The national government and provinces share the responsibility of education. The design of the education system is based upon former President Domingo Sarmiento’s claim that “the sovereign should be educated,” (with sovereign referring to the people). For this reason, the majority of the universities and education at all levels is free, though there are still numerous private schools.
Reforms to the Education System have incurred since the fall of the regime in 1983, as well as the economic crisis in 1989. With the return of democracy in 1983, funding has increased steadily, as high as 15.3 billion in 2011. Argentina is one of the top countries in Latin America in number of years students attend school, but in recent years the quality of this education has been put into question, due largely to the country’s economic troubles. Years of instability in the government prevented the possibility of a strong infrastructure in the school system. The current government under President Fernandez de Kirchner is trying to push for more appropriate funding to have Argentina’s system provide high quality education that can be internationally respected.
The Higher Education system in Argentina is divided into three levels- Tertiary Education level, University level, and Post-graduate. Tertiary consists of 1-3 year degrees related to education or technical professions. Tertiary and University level are free and open to any student. Admittance varies for each of these universities, but students are to choose a “career” to study before they enter. Despite being public and free, there are often hidden costs through transportation, materials, and there is no defined countrywide scholarship system to aid low-income families for these hidden costs. There is 1 student from the lowest 20% for every 8 students in the top 20% economically. Due to these extra financial pressures, many freshman start by working full-time jobs while being a student as well, and possibly contributes to Argentina having one of the world’s highest dropout rate, at 73%.
Currently only about half of the college-age students attend one of either the 39 public schools or 46 private universities. The poor economy has taken a toll in the education in the form of low teacher salaries and hidden costs for students, but having a national public system has allowed for millions to receive an education that otherwise would not be able to. Improving the use of government funds to ensure the quality of education is Argentina’s current agenda.
For more information and sources:
http://www.iadb.org/res/laresnetwork/files/pr294finaldraft.pdf
http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2453
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/argentina_statistics.html
Reforms to the Education System have incurred since the fall of the regime in 1983, as well as the economic crisis in 1989. With the return of democracy in 1983, funding has increased steadily, as high as 15.3 billion in 2011. Argentina is one of the top countries in Latin America in number of years students attend school, but in recent years the quality of this education has been put into question, due largely to the country’s economic troubles. Years of instability in the government prevented the possibility of a strong infrastructure in the school system. The current government under President Fernandez de Kirchner is trying to push for more appropriate funding to have Argentina’s system provide high quality education that can be internationally respected.
The Higher Education system in Argentina is divided into three levels- Tertiary Education level, University level, and Post-graduate. Tertiary consists of 1-3 year degrees related to education or technical professions. Tertiary and University level are free and open to any student. Admittance varies for each of these universities, but students are to choose a “career” to study before they enter. Despite being public and free, there are often hidden costs through transportation, materials, and there is no defined countrywide scholarship system to aid low-income families for these hidden costs. There is 1 student from the lowest 20% for every 8 students in the top 20% economically. Due to these extra financial pressures, many freshman start by working full-time jobs while being a student as well, and possibly contributes to Argentina having one of the world’s highest dropout rate, at 73%.
Currently only about half of the college-age students attend one of either the 39 public schools or 46 private universities. The poor economy has taken a toll in the education in the form of low teacher salaries and hidden costs for students, but having a national public system has allowed for millions to receive an education that otherwise would not be able to. Improving the use of government funds to ensure the quality of education is Argentina’s current agenda.
For more information and sources:
http://www.iadb.org/res/laresnetwork/files/pr294finaldraft.pdf
http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/2453
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/argentina_statistics.html