Andres Oppenheimer
When I asked
If Latin Americans are satisfied with their public education systems -- as a hemisphere-wide 2008
"The way to start is by feeling bad. With humility," Gates said. "The best thing that happened to
Judging from Gates' words,
While 85 percent of Costa Ricans, 84 percent of Venezuelans, 80 percent of Nicaraguans, and more than 72 percent of Colombians, Bolivians, Uruguayans, Paraguayans, Salvadorans and Hondurans are happy with their countries' public education systems, the same is only true for 66 percent of the people in
Meantime, despite great progress in literacy rates and school attendance in recent decades, the quality of education in the region is poor. According to the
TELLTALE NUMBERS
In the math test, while students averaged 550 points in
At the higher education, research and development level, the region's performance is often even worse. Consider the following facts:
-- There is not one single Latin American university among the world's best-ranked 100 higher education institutions, according to the 2009-2010 Times Higher Education Supplement's World University Rankings. Likewise, a similar ranking by
Both rankings include several universities from
-- Of all the funds invested in research and development worldwide, less than 2 percent is spent in
CHINA VS.
While
-- While Asian universities are producing tens of thousands of patents that generate a huge income in royalties for themselves and for their countries,
This helps explain why a relatively small Asian country such as
-- Only 27 percent of college-age Latin American youth are enrolled in higher education institutions, compared with 69 percent of their peers in industrialized countries, according to
-- Of those Latin Americans who are in college, most study social sciences. While the global economy demands growing numbers of engineers, scientists and technicians, 57 percent of Latin American college students are pursuing degrees in social sciences, while only 16 percent are studying engineering or technology, according to the
At
REASONS FOR HOPE
Chinese universities accept 1.2 million engineering students a year, compared with 16,000 history students.
Is
The list of exciting things that are happening on
But the first step, as Gates said, should be accepting the sobering reality that the region is being increasingly left behind in the world-wide race for high education standards and competitive work forces. Then, as I found in my reporting trips to several Asian countries, there are many practical things that Latin American families could do -- and American families, too -- to help improve the quality of education in their countries, and in their homes.
Humbleness and a greater family focus on the quality of their children's learning process would help put education at the center of countries' political agendas. That would make the region more competitive in the global economy, and help it to dramatically reduce poverty.
Available at Amazon.com:
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(C) 2010 Andres Oppenheimer