A study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has found that Jamaica will need approximately 49,000 teachers, 12,000 doctors and 37,000 nurses by the year 2040.
The IDB says this was one of the findings of its “Education and Health: The sectors of the future?” study, which is the second of it’s “The future of work in Latin America and the Caribbean” series.
The study focused on the projection of the demand for social sector professionals in 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It found that Latin America and the Caribbean will need approximately 12 million teachers, 3 million doctors and 8 million nurses by the year 2040.
“Our study shows that, even in the framework of the fourth industrial revolution, we can expect the number of teachers, doctors and nurses in Latin America and the Caribbean to continue growing at great speed,” explains Marcelo Cabrol, manager of the IDB Social Sector.
“Our methodology allows us to know that, for example, a third of the teachers that will be needed in 15 years, and almost two-thirds of the doctors and nurses, are people who have not yet begun their working life. Faced with this reality, the key is to ensure that these new professionals have the skills and training they need to be the teachers, doctors and nurses of the future,” says Cabrol.
The IDB says the study’s projections are based on a series of variables specific to these sectors.
In the case of education, the school-age population, school enrolment rates and the number of children per teacher are considered.
For the health sector, the number of doctors is estimated with respect to the ageing population that will exist in the coming decades, as well as the proportion of nurses for each doctor.
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