Between expansion and segmentation: revisiting old and new disparities in secondary education in Latin America

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the expansion of secondary education and policies for education inclusion in Latin America. Empirical evidence is drawn from a case study in six of the region’s countries – Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, and Uruguay – including an analysis of current regulations and interviews with civil servants and students. The aim is to show the tension between the significant efforts made to expand and transform the offer towards a more inclusive secondary school and the persistence of social and educational segmentation processes. The argument revolves around the tension between extension and diversification that lies at the basis of secondary education expansion in the region. In this sense, this chapter also considers the pandemic context and alterations to the forms of schooling within that scenario. This article uses classical concepts in the study of secondary education and articulates them with more recent notions that provide a better understanding of schooling development together with the creation of educational inequalities.