The Regional Network for Training and Certification in Care, coordinated by ILO/Cinterfor, continues to foster spaces for dialogue and learning among institutions across Latin America and the Caribbean that are committed to the professionalisation of the care sector.

In the second session of the webinar series "Raising Standards in Care, Transforming the Region: a new forum for Dialogue and Shared Learning", held on 3 June 2025, representatives from ChileValora (Chile), SENAC (Brazil), and SENA (Colombia) shared experiences, challenges, and lessons learned around pedagogical strategies, competency assessment, hybrid training models, and the growing role of digital tools.

The network, made up of 18 institutions from 11 countries in the region, aims to enhance the quality and recognition of care work by strengthening training and certification policies. This session addressed key themes for advancing inclusive, relevant, and sustainable models.

From ChileValora, Igor Dedic emphasised that innovation should be seen as a process of continuous improvement. He highlighted the importance of developing training pathways linked to certified occupational profiles, which support both employability and educational progression.

Zulima Gutiérrez from SENA (Colombia) shared strategies for adapting content for illiterate individuals and those living in rural areas, incorporating personalised action plans and collaborative approaches.

Daniela Vogel de Souza from SENAC (Brazil) presented their experience of curriculum redesign, grounded in a rights-based and entrepreneurial approach adapted to the everyday realities of care workers.

A shared challenge identified was the need to strengthen the digital skills of trainers and assessors. SENAC highlighted inequality in internet access and digital proficiency as a structural barrier, while ChileValora stressed the integration of formal, non-formal, and informal learning using tools such as a curricular support guide.

SENA underlined the replicable nature of their inclusive experience in addressing challenges linked to illiteracy, which helped to revalue the role of care workers.

All institutions agreed on the importance of combining in-person and virtual training formats to meet the diverse needs of care workers. They also discussed the use of simulators, rubrics, and indicators for assessing technical, ethical, and transversal competencies. ChileValora particularly emphasised the ethical dimension in performance assessments using simulated scenarios.

From Colombia, Carmen Estela Pérez explained that SENA uses indicators to monitor service quality, the wellbeing of the person being cared for, and the performance of the carer, including cognitive, communicative, and ethical aspects. SENAC, in turn, has developed an “integrated project” across all course units, which helps raise awareness of and track transversal competencies from the start to the end of the training process.

Other topics covered included:

• Professionalisation and decent work: The session highlighted the distinction between institutional care, which is mostly paid, and informal care, which often goes unrecognised as work. Strategies were discussed for advancing formalisation and competency recognition in both contexts as part of a broader agenda for promoting decent work in the care sector.

• Pay and certification: While certification does not guarantee an immediate salary increase, it facilitates access to higher levels of education and improves employability.

• Use of artificial intelligence: AI was described as a field of “positive uncertainty”, with promising applications in case simulations and virtual learning environments.

• Territorial inequality: In Colombia, concerns were raised about the technological gap between urban and rural areas, where a large proportion of informal care is provided.

• Legislative progress: The recent approval of Law 2297 in Colombia, which establishes the National Care System, was highlighted as a significant step towards recognising care work.

The session concluded with an invitation to continue collectively exploring the challenges and opportunities within the sector. The next webinar in the series will take place in July.