The Schools

I visited eleven schools while in Argentina. (Biblioteca Popular Bernardino rivadavia y sus Anexos, Instituto Secundario Manuael Belgrano, Escuela Superior Integral De Lecheria, Escuela Normal Victor Mercante, Instituto Dr. Antonio Sobral, Instituto Paula Albarracin de Sarmiento, Instituto General San Martin,Liverpool Cursos de Ingles e Instrumentos, Rivendell School of English,Instituto Secundario The New Millenium, and Instituto Juan Zorrilla)

It is common for teachers, such as my hosts, to work at more than one school. The government limits teachers to thirty hours/week of instruction; teachers are paid only for the time spent in front of students and they are paid by the government. Many schools are too small to support a foreign language teacher for thirty hours of instruction, so teachers find classes in as many schools as necessary to "fill up their week's quota". It is also common for teachers to be paid for specific private classes - a sort of group tutoring arrangement.

Most schools tend to be a combination of public and private. The state pays the salaries (average $4,000 US dollars a year) and the students pay to maintain the school facility. Students wear uniforms and pay a small tuition. There are private and public schools as well. Administration of the schools is frequently run as a collective. The teachers run, own, and operate the school and perform many of the administrative tasks under the direction of a principal (who earns about $9,000 US dollars a year). Monitors (counselors and disciplinarians) take attendance, attend to personal needs, and serve as a liason between home and school.

There are no extra-curricular activities. If you play a sport or perform an art, then you belong to a community league or club. Schools do, however, have themes. Some schools specialize in music, manufacturing, business, dance, sports, etc. The secondary schools have six levels and roughly approximate a combination of our middle and high schools. Most of the schools I visited were small; the students belonged to either a morning shift (7-1) or an afternoon shift (1-7). Also, special education is not well developed. Special needs students are accomodated as much as possible by the combined efforts of monitors and teachers on an individual basis.

To graduate, a student must pass all six levels. Students take between 15 to 18 courses each year. Their schedules are fixed and pre-determined. There are assignments and grades, but no final exams for passing students. If students fail a course, they will "sit for an exam". If they pass the exam, they may move on to the next year and the next level. If they fail the exam, they can take it again - multiple times if necessary - until the next year is upon them. If they continue to fail the exam, they must repeat all 18 courses at last year's level and repeat the year. (This is rare.) When it's time for the university, there's no need to apply for scholarships - it's free!

My Argentinian friends were intrigued by our college application process. They don't have anything like it there. No scholarships, financial aid applications, essays, or references. They do, however, take an entrance exam for most colleges, and it is difficult. For example, to get into the School of Medicine at the University of Cordoba there are only 550 seats for the 3000 applicants who want in. Because there is no tuition, some universities have the problem of the "perma student" who lingers for years on campus at the government's expense.

Although the hectic schedules of my hosts nearly exhausted me (going to school until seven pm - whew!), I found the schools to be very interesting. The students were incredibly welcoming and very proficient in English. I was made to feel very welcome - even a little like a celebrity - during my visits and lessons with the students, and I enjoyed seeing my profession through this Argentinian lense.