ARGENTINA:
Mixed Marks for
Educational System
By Sebastián Lacunza
BUENOS AIRES, (IPS)
- Successive economic
and social crises in
Argentina have left
their mark on the public
education system, which
since the late 19th
century has been a key
factor of social
integration and mobility
in this South American
country.
Analysts, teachers and
parents point to
different symptoms of
the deterioration, such
as poor language skills
among teenagers, high
drop-out rates in
secondary school, and
difficulties finding
skilled workers.
Although the primary
school enrolment rate
stands at a high 99
percent, a study by the
Latin America Faculty of
Social Sciences (FLACSO)
reported that only 36
percent of children
finish their 12 years of
primary and secondary
schooling on time.
Two recent international
reports showed that
while Argentina still
performed well in the
region, it lagged behind
industrialised nations
as well as some other
developing countries.
The Education for All
Global Monitoring Report
released by the United
Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) in
late November ranked
Argentina 27th out of
129 countries, only
behind Cuba, which ranks
23rd, in Latin America.
The study, which is
based on statistics from
2005, highlights
Argentina’s high
preschool coverage (64
percent) and high school
enrolment (79 percent).
Furthermore, it says, a
broad tuition-free
public university
system, which in many
respects remains highly
prestigious, also brings
Argentina close to
European standards in
terms of the proportion
of students who enrol in
the university.
But an Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)
report published in
early December found
Argentina sorely
lacking.
The 2006 Programme for
International Student
Assessment, which
surveyed 400,000
15-year-old students in
57 countries, placed
Argentina nearly at the
bottom of the scale in
terms of performance in
all of the areas
studied: math (52nd
place), science (51st)
and reading (53rd).
The country also showed
the largest gap between
the lowest and highest
performing students -- a
finding that is in line
with the results of
assessments carried out
by the Argentine
Education Ministry’s
national evaluation
unit.
Results vary enormously
depending on the area.
Acceptable performance
levels are achieved in
large cities like Buenos
Aires or Córdoba, but
not in northern
provinces like Formosa
or Jujuy, according to
the Education Ministry.
Education Minister Juan
Carlos Tedesco pointed
out that the OECD study
was based on results
from 2006. "These kids
suffered the worst of
the crisis. They entered
primary school 12 years
ago, and experienced the
entire stretch of the
economic, social,
political and cultural
crisis, and the results
reflect that," he
argued.
The secretary general of
the CTERA teachers’
union, Stella Maldonado,
told IPS that "secondary
school was hit hardest
by the application of
the Federal Education
Law," passed in 1993
under the government of
Carlos Menem
(1989-1999), which
decentralised the
system, making each
province economically
responsible for its
educational system.
The law generated "24
different secondary
school systems around
the country," and led to
a breakdown and
definancing of the
entire system, dealing
it a lethal blow, she
said.
In 2006, the
administration of former
president Néstor
Kirchner (2003-2007)
introduced a law aimed
at undoing the process
of decentralisation. The
Education Ministry once
again took control of
curriculums and created
a national teacher
training institute to
unify training.
In addition, under the
new law, the educational
budget will gradually be
increased, to the
equivalent of six
percent of gross
domestic product by
2010.
"This law reestablishes
the unity of the
secondary educational
system," said Maldonado.
But the Argentine
educational system is
facing profound
conceptual, economic and
methodological
challenges, she added.
"Around the country we
have the so-called ‘taxi
teachers’, who have to
catch a cab to run from
one school to another,
and who teach up to 500
different students in a
single week, which makes
it impossible for them
to establish the
necessary links with the
community," said
Maldonado.
"It is important to
ensure that schools much
more adequately reflect
the needs and rights of
teenagers," she said.
In her Dec. 10 inaugural
address, President
Cristina Fernández said
she missed schools "that
had class every day, and
where the teachers knew
more than the students."
That remark annoyed the
teachers’ union. "It's
true that schools do not
have the level of
excellence that they
enjoyed in the 1950s,
1960s and early 1970s,
but the criticism would
appear to be very
superficial. It is the
state that has failed to
provide adequate
training, in new
technologies, for
example," said
Maldonado.
And "the majority of the
days when there are no
classes have to do with
serious infrastructure
problems. In 2007,
months, not days, of
class time were lost
because the schools were
not in adequate
condition, above and
beyond the strikes that
were held in some
provinces," she added.
Liliana Raggio, a former
Education Ministry
consultant and a
researcher at the
University of Buenos
Aires, said that "in
general terms, secondary
schools experienced a
major increase in the
number of students
enrolling, at the
expense of quality."
"Those who previously
did not make it to
secondary school began
to attend, and at the
same time poverty grew,
and the educational
system was unable to
deal with the new
challenges. On top of
these factors came the
decentralisation, which
was catastrophic," she
said.
Raggio stressed that
"you have to keep in
mind that the parents of
a 15-year-old student
who gets pregnant might
be only 30 years old
themselves, and may
never have held a
(formal sector) job.
That is the reality for
many poor families, and
the Federal Education
Law did not make
provisions for training
teachers to deal with
these situations."
And the economic
recovery of the last few
years, Raggio added,
posed a paradox: many
adolescents find more "changas"
-- low-paid casual work
which requires no
particular skill or
training -- than their
parents, which leads
them to skip class or
temporarily drop out of
school more often.
"There’s a lot of coming
and going; they leave
school for a while and
then return," she said.
Between 1995 and 2005,
unemployment in
Argentina climbed to
unprecedented levels,
peaking at 25 percent at
the height of the crisis
(late 2001 and all of
2002). But by 2005,
unemployment had fallen
below 10 percent,
according to the
National Statistics and
Census Institute.
"High unemployment and
teen pregnancy are two
key factors in class
repetition rates," said
Raggio.
Maldonado said that "for
years we have seen lower
drop-out and higher
graduation rates among
girls than among boys.
Teen pregnancy is a big
problem, but in many
cases, the pregnant
girls do not drop out of
school."
The administration of
Fernández, who succeeded
her husband as
president, will maintain
the night school
programme put in place
by Kirchner to enable
working teenagers to
stay in school.
Other new initiatives
were "mobile schools"
that go from
neighbourhood to
neighbourhood,
programmes to provide
schools with the
necessary equipment, and
a plan that provides a
stipend of around 18
dollars a month to
700,000 families who
keep their children in
school. |
