Secondary education in Latin America and the labour market crisis

One of the frequently levelled critisicms at education, mainly of secondary education is that it is disconnected from labour market demands. "Its failure to deliver the knowledge and skills required by the modern world of work, together with its dwindling capacity to ensure access to higher education, is one of the main causes of a crisis that has often been described as an 'identity' crisis... In this article, it is proposed to analyse the issue from a different angle. First, from within the education system, trends in labour demand are studied. To what extent does the prevailing pattern of development in Latin American countries promote a labour market structure that in practice limits the possibility of creating high-quality secondary education for all? In other words, to what types of jobs has the Latin American labour market historically required - and does it currently expect - secondary education to provide training? What impacts have globalization processes, recent scientific and technological changes as applied to productive processes, and the structural reforms dictated by the Washington Consensus economic policies had on the relationship between secondary education and employment in Latin America? ... The deterioration of the employment situation in Latin America in the last few decades, with the trend to informal labour, polarization [ between winners and losers in the labour market] and job insecurity, and the consequently increasingly unequal distribution of income call for a redefinition of the role of secondary education and a new approach to to the labour market's real demands. (DIPF/orig.).