“Education is a public issue because I don’t care what brand of toothpaste you buy for your child, but I care deeply about the kind of education you give them,” said Dr. Jason Beech, a professor and researcher at the University of San Andrés (Argentina).
Beech explained that people often “blame politicians and labor unions.” While he acknowledged that they bear some of the responsibility, he is certain that if society demanded more for education, they would do more to address the issue.
In his view, dropout rates and school abandonment, along with inequality and inequity, are some of the main educational problems in Latin America.
“Education serves to perpetuate and widen inequalities, rather than serving as a means to combat them,” he said. The reason is that those with less money tend to have access to lower-quality education.
In any case, there is no single solution. To improve education, he emphasized that it is essential for key stakeholders to reach certain agreements and for improvements to be made in the economy, society, and the design of the education system.
In July 2018, Jason Beech visited the Institute of Education at Universidad ORT Uruguay teach the course “Contemporary Educational Issues” as part of the Master’s in Education and the Master’s in Teacher Training programs.