Education in Latin America
The conditions of schools that hold students from the poorest quintile are highly unsuitable: approximately 50% have electricity and water, 19% have a drainage system and 4% have access to a telephone line; almost none have science labs, gymnasiums, computer rooms, and only 42% have libraries.
[10] Additionally, students who migrate to cities from rural areas generally live cheaply on the periphery of urban centers where they have little to no access to public services.
The results of the Second Regional Comparative and Explanatory Study (SERCE) indicate that almost two-thirds of Latin American students do not achieve satisfactory reading and math scores.
There is a significant learning gap between students from different socio-economic backgrounds, those who live in rural areas and those who belong to indigenous and Afro-descendant groups.
[15] According to the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) analysis of the 2009 PISA Results, Chile, Colombia and Peru are among the countries that displayed the largest advancements when compared to previous versions of the test.
[16] When regions of the world are compared in terms of long run economic growth, Latin America ranks at the bottom along with Sub-Saharan Africa.
[17] For these reasons, many economists have argued that other factors such as economic institutions or financial crises must be responsible for the poor growth, and they have generally ignored any role for education in Latin American countries.
[18] On the other hand, Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann argue that the slow growth is directly related to the low achievement and poor learning that comes with each year of school in Latin America.
[20] Indeed, data show that 2.5% of boys and girls aged 9 to 11 years never entered the primary level or, in any case, do not attend school, with no considerable Gender Differences.
"[26] As Spanish Christianity was reformed in the 16th century by Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros, the Church was more under Crown control in Spain than any other European monarchy.
[30] Initially, the Church and State in Latin America granted authority to universities, and the position of maestrescuela was filled by one who served as a liaison among stakeholders.
"[32] The export-led economic growth of the 19th and 20th centuries allowed for the increased availability of resources and urbanization, and together with the spirit of competition of the political elite, drove university expansion.
[35] "The widening political gap between the autonomous public universities and democratically elected governments was made more critical by a radicalized student activism in the Cold War climate of the latter half of the 20th century.
[28] That growth and prosperity of Argentina's middle class along with electoral rights, an increased migration to urban areas, and the universal suffrage law of 1912 empowered students to challenge conservative systems and voice their demands.
"Unable to unify themselves, overly concerned with broad political issues, and the 'unholy alliance' of foreign imperialists and local oligarchs, Colombian students never won access to legitimate and effective means of influencing university policy.
Having come through a period of reform trial and error, "several Latin societies have already embarked on radical political paths and others exhibit willingness to explore novel alternatives.
[39] Even now, students pursuing higher education in Latin America are asked to find a field of study and adhere to the prescribed major path within their college or university.
In a 2002 publication on higher education institutions in Latin American and Caribbean Universities, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Peru, Brazil and the Dominican Republic, 1,917 of them were considered private universities.
For example, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic students are mostly enrolled in private sector higher education universities and institutions.
[44] A 2015 report from the OECD pointed out that Latin American professionals are over-schooled and underpaid, due they don't have access to the right type of education.
[39] One of the more recent efforts established by a Latin American country to increase globalization and an interest in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) fields is the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program.
To learn more about education systems specific to a particular Latin American country, find their webpages here: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Haiti, etc.
[48] In Latin American countries, nearly half of enrollment in tertiary education is concentrated in institutions whose main source of funding is tuition and fees.
Various regions in Latin American countries are affected differently by the gap due to inter-sectional factors, such as economic state and societal beliefs.
The gender roles created by society often vary across cultures, as do the expectations of the type of responsibilities that female and male children will take on in the household.
[56] Similarly, female children in rural regions experience higher dropout rates after domestic emergencies, to care for the family and household.
[55] Differences due to societal expectations still exist in more economically advantaged Latin American countries and regions, but at lower rates and with more equality between the sexes.
[58] First generation immigrant women are most influenced by the more liberal social norms in the United States; they are presented with higher availability of education and employment.
Further studies are being conducted to precisely determine the direct effects of labor unions on the quality of education of students in Latin American schools.
Text taken from Youth and changing realities: rethinking secondary education in Latin America, 15,18, López, Néstor; Opertti, Renato; Vargas Tamez, Carlos, UNESCO.
