EDUCATION-ARGENTINA: Schools for Rich and Schools for Poor

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 16 1997 (IPS) - Argentina’s public schools – the first to be established in Latin America – are bastions of income inequality with educational access increasingly difficult for poor people who are in greatest need of schooling.

In the 1800s, elementary education was made mandatory in Argentina by a law designed to democratize educational opportunity but, as the 20th century draws to a close, education is again showing clear signs of class segmentation. Poor people are deprived of access to quality education, while most resources are lavished on the wealthy. Argentina dedicates 3.7 per cent of its gross national product to education although the law says this figure should be 6 per cent.

According to a study by educationalist Susana Vior, Buenos Aires and outlying industrial zones have seen a decline in pupils enrolling at schools since the early 1990s.

Vior’s analysis of individual neighborhoods shows that the poorest communities are home to the greatest number of children who quit school or who never begin. Statistical averages make it difficult to determine precise details although it is clear however that Buenos Aires schools perform better than those elsewhere, and that within school districts there are clearly different schools for different social classes.

Since the best schools are situated in the best neighborhoods, hard-pressed middle-class parents have begun to forge residence papers in order to enroll their children in better schools even these distant schools make transportation difficult.

Sociologist Emilio Tenti, a specialist in educational issues, told IPS that Argentina’s educational system shares all the problems of poor countries – low teacher salaries, non-attending students, inadequate operational budgets – plus the worst aspects of education typical of developed societies.

Tenti, who recently published “The Empty School” through the United nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says: “There are buildings, there are teachers, there are students and there are classes. Children pass from one grade level to the next and finally they receive their diplomas”.

“However,” Tenti adds, “students don’t really learn anything. They don’t incorporate a knowledge base and they don’t develop any meaningful skills”.

This lack of quality instruction is due to the deterioration of the school system’s most important resource – its teaching staff.

Tenti notes that “historically, we have paid our teachers only 250 to 300 dollars per month, not enough to live on.” On April 2, teachers began a hunger strike to demand better salaries as well as budgetary increases. The protest – in which teachers take turns occupying the strike spotlight – has received extraordinarily high endorsement in public opinion polls. Nevertheless, public officials remain unmoved.

Low salaries cause many of the best teachers to turn to private schools, where, despite continuation of low salaries, they at least enjoy better physical conditions.

Tenti says that “(public) schools actually increase social inequity by forcing poor children into the worst schools whose teachers tend to be untested neophytes. Furthermore, the middle class continues to flee these marginal schools,

Instead of investing more where more is needed, Argentina’s overall educational system continues to support school services demanded by the middle and upper classes, which is to say private schools offering bilingual education, computer training, theater, music and art. The usual cost for quality private education is 350 to 500 dollars per month.

For anyone lacking cash, there’s always the public school system, where the only extracurricular activity is lunch. Indeed, lunch is the chief attraction at primary schools where most kids show up without pencil, paper, books and suitable clothing. Furthermore, these youngsters are often so poorly nourished that is difficult for them remain focused.

Public schools stay manage to survive through “The Cooperative”, a parents’ organization which undertakes building maintenance. However, many parents are unemployed and don’t cooperate, which contributes to a vicious cycle.

Tenti says “it is necessary for the educational system to establish just norms which allocate resources so that schools serving the poor will be as well endowed as any”.

Schools which serve the poorest children are the ones in greatest need of experienced teachers but, as a practical matter, only beginning teachers accept these assignments. The widening breach between Argentina’s public and private schools is exacerbated by the number of professional, merchant and entrepreneurial parents, who, instead of anchoring the public education system, are now sending their children to private schools.

Mercedes Martinez told IPS: “I attended public schools all my life, and eventually trained as a psychologist at a state university. Now, however, I can’t send my child to a public school since to do so would be to sacrifice him”. Even though it requires “great economic hardship” Martinez sends her child to a private school.

Tenti says that this sort of abandonment by middle class parents is eroding the quality of public schools until they become little more than holding pens for the poor, who are condemned to these lifeless buildings with little academic challenge and fewer alternatives.

At the same time, the Argentine middle class – largely comprised of government employees – finds itself under great economic pressure. Whereas these citizens could previously choose between a public and private school for their children, they now have no choice but to send their youngsters to public schools, even though they know these centers offer severely deteriorated services.

Ruth Tracktemberg, a biologist who has trained at state institutions “from six years of age through today”, told IPS:

“I started out sending my kids to private school, but after two years I could no longer keep up with tuition payments. I had no choice but to put my kids back in public schools”.

Currently, Tracktemberg’s children are suffering from the drawbacks of a school system that is a shadow of its former self. “My oldest child has had two different teachers this year, and the principal who started the school year has just been replaced by a woman parents dislike. There is a widespread belief that she is out of step with the times”.

Graciela Grecco, a school principal who has always worked for the public system, now has two school-aged children of her own. Grecco confronts a dual conflict: on the one hand, she knows from experience that public schools have become places “for detention and not for learning”. However, Grecco’s low salary prevents her from paying private tuition.

As the situation deteriorates, the strike by protesting teachers are supported by 70 per cent of Argentina’s population, according to opinion polls