Abstract
This chapter has a twofold objective. First, it presents the main characteristics of the Argentine educational system in relation to the type of supply and student trajectories in comparison with other Latin American countries, as well as discussions on the ways in which inequality was processed in secondary education in order to, secondly, examine the differences in school experience according to the type of educational institution. In this way, the chapter explores the ways in which inequality is processed in Argentina, emphasizing its interrelation and multidimensionality when considering the type of educational offer, the reasons for choosing these institutions and the meanings that are put into play in the school space. In this way, the chapter provides elements for the more subtle forms of construction of the differences that become inequalities. For the presentation of the analysis, data have been recovered from a research project carried out in the context of the pandemic that involved a data triangulation strategy with the application of a survey, focus groups and interviews conducted in the context of the pandemic with young students from secondary schools in the City of Buenos Aires.
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Notes
- 1.
Source: https://abrohilo.org/cuantos-estudiantes-dejarian-la-escuela-en-argentina-a-causa-del-covid-19/. The author considers three indicators to make this projection: the total number of students in school in April 2019, the latest data available, the 2017–2018 year-on-year dropout rate, and the frequency of communication between schools and families and students. The percentage considered as “loss of students” arises from the categorization “once a month or less frequently” and “two or three times a month”.
- 2.
We refer to the PICT Project “Tiempo de definiciones. Experiencia educativa, ciudadanía y cultura digital en la escuela secundaria y la educación superior” (ANCyT) based in the Education Division of FLACSO Argentina and to “Diversificación de la estructura de la escuela secundaria y segmentación educativa en América Latina” by ECLAC-IIPE UNESCO Buenos Aires and UNICEF-LACRO. In the latter study, focus groups were formed with secondary school students from all regions, grouped according to the type of institutions they attend.
- 3.
For example, in Argentina, when considering the educational level of the population aged 18–24 years, an increase of five points is observed between 2011 and 2019 since 63% of the age group had completed secondary school (Secondary Education Evolution Report, MEN 2020). However, inequality gaps persist: 91% of young people from the highest-income households (quintile 5) had completed the level, and only 43% had done so in the lowest-income group (quintile 1).
- 4.
The Ley Federal de Educación modified the structure of primary and secondary schools, establishing a 9-year Educación General Básica scheme (EGB, Basic General Education) and a 3-year Polimodal level. In addition, the Ley Federal was complemented with another law that involved the transfer of secondary education and higher teacher training schools. In other words, from a compulsory 7 years of schooling to 9 years.
- 5.
We considered the data processing carried out by Verónica Crescini (UNR). * According to the availability of the source, the immediately previous value was taken for Mexico, corresponding to 2016. The situation in Chile is quite enigmatic and may be due to a combination of factors: possible larger overage at the primary level, re-entry in upper secondary through acceleration programs, or, fundamentally, the data source used (in this case, the CASEN survey).
- 6.
In 2017, the Adjusted Net Attendance Rate in Upper Secondary Education was as follows, according to the per capita family income: Argentina: 47.6 (bottom quintile) 69.9 (top quintile); Brazil: 56.6 (bottom quintile) 79.4 (top quintile); Chile: 71.1 (bottom quintile) 80.6 (top quintile); Uruguay: 46.2 (bottom quintile) 83.9 (top quintile); Chile has one of the smallest differences, and Uruguay one of the largest (SITEAL, 2021).
- 7.
Data for Argentina show that it varies from 37.7% in low, 48.45% in medium, and 70. 5% in high; Brazil 46.4%, 63.3%, and 78.4%, Chile 62.1%, 71.1%, and 78.1% and Uruguay 27.6%, 54.8%, and 85.3%, respectively.
- 8.
The Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires was founded in 1863 and incorporated into the University of Buenos Aires in 1911. It constituted the model for national schools throughout the country that followed its encyclopedist-based humanist curriculum.
- 9.
According to recent studies, 67.2% of those who tried to enter the schools did not succeed (Landivar 2019). These institutions are not confused with those created in 2014 by the ‘Proyecto de creación de nuevas escuelas secundarias con Universidades Nacionales’ dependent on the Universidad de Avellaneda, Universidad Nacional de Gral. Sarmiento, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Universidad Nacional de San Martín—all in Greater Buenos Aires—and the Universidad de Buenos Aires, based in the Lugano neighborhood, a lower-income neighborhood in south Buenos Aires. In those establishments, the admission and organization of the educational offering and the enrollment profile differ considerably from what happens in the more traditional institutions.
- 10.
This discussion is interrelated with the classification process that Reygadas takes from the analysis of persistent inequality by Tilly (2000) and the establishment of categories that erect boundaries between groups, attributing qualities and defects to participants on each side.
- 11.
Those offerings are, in turn, conditioned by the quality of Internet connection and access to a computer. According to a report from the Ministry of Education and UNICEF, 79% of those who attend privately managed secondary education schools have access to a computer, and 56% have permanent access to good Internet connectivity. For students attending state-run institutions, those numbers are reduced to 42% and 39%, respectively.
- 12.
Argentina’s Conectar Igualdad program was created in April 2010. It aimed to deliver a netbook to all students and teachers in public secondary schools, special education schools, and teacher training institutes. It ended in 2016.
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Núñez, P. (2022). Types of Institutions and Youth School Experience: Dynamics of Inequality in Argentine Secondary Education. In: Vommaro, P., Baisotti, P. (eds) Persistence and Emergencies of Inequalities in Latin America. Latin American Societies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90495-1_5
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