The enactment of the first public education law in 1827 gave Uruguay an early beginning in the eventual establishment of one of the best educational systems in Latin America, based to a large extent on Spanish and French patterns. Education is free from kindergarten through university to nationals and foreigners alike, in all schools. Unlike many other Latin countries, textbooks and materials are supplied free by the state up through the secondary, and additional aid is available for needy students.
Secondary school education is more organized than in most Latin American countries, providing a four-year general course leading to a certificate, followed by a two-year preparatory program for University bound students. Upon completion of the full six-year program, students receive the bachillerato or secondary school diploma.
Although Uruguay has not had a problem with numbers of students enrolled in the various levels, it has been plagued with the “lagging” of students through the primary, secondary and university cycles. For a variety of reasons, students take longer than the prescribed time to complete the three cycles, which causes an age-grade problem for teachers who must teach classes with a wider range of abilities. In addition, the “lagging process” has been a costly one, with students holding places in the schools while others are waiting for vacancies.
Perhaps some of this can be attributed to the lack of articulation between the various levels in the system. It seems that Petit Munoz is alluding to this fact in his study of the long-term straggle for autonomy for secondary education in this highly developed country. The author makes the point at the onset that he did not pretend to treat the problem from a truly pedagogical or legal point of view, but to draw from both disciplines to trace the straggle for more academic freedom during the evaluation of the secondary education system. He seems to feel that possibly more freedom might have been forthcoming in the early and middle development periods than has been evidenced in recent years.
Although the study is rather difficult to follow, with all too frequent introductions of laws relative to legal changes and names of important personalities responsible, it is well written and extremely well researched and documented. From a political point of view rather than pedagogical, it should be of great value to interested followers of educational developments in Latin America. The study points out most dramatically how educational development lags when political decisions and commitments are not met.
