And he adds: “The opportunities are even greater in the educational system, where the smaller number of children will free up resources (human and material) that can result in a rapid improvement of quality and results of our educational system“, it states Rafael Rofmanco-author of the document and principal investigator at CIPPEC.
According to the report, if we take as a reference the number of people born between 2006 and 2022, enrollment in the education level primary will fall by around 28% in the coming years. If we look at a shorter period, between 2014 and 2022, the drop in enrollment is close to 31.4%.
Graph 3. Percentage change in live births between 2014 and 2022, by province..png
How the low birth rate is reflected in the educational quality of the Province of Mendoza
In June 2023, the aforementioned observatory had revealed that in Argentina 24 thousand classrooms are needed – rooms for 4 and 5 years old – so that all the boys and girls in the country can go to school. However, the situation in Mendoza It is different. The DGE specified at that time that, in the province, “There are enough charges to cover all the demand regarding registrations: 48,000 in public kindergartens, plus another 14,000 in private kindergartens. In addition, there is operational capacity for nearly 30,000 students per cohort and the birth rate is declining.”
In dialogue with Andean Sitethe Director of Early Childhood Education of the DGE, Adriana Rubio, confirmed that in Mendoza the birth rate has progressively decreased and that this has an impact on enrollment, which has been noticed mainly at the initial level. However, this panorama has its plus point.
In May of this year, the provincial government announced the expansion of the educational service at the initial level with the opening of 63 rooms of 3 in gardens dispersed throughout the Mendoza territory, to which is added the formation of multiple classrooms, with 3, 4 and 5 year old students.
The measure is attributed to the fact that there was a substantial drop in enrollment in rooms 4 and 5, which allowed the “refunctionalization” of educational spaces, resources and teaching staff.
“I think this is positive and we can look at it favorably in the province.. We can take advantage of these resources, recapitalize them and put them into operation,” Rubio said. He also highlighted that the DGE works together with the Early Childhood Education Centers (CEPI) and the Cabinet Office to obtain data on schools that are unoccupied and “think of strategies to respond to all children in the province” and ensure that they have access to the educational system.
On the other hand, in the face of what could be a scenario of job uncertainty for teaching staff, Rubio stressed that they will also try to ensure that everyone remains in their positions.No teacher will be left without a position. There will be those who can act as companions for other teachers.”
Just as the report shows that the situation is not homogeneous in the country, Rubio highlights that this model is replicated in Mendoza. “There are departments with higher enrollment. For example in Guaymallén, Las Heras or Lavalle there are a greater number of children” in schools. This, he said, is due to various reasons but one of the main ones is that parents seek to enroll their children in institutions close to their workplace.
Likewise, Rubio attributes the decline in low birth rate to a “change in society” and to family planning. According to the Argentinos por la Educación report, the greatest decreases in birth rates are observed in adolescent women and young people under 25 years of age, where the drop is from 40% to 60%. “Today many young people are looking for another goal in their lives. There are many women who choose to have only one child and stay there because They want him to have a better educational path“he concluded.
