Argentina

The World Bank prepared this report on technical higher education in the province of Buenos Aires (PBA) as part of its on-going dialogue with PBA authorities. The World... Show More + Bank has a long history of engagement with Argentina in different areas of the education sector and is increasing its relationship with provincial governments. This report contains a synoptic account as well as original analysis and recommendations. It`s aims to provide the government of PBA and other stakeholders with an analytical framework for reforming the Province’s technical tertiary education system in order to improve its quality and relevance. This report has six chapters. This first chapter serves as an introduction; chapter two focuses on technical tertiary education in the international context; chapter three provides contextual background for the province of buenos aires; chapter four explores Technical Tertiary Education (TTE) in PBA in-depth, summarizing its financing mechanisms and legal frame work, and assessing its strengths, weaknesses, reform efforts and degree of efficiency; chapter five analyzes the demand for workers in the provincial economy; and finally chapter six proposes recommendations for the provincial government and other stakeholders for the improvement of the quality and relevance of technical tertiary education. Show Less -

Many of the poorest Argentines are invisible in official statistics. Four million rural residents and another 12 million in small urban areas lie outside the reach of... Show More + the Permanent Household Survey (EPH), which is the basis for poverty figures and most data on social conditions in the country. According to the best estimate, roughly a third of rural residents, more than a million people, live in poverty. The urban bias common too many countries have been accentuated by the lack of data on the rural poor. With little information on their condition, it is exceedingly difficult for policy makers to design policies and programs to help move people out of poverty. The report is organized as follows: chapter one profiles rural poverty base on the limited existing data, including the first in-depth analysis of rural poverty ever conducted with the 2001 population census. Chapter two presents findings from the new qualitative study of the rural poor conducted in the first half of 2007. Finally, chapter three concludes with a discussion of methodology for rural poverty analysis, focusing on the issues related to expanding the EPH to full national coverage. Show Less -

Historically, the public university system in Argentina has been characterized by two salient features: free of charge and free access. However, despite public resources... Show More + that supposedly allow such free access, a systematic equity in education has not been achieved: only one student from the lowest social quintile actually accesses higher education vs. eight students from the highest social quintile. This shows that a significant percentage of the poor population is practically excluded from ascending the income scale. The existence of "free access" does not solve existing restrictions within the selection process developed through primary and secondary education. Moreover, another factor aggravating this inequity is explained by the existence of private institutions, geographically concentrated in mostly developed areas, offering limited disciplines, which address mainly the needs of higher income populations. However, in the last decade, public expenditures for higher education increased far more than that for education in general, a fact that forced decreasing per student investments, in turn fostering lower quality of education, and further hampering support for educational reforms, demonstrated by the high rates in student dropouts. Despite a series of changes during the 1990s in educational accreditation, and evaluation of institutions and disciplines, as well as financing mechanisms that would channel increased resources, there has been no impact diminishing inequities significantly. Within this context, the study analyzes higher education financing, and public expenditures, describing in the first chapter the higher education general characteristics, and how these affect access to, and equity of education. Also reviewed is the budget at different government levels, as well as considerations on private universities. Chapter three discusses alternative methods for allocation of resources among universities, while chapter four analyzes the structure, and financial aspects of each institution. Show Less -