Buenos Aires, 2 November
The international consultation on the Guiding Principles on Educational Pluralism arrives in Latin America. From 2 to 4 November 2026, Buenos Aires will host three days of work on the draft Principles. The consultation process has already held sessions in Geneva (United Nations, June 2026) and Paris (UNESCO, July 2026).
The Guiding Principles are an international initiative to clarify the human rights framework that governs education systems. They focus on educational pluralism, the right to education as a cultural right, and the rights of parents. The draft was written by 26 experts and is now in its second phase, the regional discussions, before a review period and final signature.
The initiative is led by OIDEL (International Organisation for the Right to Education and Freedom of Education) together with the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. Educational institutions from across Ibero-America also take part.
Three days, three settings
The programme combines legal analysis, regional consultation and public policy. Three leading Argentine universities will host it.
Monday 2 November: an introductory working meetings at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) and the University of Austral in their headquarters of El Pilar (by invitation).
Tuesday 3 November: The Latin American regional consultation on the draft Guiding Principles at Universidad Austral (by invitation). Experts and education leaders from across the region will review the text and contribute their perspectives.
Wednesday 4 November: the international seminar Educational Pluralism: Building a Plural, High-Quality Education System at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. It is organised by the Education Area of its School of Government with the Johns Hopkins School of Education and its Institute for Education Policy. More about the Seminar: Área de Educación | Universidad Torcuato Di Tella
From principles to policy
The closing seminar will take the discussion to the practical challenges of building plural, high-quality education systems. Ashley Rogers Berner (Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Codirector of the Steering Committee) will open with a lecture on educational pluralism as a pillar of democracy. A high-level panel will follow with Pablo da Silveira (former Minister of Education and Culture, Uruguay), Raúl Figueroa (former Minister of Education, Chile), Rolando Ernesto Marín (former Vice Minister of Education, El Salvador), Álvaro José Cifuentes Ramírez (Vice Minister-designate for Basic and Secondary Education, Colombia) and Rodolfo Hernández Valerio (Secretary General of Education, Costa Rica). Carlos Hoevel (Argentina’s Secretariat of Education) will moderate.
Further sessions will look at:the impact of declining birth rates on educational pluralism, with Mariano Narodowski (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella) the rights, freedoms and responsibilities of the actors in a plural education system, with participants from the Federal Judiciary of Argentina, the Buenos Aires City Legislature and the Varkey Foundation and the Curriculum and assessment as guarantees of quality, with David Steiner (Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy).
Next steps
After Buenos Aires, the regional discussions will continue in Bruxelles (January 2027) Johannesburg (February 2027) and Washington D.C. (spring 2027). The contributions from each consultation will led into the final version of the Guiding Principles.