Fifteen-year-old students in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are facing a very acute education crisis that may seriously jeopardize the region's productivity and growth in the not-too-distant future.
According to the latest results of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) program for international student assessment, PISA, published in December 2023, current learning outcomes are not evolving at the expected pace, a scenario reflected in a focus on this is alarming for local governments and international bodies.
Especially after the pandemic, the negative factors associated with educational lag have significantly worsened, highlighting high poverty rates, social inequality and even racial dynamics. The educational face of LAC drawn by the results of the PISA assessments raises an urgent call for a recovery and acceleration of learning.
Looking for solutions to revitalize learning in the region, the World Bank conducted an initial analysis of PISA results and identified four key points:
According to the OECD analysis, the delays and low achievement in areas such as mathematics and reading, which are essential for career success and meeting various challenges in daily life, are alarming: 75% of students in the region achieved results below the basic level were below proficiency in mathematics and 55% in reading. This means that the knowledge required for participation in social life and future learning activities cannot be demonstrated optimally.
In this context, Jaime Saavedra, Director of Human Development for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank, assures in a recent blog that the impact of the pandemic on this panorama can also be confirmed by the almost universal learning losses in primary education. of all countries that have updated national assessments.
However, Saavedra argues that the low and unequal learning levels between 2018 and 2022 are only partly due to the losses caused by the pandemic.
“Currently, entities such as the World Bank and the IDB are analyzing PISA test data in depth to fully understand the alarming gaps in the 2022 results and the changes resulting from the 2018 round, even depending on the different circumstances and characteristics of students.” and schools, among which access to digital technology in the learning process stands out,” says Saavedra.
It is estimated that today's generation of students could lose up to $21 trillion in potential income (or the equivalent of 17% of current global GDP) over their lifetime if the learning crisis is not addressed.
Joint effort from A to Z
In a world that has disrupted its social and economic dynamics in recent years and that points to a dizzying change in work and professional challenges, strengthening basic skills among young people is a priority linked to productivity and future growth. This always requires immediate, comprehensive and effective cooperation between the actors involved and civil society.
Faced with this problem, Ferdinando Regalia, manager of the partner sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), points out that the actions around the development and implementation of programs are focused on improving teaching, focusing on tutoring, new specialized technologies, etc. Investments and Proper allocation of resources in education are crucial and urgently needed.