Story
February 16, 2022
Corona as the Evil Stepmother of the Dark-Haired Rapunzel
Country:
Project
La Promesa
Education has become a highly politicized issue in Argentina during the pandemic.
With 8% of the world’s population, Latin America has suffered around a third of recorded deaths from Covid-19. Its economies contracted by 7% last year, compared to 3.5% of the world as a whole. Much less discussed is that Latin America’s schools have stayed shut for longer than those in any other region.
Before the pandemic, education was already a problem in Latin America, plagued by deep structural inequalities that mirrored the wide income inequality in the region. The pandemic has made this bad situation worse. Latin American children have lost on average around 4 months more of class time than students elsewhere in the world. Children’s future is under threat. Ignoring this tragedy could lead to intractable crises that, like in Central America, have no quick, easy solutions.
Education should be an equal priority if Latin America is not to fail a whole generation.
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