laspp final term paper - accesibility to basic education

EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA: POVERTY, CHILD LABOR, INDIGENOUS GROUPS AND ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Beverly [email protected]

University of PittsburghLatin American Social and Public Policy Term Paper

20 November 2014

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ABSTRACT

In recent years, the focus for education reform has shifted away from primary education.

Accessibility is a key problem facing the population due to several factors such as the division

between the indigenous and non-indigenous, child labor, and family income levels. The main

problem that stems from low-income levels is high dropout rates in both levels. The dropout

rates are mainly attributed to child labor. Many families may not feel stable enough to not have

their children work once they complete the compulsory primary level of education. Access to

basic education is as important as improving the quality of education in this region. In order to

reach universal access to education, all of society must have the means of attaining one. The

purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges facing access to education in Latin America

and to assess which policies have and have not worked. In this paper I am analyzing Chile,

Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador based on the challenges they face, their progression

towards the completion of the Millennium Development Goal, and policies implemented to

address the problems. The Glonacal Model is used for policy analysis at the global, national,

regional, and local levels. Another element that will be used in comparing policies within the

analyzed countries will be the MDGs, which were implemented by the United Nations, with a

target goal date of 2015. The second goal was specifically created for the attainment of universal

primary education. The matrix I created analyzes these countries based on child labor and drop

out percentages; percentage of children enrolled in and completing primary and secondary

schooling; completion rates in different strata and regions; and policies aimed at child labor

prevention, families with low income, and accessibility for indigenous children.

Keywords: Access, Millennium Development Goals, Secondary Education, indigenous, child

labor

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INTRODUCTION

Education in Latin America has been a pressing issue for some time. It is so important

that the United Nations chose to address this issue in the international agenda through the

Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The MDG focuses on Primary Education, but as of

recently the focus has shifted from primary to secondary education, encompassing basic

education as a whole. As defined by the International Standard Classification of Education

(ISCED), the levels of education are as follows: primary education is for school aged children

typically in grades 1 through 5 or 6 and secondary education generally encompasses grades 6

through 12. Primary education is the base building block for a strong education later on and for a

stable life once children mature. In several Latin American countries, the completion of

secondary schooling is necessary in order to obtain a well-paying job in the formal sector, rather

than continuing work in the informal sectors. Now that the region has almost reached a 100

percent enrollment rate in primary education, as was the MDG goal, the focus has shifted to

improving access to secondary education. Primary education is compulsory in every Latin

American countries, but yet very few have taken the initiative to include the first let alone both

levels of secondary education in the compulsory mandate. There are still several problems in

terms of education the region, with two of the most important being access to and quality of

schooling.

Education is an important factor in all aspects of life, especially in Latin America. Not

only does it help the population become more developed, but in the long run it can help

individuals overcome inequalities and being more integrated with politics and society as a whole.

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In Latin America, indigenous populations have been linked with poverty, and it has stayed

constant for quite some time (Department of Public Information 2010).

There are several factors affecting children’s access to education, which ultimately hinder

their completion of secondary and even primary education at times. The pressing issues affecting

access are violence, gender disparities, school locations, and low-income levels. The lack of

secondary education for children impedes their development and ability to be able to succeed

later in life. In many Latin American countries, a completion of both upper and lower secondary

school levels is required in order to be able to obtain a decent occupation. The jobs that can be

obtained after having completed a full course of secondary education are in the formal sector and

help cycle money through the social pension system and add to social security, unlike their

informal counterparts.

Low-income families face several challenges, such as inability to pay for school supplies,

incapability to provide food for the family, and in many cases these families are single-parent

homes with an absent father. When children, specifically males, reach the working age, the

families see them as another means of income, thus removing them from school and making

them work jobs in the informal sector, including but not limited to agriculture and mining.

Income inequality usually leads to higher levels of violence because families living in poorer

neighborhoods are surrounded by people affected by similar, if not worse, situations. A solution

for this problem is a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, where the beneficiaries are paid

based on their children’s education level (IADB n.d.). This program is crucial in encouraging

parents to keep their children enrolled in school, especially for low-income households who need

their children out of school in order to work.

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Child labor in Latin America has declined in recent years, but it is still an important issue

that needs to be addressed. Child labor as defined by the International Labor Organization is

“work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is

harmful to physical and mental development” and also includes work that deprives children the

opportunity to attend school (ILO n.d.). This phenomenon stems from economic and social

pressure not only within families, but countries as well (University of Pennsylvania 2014). It

encompasses different types of labor in three different sectors: agriculture, industry, and services

(Department of Labor 2013).

Both child labor and low-income levels lead to lower amounts of continuity in to

secondary school, and high drop out rates in both the lower and upper levels of secondary school.

According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), every time a

student drops out of school, they are forfeiting around 14 percent of per capita Gross Domestic

Product for every working year of their life (UNICEF 2008). Poverty and child labor are linked

hand-in-hand because family income levels directly impact whether or not children will begin

working at an earlier age.

Accessibility to education for indigenous children is becoming a bigger problem because

of the cultural divide. Children from indigenous backgrounds and communities are the most

marginalized group when it comes to education. There are three problems that can be attributed

to inequalities in education for the indigenous sector: language, poverty, and location. Aside

from these three major problems, indigenous children are the subject of bullying, harassment,

and discrimination in the school setting. Language is an enormous barrier when it comes to

education. Currently, there are policies in place that are aimed at overcoming the language

barrier by teaching classes in the indigenous language, which are found in countries where the

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indigenous people make up a large percentage of the population, such as in Bolivia and

Guatemala. This is a great attempt at overcoming said barrier, but a problem stems from this:

parents want their children to learn in the language in which normal schools are taught. This is

because learning the indigenous language will not help the child succeed later on. If the language

barrier problem is not addressed properly earlier in the development stages of childhood, it will

become increasingly difficult for the child to learn the main language later on in life when it is

most crucial. By not attempting to teach bilingually or even just teach indigenous children in

their native language, the government is denying the children their right to education. In several

countries the lack of policies aimed at the language barrier has excluded this marginalized group

from completing upper level primary and secondary education in certain cases (UNESCO, Lopez

2009).

POLICY MODEL

The glonacal model is used for the analysis of policy implementation of a region

(Marginson and Rhoades 2002). It is made up of the global, national, and regional components

which all play separate roles in homogenizing and diffusing policies through different levels of

society. Sometimes international mandates are not taken seriously and implementation at the

regional and national levels can have poor results and still not benefit marginalized people, such

as those living in poverty and indigenous communities (Department of Public Information 2010).

At the global level, there are two noteworthy actors that play an important role in the

development and homogenization of policies in Latin America: The United Nations, through

their MDGs and the World Bank, through funding projects. The MDGs were created by the

United Nations in 2000 in order to address the globally prevailing issues such as extreme

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poverty, gender inequalities, and hunger among many others. There are eight goals with the

intention of having all the highlighted issues addressed if not eradicated by the target date of

2015. Since education is seen as fundamental for human development, the second goal in the

agenda is to “Achieve Universal Primary Education”. The two indicators for access to education

are net enrollment in primary school and the survival rate from grade 1 to grade 5. The region as

a whole has nearly reached 100 percent in access to primary education, so the focus of this paper

will be shifted to secondary education and these same indicators will be applied. The only

difference that should be noted is the survival rate years—instead of grade 1 to grade 5, the

analysis will focus on the survival rate from the beginning of lower level secondary school to the

end of upper level secondary school.

The World Bank lends money and gives grants to countries to aid in the development of

projects that will help reduce poverty. Their goals are ending extreme poverty and helping

stimulate income growth for the bottom 40% of the populations of countries around the world.

One of the ways they are approaching these problems is through promoting education for all and

increasing the accessibility of education for children through funding different projects.

At the regional and national levels, agencies like Inter-American Development Bank

(IADB), the Vidanta Foundation in Mexico, the Foundation for Education in the Bilingual and

Multicultural Contexts (Fundación para la Educación en Contextos de Multilingüismo y

Pluriculturalidad, FUNPROEIB), Pachamama Foundation (Fundación Pachamama), Nor Sud

Intercultural Foundation (Fundación Intercultural Nor Sud), and Regional Education Project for

Latin America and the Caribbean (PRELAC) have all contributed towards establishing goals and

creating programs that work on social inequalities. PRELAC in particular has worked through

the Education for All (EFA) initiative which works towards completing not only the MDG, but

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also targeting the problem areas that affect access to education. It worked with the governments

within each country to establish action plans and increase investment in education as a whole

(UNESCO 2007). It also places an emphasis on making sure that citizens are participating in the

creation and implementation of these policies. Certain groups created both within the region and

individual countries have different focuses and also work with citizens to develop programs. For

example, FUNPROEIB in the Andes region of Bolivia was created to give the indigenous people

a voice since they have historically been underrepresented (FUNPROEIB 2014).

Table 1. Programs by CountryCountry Year Policy

Bolivia

2010 Avelino Siñani Education ActArticle 13

1994 Education Reform Act Law No. 1565Articles 31, 46

2006 Telecentros Educativos Comunitarios (TEC)

Ecuador

1983 Education Law No. 127Article 2 section h, 21,

2003 Código de la Niñez y Adolescencia. Ley No. 100Articles 6, 7,

2000 Betterment of Quality in Single-Teacher Schools1999 School Alimentation Program (Programa de Alimentación Escolar,

PAE)2007 Free Textbooks (Textos Escolares Gratuitos)

Guatemala 1991 National Education Law. No. 12Articles 2, 21, 78, 79

Mexico

2006 General Law of Education.Articles 2, 4, 6, 13, 23, 32

1997 Oportunidades (CCT)2001 Program for Academic Transformation and Strengthening of Normal

Schools in Mexico (Programa para la Transformación y el Fortalecimiento Académico de las Escuelas Normales de México)

Table created by author. Data source:

SOCIAL INCLUSION AND FAMILY AID POLICY ANALYSIS: BOLIVIA, ECUADOR,

GUATEMALA AND MEXICO

The countries compared are Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador. These countries

were chosen because they differed in their enrollment and completion rates for secondary

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education, types of policies implemented to address the problems, and similarities in policy

types. The intensity of these vary from country to country, with Mexico generally having

excellent enrollment and completion rates, and Guatemala and Ecuador experiencing the

opposite. All projects mentioned were funded by the World Bank while laws, decrees, and social

programs were created by each nation’s respective government. In the following analyses, the

stipends for the CCTs are represented with the United States currency for uniformity. At the end

of the policy analyses, I plan to answer one question based on the data available for each

country: What types of policies should be implemented in order to better address the societal

inequalities hindering children from completing their education?

Bolivia

Indigenous and Poverty-stricken Inclusion Policies

Around 67% of Bolivia’s entire population lives below the national poverty level, and

94% of those living in poverty are concentrated in rural areas. Of that number, 88% are of

indigenous background (Encyclopedia of the Nations n.d.). Bolivia’s indigenous population is

the highest of all in Latin America, accounting for 62% of its entire population. Poverty is a

major problem in this country, hindering children from being able to take advantage of

educational opportunities.

Bolivia completed the “Secondary Education Project” in 2007, which was funded by the

World Bank. This project was aimed at increasing access to secondary education, encompassing

grades 9 through 12 as well. There were two parts to this project, but the focus on students was

seen more in the second project. Because of its funding, Bolivia was able to create 19,600

schools throughout its country, thus successfully addressing the accessibility issue in isolated

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rural regions. Through this program, children in isolated areas, especially those coming from

marginalized groups, were offered a secondary education.

In addition to working with the World Bank for project developments, the Foundation for

Sustainable Development (FSD) has worked with several organizations within the nation that are

meant to improve children’s education and development. A very important program created in

1972 is the Center for Rural Promotion “Jesus Maria” (Centro de Promoción Rural “Jesús

Maria”, CEPRUJEM). It has a central focus on education as well as health promotion in the rural

regions. CEPRUJEM was created because schools in these rural regions only provided children

with education up to grade 5. This program has created four schools throughout the high valley

in the Cochabamba province that offer both primary and secondary education. These schools also

offer room and board in order to help students that live far away (such as those living in isolated

areas) so they have the opportunity to continue their education regardless of proximity to school.

Aside from room and board, these schools also offer three meals and two snacks daily. This

helps students coming from poor households who do not usually have the opportunity to eat.

Conditional Cash Transfers

The program Bono Juancito Pinto was Bolivia’s first nationwide CCT program

implemented in 2006. It is aimed towards children enrolled in public schools who would then be

eligible for an annual $25. In order to be eligible, school administrators must prove that the child

has a 75% attendance rate throughout the school year. This program is similar to Ecuador’s in

the sense that it is universal, although families in the upper quintiles that are still living in

poverty are eligible in this case. I believe the fact that Bolivia’s CCT is open to the entire nation

reduces the possibility of discrimination against those families that find themselves moving back

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and forth between living comfortably and not having enough resources to provide for the entire

family.

Child Labor Policies

Child labor is surprisingly a big problem in Bolivia, with 20.2% of the school-age

population working and 18.7% of these children attending school while working. According to

article 26 of the Child and Adolescent Code of 1999, the legal minimum age for work in Bolivia

is 14, but earlier in 2014 the legal working age was moved down to 10 years of age. The

International Labor Organization of the United Nations states that the absolute minimum age a

child is allowed to begin work is 14. The reason behind this drastic change was the extreme

levels of poverty in Bolivia, where some families in rural regions are living on only 0.60 cents

daily.

There have been several programs aside from CCTs that are aimed at eradicating, or at

least bettering the conditions of, child labor. The “ÑPK: Combating Indigenous Child Labor in

Bolivia” program was developed in 2010 and set to end after a four year period. It works towards

bettering educational opportunities and the livelihood of people living in rural areas in order to

discourage families from putting their children in child labor. It functions alongside the Ministry

of Education so as to expand the “Leveling Program” which helps children who are behind to

catch up through an accelerated learning program (Department of Labor 2013).

A four year plan called “Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Horizontal

Cooperation in South America” was implemented in 2009 and ended in 2013. It was developed

to work against the worst forms of child labor and ultimately ended up preventing 5,478 and

withdrawing 3,047 children from working in less than desirable conditions (Department of Labor

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2013). The initiative targeted children in discriminated groups, such as children of indigenous

and afro-descent.

Ecuador


According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), poverty

affects 86.1% of the indigenous population in Ecuador, contrasting the 54.6 and 45.9 percentages

of the mestizo and white populations living under similar conditions (IWGIA 2014). The

indigenous people accounts for 25% of Ecuador’s total population.

Two major programs that specifically help the poverty-stricken marginalized populations

are the following: Programa de Alimentación Escolar (PAE) and Textos Escolares Gratuitos.

These two policies are aimed at relieving those living in extreme poverty from having to pay for

textbooks and food for the children throughout the school year. The PAE focuses on serving all

children enrolled in the first cycle (Primary School) breakfast and lunch every day for the 200

school days. This policy’s aim is to reduce the gap in universal access to education by providing

children with the necessary nutrition to be able to focus sufficiently and relieve their parents

from worrying about how to feed the children (Ecuador Ministry of Education, 2013). The

Textos Escolares Gratuitos Program also lifts a financial burden off the shoulders of parents who

are incapable of providing their children with the necessary school supplies. This program

provides both schools and students with free textbooks in order to lessen the financial burden

resulting from having to buy supplies. Since the CCT only grants a limited amount per

household, it may seem more beneficial to buy food for the family with that money rather than

put it towards all the books a child may need. This program will not only help parent with

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financial burdens, but will also help children get the most out of their education. Another project

was “Inclusion and Quality Education” which lasted from 2006 to 2010. Its main purpose was to

contribute to the completion of the MDG of universal primary education completion. As a whole,

the project focused more on managerial and teacher-based policies, but placed some emphasis on

increasing coverage at the basic education level in most disadvantaged areas (World Bank n.d.).


Ecuador’s CCT program, Bono de Desarrollo Humano, was developed in 2003 and

currently covers 100% of the nation’s poor population, regardless of the income quintile they are

in. Specifically, the program strives to help those families with children between the ages of 0

and 16 who find themselves in the 2 poorest quintiles. Although it does not seem like much, the

CCT grants $15 per household. The conditions to receive the stipend are that children between

the ages of 6 and 15 must be enrolled in school with a 90% attendance. Although it encompasses

the entirety of the population living in poverty, the amount granted simply is not enough for

parents to keep all their children in school up to the end of secondary school. There is still a high

likelihood of boys being removed from school by their parents in order to begin working.


Aside from Bolivia, the “Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Horizontal

Cooperation in South America” initiative was also implemented in Ecuador. The “2005-2013

National Plan for the Progressive Elimination of Child Labor” is the main policy instrument for

combating child labor, as stated by the Department of Labor (Department of Labor 2013).

Different levels of agencies within the state are responsible for the coordination of the policy:

government, private sectors, and civil society. The problem with this program is that aside from

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not doing anything about children being out of school, there is little to no aid to the child and

their family after being fired (Human Rights Watch, 2014). There are some CCT-like programs

in place that aid children that have recently been fired, but they are either functioning at maximal

capacity, or do not have the financial means to help more children. A very important policy is

“Ecuador Without Child Labor” which focuses efforts on the complete eradication of child labor.

One way it works towards this goal is by increasing assistance to families in need, and has

helped up to 41,000 children (Department of Labor 2013). “Agenda for the Equality of Children

and Adolescents in Ecuador” was an action plan created by the government, which created an

program to get rid of child labor completely and diminish the amounts of poverty and social

inequality present in the country. It outlined strategies that were to be used throughout the

duration of its implementation, 2012 to 2013 (Department of Labor 2014). One of the goals

outlined in the action plan was to have a separate instructor in each province, in order to make

sure that there were no children working under the table in the more isolated regions and work

sectors.

Guatemala


The indigenous people in Guatemala make up 60% of the country’s population (IWGIA

2014). The poverty rate for indigenous people in Guatemala is 2.8 times higher than the rest of

the Latin American region. Opposed to 35% of the country’s non-indigenous population living in

poverty and 8% in extreme poverty, 73% of the indigenous population are living in poverty and

26% in extreme poverty (IWGIA 2014). Guatemala’s “School Assistance” was created by the

Ministry of Education and aims to provide children with school supplies, transportation to and

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from school, and daily meals. Aside from placing an emphasis on the financial and nutritional

needs of children, its other main focus is on child labor (Department of Labor 2014). “Zero

Hunger Pact” (Pacto Hambre Cero) is a government program implemented to reduce the

economic vulnerability of over 700 thousand families and alleviates them of financial burdens

pertaining to school and nutrition(Department of Labor 2014).


Guatemala has two CCT programs in place: “Mi Familia Progresa” and “Mi Bono

Seguro”. The target population for “Mi Familia Progesa” are families living in extreme poverty

within one of the 130 most vulnerable municipalities. In order to receive benefits for education,

the family must have a minor between the ages of 0 and 15. The benefits received for school

attendance is a set amount of $20 monthly regardless of the number of children present in the

household. The condition for receiving the stipend is at least a 90 percent attendance rate in

school. The benefits from this CCT may be problematic, especially for those families living in

extremely poor conditions. If there are four children in a household, they will still only receive

$20 and the family will still find itself trying to make ends meet. A different CCT “Mi Bono

Seguro” is led by the Ministry of Social Development and is aimed towards families living in

extreme poverty (CEPAL 2012). The household must have children between 0 to 16 years of

age. The school bonus is granted for having children between the ages of 6 and 15 attending

school. Each household is granted 350 Quetzales (equivelant to around $45). Guatemala also has

a program like a CCT, except with food assistance called “Mi Bolsa Segura”.


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The percentage of children in the child work force is 13.4% and of these children, 9.6% are

simultaneously attending school and working. “Roadmap toward the Elimination of Child Labor

in Guatemala” is directed towards eradicating the worst forms of child labor in Guatemala by the

year of 2015 (Department of Labor 2014). It works towards this goal by integrating children in to

education and anti-poverty programs that are designed toward keeping them from going back in

to the work force. Aside from this effort, Guatemala has also increased the number of inspectors

that check workplaces for child labor, and in 2013 they government was able to 346 children.

Mexico


Mexico’s indigenous population constitutes 13% of the net national population, and as whole

constitute for the majority of the 62 separate languages and dialects spoken within the country

(Minority Rights 2005). The vast number of languages creates obstacles for children coming

from different indigenous backgrounds. The development of a bilingual and multicultural

curriculum would have to incorporate at least a simple majority of these languages. The “Basic

Education Development Project” was funded by the World Bank had two focuses: to provide

teaching material to schools and to include marginalized and indigenous children in their pilot

programs (World Bank 2014). The project was developed from 1998 to 2007 in three different

phases, each having a different emphasis Mexico has taken several initiatives in its attempt to

dealing with the indigenous learning barriers present. Some of its most successful projects

include introducing Maya as an L2 (second language) language in public schools and the “Basic

Education Development Project”.

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The Oportunidades CCT program in Mexico had a positive effect on the retention rate of

children in schools as well as the decline of 40% of children in the work force, specifically 8%

less boys between the ages of 12 and 15 that are working (World Bank 2013). This program is

targeted towards helping extremely poor households living in the lowest 35% of the country’s

population. The benefits families receive depend on which level of schooling the children are in.

For primary school they receive between 12 to 23 dollars monthly per child, depending on the

specific grade the child is in and regardless of their gender. Beginning in grade 7, female

students receive a higher amount (Behrman 2005). The reason behind this was to help work

towards reducing the gender gap that existed prior to the development of the CCT program,

especially in the more rural areas. Yearly, the household receives $23 per child to be put towards

school supplies. Once children are in the lower secondary school level, the household receives

between 34 to 43 dollars per child depending on their grade. The yearly compensation for school

supplies is increased to $29 per student. Upon commencing the upper level of secondary school,

the stipend is increased to reward between 57 to 74 dollars monthly per child, while the amount

granted for school supplies remains the same. Something remarkable about this program is the

reward to children who complete their education. Upon graduating from grade 12, $336 is

deposited in a savings account. This type of program is a great initiative that encourages children

to not only complete their secondary education, but to move on to higher education as well.

According to the World Bank, “The conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades also

contributed to create incentives for parents to keep their children in school. There are 8% less

boys between 12 and 15 years old that work thanks to the program” (World Bank 2013).

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The Federal Labor Law of Mexico states that children under the age of 14 may not work

in any type of hazardous labor, which encompasses the entirety of the informal sector. Children

between the ages of 14 and 16 must have had completed secondary school before applying for a

job, but the problem with this is that children can still work under the table even before the

indicated age. Currently, over 870.000 children under the age of 13 are working (World Bank

2013), while the minimum age to legally work is 14. As of 2013, 40% less children between the

ages of 12 and 14 are working, specifically boys worked 3% less in the agricultural sectors

(World Bank 2013), which is considered one of the “worst child labor sectors”.

Table 2. Challenges and Policies in Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, and MexicoCreated by author. Data sources: Machinea, José Luis. 2005. “The Millennium Development Goals: A Latin American and Caribbean

Perspective.” Education as a Pillar of Human Development. Comisión Económica Para America Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). Accessed 9 December 2014. http://www.cepal.org/en/publications/millennium-development-goals-latin-american-and-caribbean-perspective ; Comisión Economica Para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). “Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes.” http://dds.cepal.org/bdptc/en/program/?id=56

“—“ indicates data is unavailable.

GUATEMALA BOLIVIA ECUADOR MEXICO

Challenges

Incompletion Based on Ethnicity*

Indigenous 53.3% 37.6% 18% --%

Non-indigenous

32.2% 11.1% 7.6% --%

Low Family Socio-Economic Level(Children with incomplete Primary Education coming from families with low income levels)*

63.7% 38.9% 15.3% 16.1%

Child Labor* (Ages 7 to 14) 13.4% 20.2% 2.7% 12.5%

Millennium Development Goal Completion Rate *

Children enrolled in Primary School 88% 88% 97.3% 99%

Children that have completed their Primary Education

65% 69% 65% 93%

Children enrolled in Secondary Education

37.5% 70.9% 55.4% 68.6%

Policies

Conditional Cash Transfers Mi Familia Progresa (2008)

Bono Juancito Pinto (2006)

Bono de Desarrollo Humano (2003)

Oportunidades (1997)

Indigenous Accessibility Funding via Ministry of Education

CEPRUJEM Purepecha


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*Percentage**Based on United Nations, Gender Parity Index is the ratio of girls to boys in different levels of schooling. A value of less than one signifies lower enrollment rates for girls than boys, where as values greater than one signify the opposite. Particularly in this case, I am using the primary and secondary levels, with the most recent data up to 2010 from unstats.un.org

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COUNTRY ANALYSES AND COMPARISONS

Of the five countries chosen for analysis, Mexico, Bolivia and Guatemala have the

highest percentage of indigenous people making up the total regional indigenous population.

(UNESCO Lopez 2009). Bolivia has the highest gross national indigenous population of these

five populations, with a percentage of 66.2, and Guatemala being the second highest regionally

with 39.9 percent. It is clear to see that the need for fitting policies are urgently needed in

Guatemala and Bolivia, seeing that their populations are the highest concentration of the five

countries. Every country in Latin America has compulsory primary education completion, but

very few have required secondary education to be obligatory as well.

CCT programs in the region as a whole do not only help combat poverty, but also work

towards increasing attendance and completion rates in schools using a financial incentive. These

programs also have positive effects on child labor, meaning that the rate at which children drop

out to join the work force under the table has decreased due to these programs (McGuire 2013).

Guatemala and Ecuador are the only two countries that do their CCT per household rather than

per member of the family. I believe this would be appropriate if the amount they awarded was

larger than $20 and $15 respectively, however it is not. Parents may not see this as the type of

aid they need in order to be able to fully provide for their families. This can ultimately loop

back . Two years after the initial implementation of CCT programs in the analyzed countries, net

enrollment in schools either fell, rose, or stayed the same. In Bolivia, the net enrollment fell from

84.5 to 82.1%. Of the analyzed countries, it seems that both Ecuador and Guatemala have

implemented similar programs, where the stipend is granted to each household rather than each

child. Parallel with this observation are the secondary school enrollment rates both countries

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have. As can be seen in Table 2, Ecuador and Guatemala are the two countries with the smallest

percentage of children enrolled in secondary school, with 55.4 and 37.5% respectively.

Overall, child labor has decreased over the past ten years mainly because of a betterment

of social policies. Ecuador in particular has focused on the complete eradication of this

phenomenon, creating numerous policies to pull children out from wherever they may be

working, reaching a miraculous 2.7% of child labor. In recent years, government officials have

been visiting sectors where child labor concentration is highest, such as the agricultural and

domestic sectors, and successfully removing children from these work conditions. Bolivia, on the

other hand, has adapted its legislature to allow children from ages 10 and up to begin work. This

matches up with the high 20.2% of child labor in country. Basically, around 1 of every 5 children

work by the time they are 10.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

There are several recommendations I have that could maximize the outcomes of all the

policies that have been created to address issues pertaining to marginalization, poverty, and child

labor that ultimately obstruct children from benefiting from their education.

Improve the Conditional Cash Transfer system

In order for a financial incentive to work in boosting enrollment rates and lowering child

labor percentages in this region, the CCT needs to be created to fit the population that is being

targeted. This program was created to aid families living in poverty in order to help children

obtain a quality education among other things. The fact that some of the CCT programs in the

countries analyzed give a set amount of money per household rather than per child may be off-

22

putting to parents. They are still going to be in a bad position because of the continuing inability

to provide for their children. If they were to have four children and a CCT program like

Guatemala’s was in place, chances are the family would rather have their children working in

order to be able to live comfortably. CCTs are short-term benefits that could have a long term

effect if used efficiently. Implementation of a CCT program like Mexico’s Oportunidades would

be ideal. Not only would this type of program provide the short term, monthly benefits, but

would also have the long term benefits within reach for both the students and the parents. Once

each country’s GDP is increased enough, the CCT programs should be reformed, specifically in

Ecuador and Guatemala. Aside from helping households living in extremely poor conditions, it

will tackle the child labor problem as well.

Incorporate the Indigenous Populations

Having regional and national Non-Profit Organizations working towards eliminating

social gaps is not enough. In order to be able to fully address the education problem in Latin

America, governments need to step up to the plate and stop discriminating against these

marginalized populations in the form of their legislation. The indigenous population is usually

the poorest in the national populations for the countries analyzed, and it is one of the poorest

groups in the region as a whole. Without recognizing this and taking it in to account in the

creation of policies, the problem with access to education will continue.

The region as a whole is close to completing the universal primary education MDG, but

each country has yet to offer an adequate education to the entirety of its population. Although the

majority of the population completes primary education, the enrollment rates in secondary

23

education are dismal and the completion rates are even worse. Three challenges hindering

children from obtaining a quality education are child labor, poverty, and marginalization.

Indigenous children particularly face problems, even with primary education. Alongside the

issue of poverty is the language barrier that causes difficulties in learning since bilingual

education, especially with indigenous languages, is not something that is seen in countries where

there is a smaller indigenous population. Policies are being created in each country that aim to

tackle the inequality still present, the huge difference in quality between schools in different

areas, and reaching out to the marginalized populations. Reaching these goals will soon open

several doors of opportunity for the region, such as reduced amounts of poverty, universal

literacy rates, and eventual equality throughout all parts of society. The problem with inequality

in education isn’t only coming from insufficient funding to certain districts or unqualified

teachers. This problem has to be tackled from all aspects, including but not limited to supporting

financial need of the marginalized populations, creating programs to eradicate violence among

the youth, education adults as well as children, and perhaps even expanding the years of

compulsory education to reach the second cycle, from grades 6 to 9.

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