (in-person).
• Comprehensive Operational Management System (SIGO): This project involved developing and implementing an integrated management solution for Flexible Modalities and Technical Training. It included regulations based on three main components: Academic, Didactic, and Financial. The project was part of the "Education for Children and Youth in El Salvador" initiative. The system generates traditional reports, analytics-based reports, and integrates with SIGES (Educational Management Information System of El Salvador).
• Integrated Training System in Tourism (SIFOTUR): This project involved the design, development, and implementation of software for Technical Training Programs in the Tourism Sector in El Salvador. It supports skills development and increases employment opportunities in tourism-related companies. The platform covers training for four occupational careers: Restaurant Manager, Hotel Manager, Hotel Receptionist, and Tour Product Designer.

Summary video of the SIFOTUR project is available on the YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/kl9-LhlYKtU.

• Uruguay Estudia: This is a digital system that allows real-time attendance tracking for secondary education students (Secondary Education Council and Technical-Professional Education Council). It includes a tablet app that works both online and offline, and a smartphone app that works exclusively online and requires internet connection to send attendance data.
• Minecraft: This tool automatically creates trial accounts for eligible students in Minecraft Education Edition, Active Directory, the Single Login app, and within Minecraft itself, based on a digital template. The project manages the licensing of Minecraft Education Edition for primary education students who are registered and authorized to use the tool.

It is worth noting that through consulting, design, and implementation of education projects, Sofis Solutions has generated a positive and impactful contribution. These solutions provide the educational community with real-time, unified, and centralized information that supports timely decision-making by educational authorities and stakeholders.