In the 1990's, education was part of a political project in Latin America. In part hoping to modernize the state and the economy but also to respond to global market demands, several Latin American countries introduced changes in their national educational policies. The top-down changes that took place in the decades that followed were part of reforms supposedly intended to address different needs and issues such as low quality of education, absenteeism, high dropout and repetition rates, ideological textbooks, educational materials of little relevance for students, lack of teacher training and lack of involvement of parents and communities in local school affairs but, instead, focused mainly on access to primary and secondary education.

There have been some successful reform programs in many countries including Brazil where significant changes were introduced in the education system following the Minas Gerais reform in 1991 and, later the implementation of a federal cash transfer program for families with school age children Bolsa Família, renamed after modifications to the original program, Bolsa Escola, first implemented in 1995 in the country’s capital, Brasília. However, whenever reforms were not clear about their goals of enhancing quality as well as access, and when results were not as immediate as politicians desired, populist practices of partially improving infrastructure prevailed.

^{Photo: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash}

Successful reforms along with other factors such as increased life expectancy and greater market demand for skilled labor have enabled more students to complete primary and secondary levels and be eligible for a higher education degree. In a region where access to education has been a traditional divide in society, it should not come as a surprise that once more students have access to basic education and complete those first and secondary levels, higher education becomes the next paradigm. However, these reforms were introduced in an era of economic crisis in the region. Though figures show that in Latin America there was a significant increase in net enrollments and literacy rates, governmental expending in education was rapidly decreasing. These countries faced negative GDP growth, high inflation, large fiscal deficits, and were pressured to implement neoliberal reform initiatives. The economic crisis rapidly decreased government expenditure in education and the recurrent focus on enrollments in basic education and literacy rates caused higher education systems to erode. Investments in primary education competed with other priorities within the education budget and, while primary education was the focus of educational efforts, higher education was always regarded a second position.

Public universities also faced public scrutiny based on the misconception that they only served the elites. Those in favor of a private education system argued that, to begin with, many public universities in the region never envisioned mass enrollment. Many campuses were built in areas of difficult access and facilities were in decadence. Provisions for housing and transportation are thoroughly inadequate, thus rendering attendance at university difficult for anyone other than children of affluent families who reside with their parents. In addition, entrance exams hold standards much higher than elementary education schools. The completion of this process usually takes weeks for the exam and months for the final result. It is not uncommon for students from the public education system to fall behind those that can afford private education in elementary school.

Though this might have been the case in the past, this argument can no longer serve to label public universities as servants of the wealthy. In recent decades, despite consistent reduced government funding, Latin American public universities have experienced a period of expansion, including many young people entering the higher education system as the first in their families (first-gen students). The World Bank estimates that, thanks to regional incentives, university enrollment rates rose from 20% of the university age population in Latin America in early 2000 to about 50% before the COVID-19 pandemic. This expansion in public universities was felt among low-income students, women, indigenous, Blacks, rural students, and those farther away from large urban centers. An achievement worth celebrating but if, on one hand this positive expansion could result in social advance that would lift entire communities out of poverty, on the other hand, the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic when thousands of college students dropped out of school may have long lasting effects in the economy of these countries perpetuating an economic cycle based on natural resource extraction, exports of primary goods and dependence and importation of technology-based products. At a time when technological developments are taking place at an exponential rate, setbacks of this nature can generate pervasive socio-economic costs for Latin American countries and societies.

There were many reasons for dropping out from university during the pandemic but, above all, they are due to circumstances of confinement, widespread unemployment and the economic crisis that reduced the income of large groups of students who found themselves unable to afford tuition, computers, cell phones, internet connections or electricity to carry on with their studies even if remotely. In addition, according to a study carried out by UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (IESALC), teachers and students’ lack of digital competence was the main difficulty posed for remote learning platforms used by universities in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic and this situation made it clear: access per se does not solve the problem of inequality, poverty, or discrimination. In fact, it may contribute to the perpetuation or aggravation of the disparities between the wealthy and the disadvantaged. Access needs to be accompanied by quality reforms that in turn must be inclusive, democratic, and modern.

While public opinion still sees education as the main mechanism to overcome poverty and inequality, political will, and political interest in education in the region has winded down, in particular, regarding higher education. What has changed? In terms of reform, not much as they still focus on access and privatization, not on quality of education. One of the trendsetters of new educational reforms in the region, Brazil, with its Novo Ensino Médio program promotes technical and professional education offered by private initiative while undermining public higher education with more budget cuts and restrictions. Right-wing authoritarian governments across Latin America work against public universities because they provide an environment and key critical thinking tools for civic and democratic participation. These governments implement an antidevelopment agenda with reform against research and scientific knowledge. Against educators and students. In fact, it is not a new reform at all. It is a worse version of the same old reform implemented all over again.

^{Nadejda Marques' research at the University of Coimbra - CES addresses the Effects of COVID-19 Public Health Policies on Migrants and Refugees in the European Union. This project partners with the UFRS Rede Covid-19 which aims to produce knowledge and unable the understanding of the impact of the pandemic in Brazil. She received her PhD in Human Rights and Development from the University Pablo de Olavide (Seville, Spain) and has worked in human rights for over two decades. She is the author of Nevertheless, They Persist: How Women Survive, Resist and Engage to Succeed in Silicon Valley (2018) about the history of sexism and current gender dynamics in Silicon Valley; and coauthor of The Cost of Inaction: Case Studies from Rwanda and Angola (2012). This study presents and implements Amartya Sen's methodology to account for the consequences, and to estimate the costs of the failure take steps to respond to the basic health needs of children and their families. She has written on a range of topics, including resettlement of refugees, internally displaced and former combatants in Angola, public health in sub-Saharan Africa, human trafficking in Europe, and school health services in the United States. Marques has served as Angola researcher for Human Rights Watch and as a frequent consultant for leading Angolan and Brazilian rights centers. She has worked as a special correspondent for the Washington Post in Latin America and taught and/or worked at Harvard University, Bentley College, the University of Massachusetts, Stanford University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Marques is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.}