A new report of the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) revealed this Wednesday that 350 million children and young people in the world attend non-state schools. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the proportion of primary and secondary students enrolled in private schools amounts to 20%.
The Unesco highlighted that, despite the high participation of non-state schools, in Latin America there is no regulation effectiveness of private education, which entails a high risk of inequality and segregation, a trend contrary to the inclusive, quality and equitable education posed by the Sustainable Development Goals.
The report also indicates that many countries in the region do not have the capacity to enforce these regulations when they exist, which undermines the quality and widens the educational gap between rich and poor.
Among other findings, he stresses that single 17 of 42 Latin American countries analyzed explicitly prohibit profit in schools primary and secondary schools, that less than half of the countries in the region have regulations on admission procedures in non-state schools, and that only 8% implement affirmative actions to improve access to schools for the poorest students.
UNESCO explained that in 2018, several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico, registered high levels of segregation and cited that private enrollment in higher education in the region continues to be the highest in the world.
Family spending
On the other hand, the UN agency pointed out that families in low and lower-middle income countries assign a disproportionate amount of their income to education of their children. Globally, in these countries families assume 39% of education spending, compared to 16% in high-income nations.
Regarding Latin America and the Caribbean, families in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic bear more than 40% of this expense, while in Haiti that figure reaches 81%.
The study found that the 8% of households borrow to pay for their children’s education and details that in nations like Haiti, 30% of families ask for loans to cover this expense.
Despite the onerous nature of this burden, two thirds of the countries in the region they do not regulate primary and secondary education fees.
hidden costs
In addition, the report shows that in low-income countries public education carries significant hidden costs in terms of uniforms and school supplies, for example.
The director of the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean recalled that education is a responsibility of the whole society. “Equity, inclusion and quality of education is only possible when educational policy incorporates all actors, whether state or non-state,” he stated.
Claudia Uribe Salazar also stressed the urgency of address “inequality that still prevails in educational processes, student outcomes and teacher work conditions in both state and non-state schools”.
recommendations
In this regard, UNESCO urged countries to evaluate their current regulations and issued five recommendations for governments:
- Fulfill the commitment to return free one year of preschool and 12 years of primary and secondary for all children and youth
- Establish quality standards that apply to all state and non-state educational institutions
- Strengthen government capacity to monitor and enforce regulations
- encourage innovation for the common good and bring together all the actors who develop it
- Taking opinions and perspectives into account of all stakeholders, protecting education from economic and political interests
