Latin American education failings weigh on progress

Subject

Latin American education.

Significance

The OECD published the results of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 on December 3. The study assesses to what extent 15-year-old pupils have acquired the necessary knowledge and skills to participate in social and economic life. Covering 79 national education systems, the assessment measures students’ performance in three subjects: reading, maths and science. The 2018 report also included computer familiarity and well-being questionnaires. Students in the ten Latin American countries that participated in the study performed below average and were significantly behind the top performers.

Impacts

• Education systems in Latin America are failing to provide the right skills for the workforce in the current labour market.
• Poor security conditions in some areas will adversely affect access to education, with crime preventing pupils from attending school.
• Without long-term strategies stretching beyond governmental terms, the region will struggle to boost enrolment and completion rates.