Argentina/OER

Original wiki page by Paul Bacsich and Nick Jeans of Sero, drawing on VISCED material (and in turn from Re.ViCa).

The latest material is on an attached 63-page PDF report File:OER in Argentina Edition 2.pdf by Iris Velazquez.

(This is an update of her earlier 37-page report File:OER in Argentina.pdf of February 2013.)

For entities in Argentina see Category:Argentina

Overview

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic (Spanish: República Argentina), is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city. It is the second largest country in South America and eighth in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations, though Mexico, Colombia and Spain are more populous. Its continental area is 2,766,890 square kilometres (1,068,300 sq mi), between the Andes mountain range in the west and the southern Atlantic Ocean in the east and south.

Argentina borders Paraguay and Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south.

The population of Argentina is just over 40,000,000.

Argentina has the second highest Human Development Index level and the second highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity in Latin America. Argentina's nominal GDP is the 30th largest in the world; but when purchasing power is taken into account, its total GDP makes it the 23rd largest economy in the world.

The country is currently classified as an Upper-Middle Income Country or as a secondary emerging market by the World Bank.

The capital of Argentina is Buenos Aires.

Argentina is also one of the G-20 major economies.

Further information

For further general information see Wikipedia:Argentina.

Education in Argentina

For a general description of education in Argentina see Argentina/OER.

After independence, Argentina constructed a national public education system in comparison to other nations, placing the country high up in the global rankings of literacy. Today the country has a literacy rate of 97%, and three in eight adults over age 20 have completed secondary school studies or higher.

Education in Argentina is a responsibility shared by the national government, the provinces and federal district and private institutions, though basic guidelines have historically been set by the Ministry of Education.

Sourced from Wikipedia's page on Argentina > Education, Education in Argentina and Nationmaster

The ministry responsible for education is called the Ministerio de Educación de la Nación (Ministry of National Education). Education in Argentina is divided in three phases as in other countries: primary education or "Basic General Education", secondary education and higher education.

Adults in Argentina have spent an average of 8.8 years in school - the highest amount for any South American country. The primary completion rate is 99% and 79.1% of young people are enrolled in secondary establishments.

The Argentine school system consists of an elementary or lower school level lasting six or seven years, and a secondary or high school level lasting between five to six years. In the 1990s, the system was split into different types of high school instruction, called Educacion Secundaria and the Polimodal. Some provinces adopted the Polimodal while others did not. A project in the executive branch to repeal this measure and return to a more traditional secondary level system was approved in 2006

Compulsory education lasts for 9 years, and comprises grades first to ninth and is called Educación General Básica or EGB (Basic General Education). It is divided in three ciclos (cycles): EGB I: 1st, 2nd and 3rd school years EGB II: 4th, 5th and 6th school years EGB III: 7th, 8th and 9th school years.

The first 6 years are spent in primary schools and EGB III comprises the first 3 years of the six year secondary curriculum. EGB is mandatory to all students, although desertion is high in some parts of the country and laws intended to prevent this are rarely enforced. Once the EGB phase is completed, the student finishes the mandatory schooling period and can choose to start secondary education, called Polimodal, which usually last two to three more years. The third stage is higher education.

Education is funded by tax payers at all levels except for the majority of graduate studies. There are many private school institutions in the primary, secondary and university levels. Around 11.4 million people were enrolled in formal education of some kind in 2006, including 1.5 million in the nation's 85 universities.

Adapted from Wikipedia Adapted from Education in Argentina

Schools

There are three levels of schools:

17726 Preschool establishments (Inicial):

345 Jardín maternal

15033 Jardín de infantes (Kindergarten)

2348 Both cycles

22227 Primary schools (Primaria):

7327 with a seven year cycle

14900 with a six year cycle

Primary education comprises the first two EGB cycles (grades 1–6). Because of the system that was in place until 1995 (7 years of primary school plus 5 or 6 of secondary school), primary schools used to offer grades 1–7, although most are already converted to accept 8th and 9th, others chose to eliminate 7th grade altogether, forcing the students to complete the 3rd cycle in another institution.

13412 Secondary (Secundaria):

4888 providing only Ciclo Básico (basic secondary education)

1294 providing only Ciclo Orientado (upper secondary)

7230 providing both Ciclo Básico and Ciclo Orientado

Secondary education in Argentina is called Polimodal ("polymodal", that is, having multiple modes), since it allows the student to choose his/her orientation. Polimodal is not yet obligatory but its completion is a requirement to enter colleges across the nation. Polimodal is usually 3 years of schooling, although some schools have a fourth year. Conversely to what happened on primary schools, most secondary schools in Argentina contained grades 8th and 9th, plus Polimodal (old secondary) but then started converting to accept also 7th grade students, thus allowing them to keep their same classmates for the whole EGB III cycle. This is different however, in the city of Buenos Aires (and several provinces), where Polimodal does not exist. The capital keeps in use the Traditional Argentine education system, composed of seven years of primary education (EGB I and EGB II, with the last two years composing EGB III) and five years of secondary education (the first three of which are of a more general education, with more focus on the specilisation starting in the last two years). The secondary education system is thus divided in three large groups, "Bachiller" schools (very similar to grammar schools with a huge emphasis on humanistic studies), "Comercial" schools (focusing on economic sciences and everything related to it) and "Escuelas Técnicas" (with a focus on technical and scientific assignments, this one having the particularity of lasting six years instead of five, it used to be called "Industrial") each one subdivided in more specific orientations related to its main branch. Currently there are no plans to adopt the Polimodal system in the city of Buenos Aires, but rather, several provinces with that system are seriously considering a reform of it, with many opting for the traditional system still used in Buenos Aires. Examples of provinces that use the Traditional system include (besides the capital): Córdoba, Río Negro, and La Pampa.

Argentina's network of vocational schools, many under the auspices of the National Technological University (UTN), have historically given students viable alternatives, as well.

Approximately 25% of Argentinian children attend private schools. Of those, some 63% attend a private school managed by the Catholic Church, and the rest attend non-religious schools. Many private schools follow the European system or the American school system and a few follow the American school calendar (from September to June, with breaks at Christmas and Easter in addition to the long summer holiday) as well. The Ministry of Education designs the curriculum and standards that all schools in Argentina must meet in order to be accredited, so there are no great variations in core content taught in the public versus the private system. However, private schools are given leeway to add and adapt courses to fit their philosophy and framework, and private schools generally offer better facilities and smaller class sizes because of their fee-based nature. In fact, they can be very expensive. One of the most popular American-style schools located in Buenos Aires, called Lincoln, costs between $10,000 (Kindergarten) and $16,000 (high school) per year.

Information for 2008 from Ministry of Education and Guiding you Abroad

Post-secondary

Argentina maintains a network of national universities that are financed by the Ministerio de Educación de la Nación and therefore tuition-free, since 1946. Although students are not required to pay any kind of fee at these universities, hidden costs of education, like transportation and materials, are often neglected and a lack of a well-developed and widespread scholarship system forbids students from low-income families to enroll in public universities: for each eight students from the 20 % upper-income class, there is only one student from the 20 % lower-income class. In contrast, post-graduate education at all universities requires some form of funding and is generally not free. Additionally, financial pressure to freshman college students force them to join the work force before graduation, thus it is very common for young students to have full-time jobs and at the same time study at the University. This is considered beneficial because when the students graduate they already have working experience, though this could also be one of the causes of the high ratio of dropouts.

Private and parochial universities are also abundantly present, but their cost often reserves them only to more affluent students, and they enroll about a sixth of the collegiate student body. In all, over 1.5 million students attend institutions of higher learning in Argentina annually (roughly half the population of college age).

Adapted from Education in Argentina (on Wikipedia)

Higher Education

Argentine higher education system is based, since its conception during the colonial period, on the old and dogmatic Spanish higher education system, which is basically a Continental education system (opposed to the Anglo-Saxon Model). An historic point took place in the Latin American University Revolution that finally paved the way to the modernisation of the Argentinian higher university systems as it is known nowadays. Since its foundation, it was focused on the teaching of Professions offering Professional degrees. It is divided in three levels:

Tertiary Education level: 1- to 3-years degrees related to education or technical professions like Teachers, Professorship, Technicians.

University level: 4- to 6-years Professional education taught at Universities offering four different degrees Licentiate, Engineering degree, Medic Title, Attorney Title.

Post-graduate level: This is a specialized and research-oriented education level. It is roughly divided in a first sub-level where a Specialist degree or Master degree can be obtained and a higher sub-level where a Doctorate degree could be achieved.

Argentina maintains a network of 39 National universities, financed by the Ministry of Education since 1946. Private and parochial universities are also abundant, numbering 46 among the active institutions and they enroll about a sixth of the collegiate student body (see University reform in Argentina and List of Argentine universities). Summing up, over 1.5 million students attend institutions of higher learning in Argentina, annually (roughly half the population of college age).

Argentina does not have a standard and common system of examination after high school, thus admission to universities is strictly defined by each university. Moreover, a steady degradation in primary and secondary education created a huge difference between the required level to enter a university and the level achieved by the high school students. Some universities like University of Buenos Aires cope with this issue by creating a 1-year shared program called CBC that students need to complete in order to join the university. This acts like some sort of admittance course, equivalent to matriculation.

The doctoral fields of study in Argentina are generally research-oriented doctoral studies, leading mostly to the awarding of the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Science, Doctor of Medicine, and Doctor of Law, among others. Enrollment in doctorate programs in Argentina is available to candidates having earned a Licentiate, Professorships Engineer's degree or Master's degree in a related area of study.

Doctoral fields of study mostly pertain to one of five fields of knowledge: Applied Sciences, Basic Sciences, Health Sciences, Human Sciences and Social Sciences. The doctoral studies offered by the Argentine universities include multiple fields and do have national and international validity of the degrees granted.

Universities in Argentina

NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

UNIVERSIDAD DE BUENOS AIRES

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CATAMARCA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CHILECITO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CORDOBA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CUYO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE ENTRE RÍOS

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE FORMOSA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE GENERAL SAN MARTÍN

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE GENERAL SARMIENTO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE JUJUY

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA MATANZA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA PAMPA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA PATAGONIA AUSTRAL

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA PATAGONIA SAN JUAN BSCO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA PLATA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LA RIOJA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LANÚS

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LOMAS DE ZAMORA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE LUJÁN

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE MAR DEL PLATA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE MISIONES

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE QUILMES

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE RÍO CUARTO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE ROSARIO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SALTA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN JUAN

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SAN LUIS

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE TRES DE FEBRERO

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE TUCUMÁN

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE VILLA MARÍA

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL CENTRO DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL COMAHUE

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL LITORAL

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL NORDESTE

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL NOROESTE DE LA PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DEL SUR

UNIVERSIDAD TECNOLOGICA NACIONAL

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE RÍO NEGRO

UNIVERSIDAD NACiONAL DEL CHACO AUSTRAL

PROVINCIAL UNIVERSITIES

UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE ENTRE RÍOS

PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

UNIVERSIDAD CAECE

PONTIFICIA UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA ARGENTINA

UNIVERSIDAD ARGENTINA DE LA EMPRESA

UNIVERSIDAD ARGENTINA JOHN F. KENNEDY

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CORDOBA

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE CUYO

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE LA PLATA

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE SALTA

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE SANTA FE

UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA DE SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO

UNIVERSIDAD DE BELGRANO

UNIVERSIDAD DE CONCEPCION DEL URUGUAY

UNIVERSIDAD DE MENDOZA

UNIVERSIDAD DE MORON

UNIVERSIDAD DEL ACONCAGUA

UNIVERSIDAD DEL MUSEO SOCIAL ARGENTINO

UNIVERSIDAD DEL NORTE SANTO TOMAS DE AQUINO

UNIVERSIDAD DEL SALVADOR

UNIVERSIDAD DE LA MARINA MERCANTE

UNIVERSIDAD GASTON DACHARY

UNIVERSIDAD JUAN AGUSTIN MAZA

UNIVERSIDAD NOTARIAL ARGENTINA

UNIVERSIDAD ADVENTISTA DEL PLATA

UNIVERSIDAD AUSTRAL

UNIVERSIDAD CHAMPAGNAT

UNIVERSIDAD DE CIENCIAS EMPRESARIALES Y SOCIALES

UNIVERSIDAD DE PALERMO

UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN ANDRES

UNIVERSIDAD MAIMONIDES

UNIVERSIDAD BLAS PASCAL

UNIVERSIDAD TORCUATO DI TELLA

UNIVERSIDAD DE LA FRATERNIDAD DE AGRUP. SANTO TOMAS DE AQUINO

UNIVERSIDAD DE CENTRO EDUCATIVO LATINOAMERICANO

UNIVERSIDAD DEL CINE

UNIVERSIDAD ATLANTIDA ARGENTINA

UNIVERSIDAD DE FLORES

UNIVERSIDAD DE LA CUENCA DEL PLATA

UNIVERSIDAD DEL CONGRESO

UNIVERSIDAD EMPRESARIAL SIGLO 21

UNIVERSIDAD ABIERTA INTERAMERICANA

UNIVERSIDAD DEL CEMA

UNIVERSIDAD FAVALORO

UNIVERSIDAD DE SAN PABLO

UNIVERSIDAD ISALUD

STATE UNIVERSITY INSTITUTES

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE LA POLICIA FEDERAL ARGENTINA

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO AERONAUTICO

INSTITUTO DE ENSEÑANZA SUPERIOR DEL EJERCITO

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO NAVAL

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE SEGURIDAD MARÍTIMA

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE GENDARMERÍA NACIONAL

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO NACIONAL DEL ARTE

PRIVATE UNIVERSITY INSTITUTES

ESCUELA UNIVERSITARIA DE TEOLOGÍA

INSTITUTO TECNOLÓGICO DE BUENOS AIRES

INST. UNIVERSITARIO DE CIENCIAS DE LA SALUD FUNDACION H.A BARCELO

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO CEMIC

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO "ESCUELA SUP. DE ECONOMIA Y ADMINIS. DE EMPRESAS (ESEADE)

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO "ESCUELA DE MEDICINA DE HOSPITAL ITALIANO

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO ITALIANO DE ROSARIO

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO EVANGELICO - ISEDET

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO ESCUELA ARGENTINA DE NEGOCIOS

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO - IDEA

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE SALUD MENTAL DE LA ASOCIACIÓN PSICOANALITICA DE BUENOS AIRES

INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DEL GRAN ROSARIO

FOREIGN UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSIDAD DE BOLOGNA

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

(FLACSO) FACULTAD LATINOAMERICANA DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES

Sourced from: http://www.me.gov.ar (Spanish) (also in PDF)

[edit] Polytechnics in Argentina

[edit] Colleges in Argentina

There are 2129 'Superior no universitaria' (non-university colleges) providing tertiary education:

572 providing teacher training only

850 providing vocational training only

639 providing both teacher training and vocational training

68 providing general tertiary education

[edit] Education reform

[edit] Schools

In December 2006 the Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Congress approved a new National Education Law restoring the old system of primary followed by secondary education, making secondary education obligatory and a right, and increasing the length of compulsory education to 13 years. The government vowed to put the law in effect gradually, starting in 2007.

[edit] Post-secondary

The Argentine university reform of 1918 was a general modernisation of the universities, especially tending towards democratisation, brought about by student activism about the topics The demands of the students can be summarized in four or five main topics: university autonomy, co-government, scientific modernisation, tuition and secular education. The events started in Córdoba and spread to the rest of Argentina, and then through much of Latin America.

Sourced from Wikipedia's page on University reform in Argentina.

[edit] Administration and finance

The State, the provinces and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires are responsible for planning, organizing, supervising and financing the national education system, ensuring access to education at all levels and modalities, creating and managing state-run educational establishments. In turn, the national state creates and funds the National Universities. [edit]

e-learning

For a description more focussed to e-learning see Argentina.

EDUTIC: "Our Chamber brings together organizations working in distance education and virtual training outside the country. The e-learning companies, consulting firms and organizations working with virtual training and educational institutions wishing to join can contact us directly to participate in EDUTIC. Additionally, we have a series of workspaces and access to information and events for all professionals in the area interested in participating." http://www.edutic.org.ar/ (Spanish)

Fedra: an institution which is conceived, born and developed in order to serve the Ongoing Formation of professionals and workers, taking into account the implementation of high impact educational methodologies. This seeks to adapt the use of different technologies to produce materials that allow users to meet labor market needs and professional. Began its activities on 7 June 1993 and comes from the awareness of educational and cultural reality in crisis, this phenomenon is observed in Argentina and throughout America. http://www.fedra.org.ar/ (Spanish)

ARIU: in summary the ARIU objectives are: to provide connectivity services to national and international partner universities, promoting the integration of information technology in higher education through dissemination and training, promote the development of collaborative projects between the universities for the use of information technologies, to develop services related to information technologies that enhance the activities of the university system; generate resources that facilitate the financing of the RIU (Red de Interconexión Universitaria, University Interconnection Network) taking advantage of the university system. http://www.riu.edu.ar/index.html (Spanish)

ORT Campus Virtual

This offers virtual education at all levels from secundaria ciclo básico to higher education.

DiNIECE

The Ministry of Education department for quality assurance operates a Virtual Campus for internal training in evaluating educational policy, training education managers and teachers and facilitating public access to information. Its stated aims are improving quality and equity. Its general purpose is training and updating in the analysis of qualitative and quantitative information from the education sector, with the aim of establishing a relationship between the different areas and teams are responsible for the survey of information and dealing with HR management in the state sector.

Its specific objectives are:

Promoting the exchange of knowledge and educational experiences.

Facilitating the acquisition of knowledge and skills required for analysis of various information resources in the area of ​​public policy management.

Contributing to the formation and transfer of knowledge, methodologies and tools to provincial centres.

Strengthening the Federal Network of Educational Information.

Quality procedures

Dirección Nacional de Información y Evaluación de la Calidad Educativa] DiNIECE) is a department of the Ministry, responsible for quality assurance across all non-university sectors of education.

Post-secondary

Academic regulations governing doctorates, and their corresponding fields, in Argentina prescribe that all graduate courses must be accredited by the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation. This entity stands as a public and decentralized body working under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education, Science and Technology. It administers the process of evaluation and accreditation for all doctorate programs, and is responsible for the institutional evaluation of all such programs at a national level. Graduate programs, including the Doctorados (PhDs), set standards per guidelines set forth by the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with the Universities Council.

Additionally, external evaluations of the doctoral programs are carried out by the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation, or private entities created to that effect, together with the participation of academic peers. Argentine institutions of higher education provide further accreditation by international establishments to many of their courses of studies.

Under the ministry, the Dirección Nacional de Gestión Universitaria (National Bureau of University Management) is responsible for the following actions:

- Coordinate the process of creation, modification and deletion of Private Universities Academic units or less, and the licensing procedures and curriculum in connection with the CONEAU which is the Comisión Nacional de Evaluación y Acreditación Universitaria (National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation)).

- Understanding the regulation, monitoring and control of the processes of creation, modification and deletion of Private Universities Academic Units or less and in processing the update curricula in connection with the CONEAU.

- Provide technical assistance in their areas of responsibility to the institutions that require it.

- Develop proposals for minimum hourly charges, core curriculum and standards of professional practice intensity in the careers concerned.

- Propose criteria for national validity of academic degrees and titles and understood in its application.

- To perform the duties attached to the Technical Secretariat of the Council of Universities.

Its national director is Mr. Jorge STEIM.

The ministry's web site is at http://www.me.gov.ar/spu/dngu/ (Official web site, Spanish) [edit]

Internet in Argentina

Internet in Education

Virtual initiatives in schools

El Surco. La Escuela Virtual Primary, secondary and adults - Mendoza Argentina.

OLPC Argentina

OLPC reports that there are 60,000 XO laptops in Argentina (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Argentina) See also the blog posting at http://blog.laptop.org/2010/08/05/argentina-embraces-olpc-supports-bolivia/

Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education

The ColegioVirtual.org directory gives a full list of online courses and virtual campuses for higher education and professional training in the Buenos Aires area.

Universidad Virtual de Quilmes (Virtual University of Quilmes):

The Quilmes Virtual University Program (Program UVQ) is the Internet's educational proposal of the National University of Quilmes. This is a non-face education initiative that uses integrated software system (Virtual Campus) as the means and environment for the implementation of its proposals for undergraduate and postgraduate training.

The first virtual classroom was opened in March 1999, being the pioneer Argentina UNQ university in pursuing these projects. Relevant information: http://www.unq.edu.ar/layout/redirect.jsp?idSection=1025 (Spanish)

References

Reports

The key report is File:OER in Argentina Edition 2.pdf by Iris Velazquez, May 2014 (63 pages).

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