Education Minister, Raul Vallejo Corral, has accused the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) and the World Bank of causing a shortage of teachers across the country.

Speaking at the United Nations for Education, Science and the Culture (UNESCO) General Conference, Corral explained that the under-hiring of teachers in Ecuador since 1997 has resulted in a deficit of 12,000 positions. This accounts for around 10 percent of the total sum of teachers in the public system, he said.

Vallejo Corral argued that the IMF and World Bank have imposed ¨neoliberal policies¨ in Ecuador and other countries around the world. The conditions imposed on Ecuador to repay its foreign debt has resulted in the under funding of the public school system and a deficit in teachers, he claimed.

Both organizations were charged with being excessively bureaucratic and of necessitating the implementation of government policies that critically inhibit rises in teachers' salaries and quantity of jobs offered in the public school system.

The regulations set by the IMF and World Bank make economic ministers slaves to Ecuador's foreign debt. Meanwhile, education standards in Ecuador have deteriorated, pushing scholars to leave the country, Vallejo Corral claimed.

His comments were met with applause from the representatives of the 193 countries present at the conference.