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Inequity
sands in the way of 'Education For All' in Latin America
By Gustavo Gonzalez,
Inter Press Service |
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 SANTIAGO,
10 March (IPS) - Access to education at all levels has grown
considerably in Latin America in recent years, but the United
Nations goal of 'Education For All' people is still a remote
dream due to social and economic inequity. |
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| Latin
America will provide an overview of its performance in education
at the Apr. 26-28 World Education Forum, in Dakar, Senegal,
before representatives of some 180 countries who will be brought
together by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO). |
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| The
education summit is to assess the progress made worldwide toward
the goal of Education For All (EFA), adopted by UNESCO in 1990
in Jomtien, Thailand. |
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Latin
America will participate with a regional action plan, the
draft of which -- made available to IPS -- was drawn up at
a regional meeting, Feb. 10-12, in Santo Domingo, Dominican
Republic. The document is currently being studied by governments
in the region.
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| The
draft document states that the region has kept up with the global
trend of expanding enrolment, especially at the primary school
level, while preschool coverage has also grown significantly.. |
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In the past few years, Latin America saw a rise in literacy
rates, not only as a consequence of increased grade school enrolment,
but of an expansion of adult education programmes as well. |
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| But
the document prepared in Santo Domingo stresses the need for
equity and diversity in educational policies. |
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| In
the 1990s, educational systems in Latin America opened up to
a wider range of actors, such as non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), parents' associations and civil society, on the basis
of a shared consensus that education is a national and regional
priority. |
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| However,
comprehensive development among children under the age of four
has failed to be adequately addressed, and both dropout and
repetition rates at the primary school level remain high, says
the report. |
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Educational levels in the region remain low, as do the
levels of professionalism among teachers, who are not valued
highly enough, according to the report. Meanwhile, funding for
education is growing too slowly and the use of available funds
is inefficient, it adds. |
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| The
distribution of educational services, in terms of efficiency
and quality, is inequitable, says the draft document, which
also points to a lack of coordination among the various actors
involved in the push for EFA. |
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| Moreover,
there is ''a lack of effective mechanisms'' for civil society
to contribute to policy-making in the area of education, as
well as ''insufficient availability and use of information and
communication technologies,'' it underlines. |
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| Whatever
its shortcomings, Latin America has kept pace with the global
trend of growing access to primary, secondary and higher education
in the past decade. |
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| The
latest UNESCO figures show that worldwide, between 1990 and
1997, gross enrolment ratios grew from 99.2 to 101.8 percent
at the primary school level, 51.8 to 60.1 percent in secondary
education, and 13.8 to 17.4 percent in higher education. |
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| The
gross enrolment ratio for all three levels, meanwhile, grew
from 57.5 percent in 1990 to 63.3 percent in 1997. |
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| Gross
enrolment ratios are calculated by comparing the percentage
represented by each age group in the population at large with
the number of students enroled in schools or centres of higher
education. |
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| A
ratio can be above 100 percent, as in the case of primary education,
because it includes students enrolled early or late in any given
grade. Nevertheless, it remains the best measurement of enrollment..
|
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| The
gross enrolment ratio in Latin America increased from 105 percent
in 1990 to 113.6 percent in 1997 at the grade school level,
from 50.9 to 62.2 percent for high school, and from 16.8 to
19.4 percent at the tertiary level. |
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| The
gross enrolment ratio for all three levels stood at 66.1 percent
in 1990 and 72.6 percent in 1997. |
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| Access
to education among girls and women was lower than among men
in two categories. The gross enrolment ratio in primary school
stood at 110.2 percent for girls, compared to 116.9 percent
among boys, and in higher education at 18.7 percent for women,
compared to 20.1 percent for both sexes. |
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| But
at the secondary level, the female gross enrollment ratio was
65.3 percent in 1997 compared to 59.2 percent among males. |
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| Among
the main challenges facing Latin America is the formulation
of inclusive educational policies and the designing of diversified
curricula and models of education to address those excluded
due to reasons of gender, language or culture, or simply as
a consequence of individual situations. |
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| The
Santo Domingo regional plan for the next 15 years stresses that
full integration, participation and attendance in basic education
must be ensured for all minors, especially indigenous, street,
disabled, HIV-positive or working children. |
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| This
article is free of copyright restrictions and can be reproduced
provided that Inter Press Service is credited. |
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