Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, May 22-28, 2020
By Luis Felipe López-
Calva
Luis Felipe López-Calva
is UN Assistant Secretary-
General and UNDP Regional
Director for Latin America
and the Caribbean
UNITED NATIONS,
March 12, 2020 (IPS) – History
shows that in Latin
America and the Caribbean,
volatility is the norm and
not the exception and that
the development trajectories
of their countries are
not linear.
The region has significant
links to China, economic
relations have skyrocketed
in recent decades,
particularly through trade,
foreign direct investment,
and loans.
The COVID-19 outbreak
is a new potential source
of volatility and a threat to
the macroeconomic stability
of Latin America and the
Caribbean.
While it is still too early
to fully understand its
impact on China’s growth,
and how it will result in
a slowdown in our region,
what we know so far is that
COVID-19 is spreading at
an accelerated rate and has
caused a disruption to China’s
economy.
The virus has spread to
more than 117 countries,
with more than 117,335 confirmed
cases. It is very likely
that the impact on China’s
growth and commodity
prices, besides, represents a
shock to our region.
Latin America and the
Caribbean have significant
links to China, economic
relations have skyrocketed
in recent decades, particularly
through trade, foreign
direct investment, and
loans.
Trade with China
increased from US$12 billion
in 2000 to US$306 billion
in 2018 and is already
the second trading partner.
Three years ago, it represented
nine percent of total
Latin American exports
and 18.4 percent of total
imports.
It is not the same in all
countries, but, for example,
China represents 28.1
percent of total Brazilian
exports, as well as 10.5 percent
of Argentina’s and 32.4
percent of Chile’s.
Although China mainly
imports primary products
such as minerals and metals,
agricultural products
and fuels, its exports consist
of machines and electrical
equipment, textiles, chemicals,
and metals.
Its six main trading partners
in the region are Brazil,
Argentina, Chile, Peru,
Colombia and Venezuela,
whose exports are concentrated
in four products,
which represent 75 percent
of Latin American exports:
copper, soy, crude oil, and
iron ore.
Foreign direct investment
and loans from China have
increased over the past decade.
Between 2005 and 2017,
China represented five percent
of total foreign direct
investment–more than US$
90 billion dollars.
According to the Inter-
American Dialogue Public
Policy Center, China has
placed more than US$141
billion in loans since 2005,
which represents more than
the World Bank, the Inter-
American Development
Bank and the Development
Bank of Latin America combined.
Venezuela is, by far, the
largest recipient of these
loans, with an amount of
US$67.2 billion dollars since
2005, followed by Brazil at
US$28.9 billion), Ecuador at
US$18.4 billion and Argentina
at US$16.9 billion.
Although the full extent
of the impact of the coronavirus
will ultimately
depend on how well the outbreak
is contained, China’s
growth in the first quarter
of the year is expected to fall
sharply and recover later in
the year.
While China has estimated
its 2020 growth at
six percent several analysts
have revised their projections
downward to between
five and even 4.5 percent.
These shocks will likely
be translated into Latin
America and the Caribbean
through trade, commodity
prices and foreign
direct investment. In terms
of trade, a slowdown in
Chinese demand for goods
driven by an economic
slowdown will have a strong
impact in countries such as
Brazil, Chile, and Peru.
Net exporters Argentina,
Colombia, and Ecuador will
also feel the impact to a
lesser extent. History shows
that in Latin America and
the Caribbean, volatility is
the norm and not the exception,
and that the development
trajectories of their
countries are not linear.
The volatility arose with
this new coronavirus testing
resilience here and in
China, that ability to return
to a predetermined path of
development in the shortest
possible time.
Beyond the panic that has
been unleashed, COVID-19
is a call to resilience in Latin
America and the Caribbean.
By Stan Altman
It’s old news the coronavirus
has disrupted our lives and raised
considerable concerns about the
digital divide nationwide. Online
learning, broadly defined is not
new, so why the pandemonium
among parents and teachers
alike, concerning its exclusive
use today? Primarily because the
shortcomings of these tools were
tolerated, even ignored, while
other more traditional classroom
approaches were in use. But
with Covid-19 forcing schools to
remain closed and the potential
of another wave of the virus this
Fall, remote learning will likely
be the new normal. If we have
any hope of successfully educating
students, we must confront
and address the following five
challenges.
ACCESS
The coronavirus crisis has
forced emergency actions to be
taken in low-income communities
that had limited or no access
to the Internet, digital devices
or computers. Internet providers
offered free 60-day service to
students from K-12 and colleges
and universities provided students
free devices. This is a quick
fix and not a solution. Going forward,
we must provide affordable
Internet access to everyone and
ensure every student has a tablet
or computer as part of their personal
educational tool kit.
TRAINING
Even if students have access
to the Internet and computers,
many don’t know how to
use these online tools and the
dilemma is further compounded
when learning shifts to platforms
that deliver classes in real-time:
Maneuvering video, audio or
simply using a program’s chat
feature can cause panic among
the Internet-illiterate. Many kids,
parents and even teachers have
been learning on the fly. Training
how to use online tools must
become an integral part of school
preparation.
PEDAGOGY
Teaching online is different
than in-classroom instruction.
Using course administrative
systems is different than simply
assigning reading from a textbook
and collecting hardcopy
assignments. It requires unique
skills – knowing how to write
on a blackboard or whiteboard
or showing a digital presentation
is no longer sufficient. K-12
teachers need to complete formal
training including courses and
fieldwork, while teachers at a college
or university, do not. Training
in developing pedagogy and
in the use of online tools should
be required of all faculty.
INFRASTRUCTURE
We can become adept at using
online tools, if the basic infrastructure
rules remain consistent,
but in my 50-year experience
as an educator developing
this knowledge and familiarity
has been difficult because it is
constantly changing.
When I began delivering
online synchronous lectures 10
years ago, it was via Adobe Connect.
Just as I became familiar
with this feature, my college
switched to Cisco’s WebEx,
then Blackboard’s Collaborate.
Today, faculty and academic
meetings might be held using
a number of different programs
– Zoom, GoToMeeting,
Web Meeting, Google Hangout,
WebEx, etc. They all possess
similar features, but they are
different.
OP-EDS
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How will COVID-19 affect
Caribbean, LA economies?
Online education challenges
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