Bolivia

KAB activities began in Bolivia in 2000 when the programme was introduced as a component of a broader strategy against the expansion of coke plantations in the region of Cochabamba by providing vocational training to the labour force and support to microenterprises. Soon after the KAB materials were translated into Spanish and adapted to the national context, the first training workshop for Facilitators, Trainers and Promoters took place with participants from technical and vocational institutions and secondary schools. A pilot test of the KAB programme followed in a few secondary and technical education institutions in the Cochabamba region. 

In 2002, KAB was included as a component of a comprehensive ILO program in Latin America, the Regional Programme for Sustainable Employment (PRES I and II) allowing it to extend its reach to other regions of Bolivia. Representatives from Sucre, La Paz, Cobija, Pando, Beni, Santa Cruz, Potosí, Uyuni, Tarija and El Alto were thus trained as Facilitators, Trainers and Promoters, and in some of these cities, KAB was pilot tested in a few senior secondary education institutions and institutions working with out-of-school street youth.

In 2003, the ILO and the Ministry of Education established a cooperation agreement to extend the KAB delivery to 42 technical and vocational institutes and  to the formal basic and higher education. By 2005, over 10 education and training institutions had incorporated the methodology. As a result of its success, the Bolivian Government began planning a strategy to review the national secondary education curriculum and integrate entrepreneurship education based on KAB, which eventually happened in the curriculum of the Chapare region.

So far, KAB has been delivered in over 60 education and training institutions to over 17,800 students by more than  700 Facilitators, Trainers and Promoters. Final beneficiaries include students from secondary vocational schools, technical institutes and universities, conscripts in the armed forces, and low-skilled unemployed and street youth.   

Education & Training Institutions: 60

Facilitators, Trainers and Promoters Trained: Over 700

Students/Trainees: 17,800

Key Facilitators & Teacher Educators: 1 national/regional key facilitator (accredited by the ILO)

Contact:
Ms. Marcela Alcocer – National Coordinator of the Programme of Support to Decent Work (Programa de Apoyo al Trabajo Decente, ILO Office in La Paz)
alcocermarce@gmail.com

* Note: all data above refers to the information available as of April, 2009. The figures can actually be slightly larger than presented.