In this review of research on Latin American educational costs and policies, the paper discusses the available use of alternatives for a better use of resources. He shows that a more active role by the private sector will help meet the increasing demand for educational expansion. The paper emphasizes that change will result only from policies applied over the long term.
"Myth, Reality, and Reform bridges these critiques by balancing the importance of the four key functions of higher education: academic leadership, professional development, technological training and development, and general higher education. The book suggests how to consolidate the strengths of higher education systems while fundamentally reforming their weaker features.
"Examines the relationship between private education and public policy in Latin America by combining conceptual analysis with empirical research, and incorporating case studies from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela"--Provided by publisher.
Inadequate public funding means that governments in developing countries are continually working to find ways of expansion to meet the growth demand for higher education.; This book considers the effectiveness of government funding methods in developing quality and efficiency in higher education systems in developing countries, and looks at policy measures taken to widen the funding base including raising tuition fees, student loan programmes, graduate taxes, industry-education links and national service programmes.; Taking information from around the world and drawing on successful practice in developed countries, this volume should be of interest to specialists and researchers in education economics and economic development, academics in general education and those involved in the finance and administration of higher education.
"Examines the relationship between private education and public policy in Latin America by combining conceptual analysis with empirical research, and incorporating case studies from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, and Venezuela"--Provided by publisher.
Although education in Latin America is a highly profitable investment, the present financial crisis puts constraints on the amount of resources available for investment in the sector. Also, resources already devoted to education may not be used as efficiently as they could be, and they may be inequitably distributed among different groups in the population. This paper presents a number of facts and issues related to the financing of education in Latin America and discusses some possible solutions. It is argued that cost-recovery in higher education, combined with the increased availability of educational credit and decentralization through private schools, may be the best policy package for addressing many "crisis" issues in education. Such a package would lead to a higher level of efficiency, in the sense that existing resources devoted to education will be better utilized. It will also attract more resources to a sector in which investments exhibit a high social profitability. Beyond the efficiency effect, charging for higher education would paradoxically be socially more equitable relative to the present situation of indiscriminate subsidies.
The current state of higher education in Latin America is examined in discussion papers which attempt to identify the major problems in efficiency, finance, and equity in the area and offer policy choices for improving university performance and quality while maximizing society's return on its investment. The papers are organized as follows: (1) the institutional context which provides the boundaries for analysis and public policy debate; (2) efficiency in resource allocation within the higher education sector; (3) efficiency in resource allocation between higher education and other sectors; (4) equity in the distribution of access to and government subventions to higher education; (5) sources of finance for higher education (sections 2 through 5 focus on undergraduate instruction primarily in larger countries in Latin America); (6) issues in graduate education and research; and (7) a discussion of prescriptions for the improvement of equity and efficiency in Latin American higher education. Appendices include country-by-country breakdown of enrollments, higher education expenditures, and other statistics related to higher education that are indicative of specific countries. Contains 145 references. (GLR)
This book synthesizes and analyzes the complex map of educational reforms in Latin America in the first two decades of the 21st century. The book offers insights into the agendas, processes and political economy of educational reforms in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Written by renowned contributors from each country, chapters present systematic, critical and reflective accounts of an intense period of education reforms. The book fills a gap in educational research and provides a systematic study that compares the cases analyzed. The first broad, comparative collection of its kind, the book is well-suited to courses in international and comparative education policy.
