1. EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA: POVERTY, CHILD LABOR, INDIGENOUS GROUPS
AND ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Beverly Samayoa
Bcs42@pitt.edu
University of Pittsburgh
Latin American Social and Public Policy Term Paper
20 November 2014

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ABSTRACT
In recent years, the focus for education reform has shifted away from primary education.
Accessibility is a key problem facing the population due to several factors such as the division
between the indigenous and non-indigenous, child labor, and family income levels. The main
problem that stems from low-income levels is high dropout rates in both levels. The dropout
rates are mainly attributed to child labor. Many families may not feel stable enough to not have
their children work once they complete the compulsory primary level of education. Access to
basic education is as important as improving the quality of education in this region. In order to
reach universal access to education, all of society must have the means of attaining one. The
purpose of this paper is to analyze the challenges facing access to education in Latin America
and to assess which policies have and have not worked. In this paper I am analyzing Chile,
Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador based on the challenges they face, their progression
towards the completion of the Millennium Development Goal, and policies implemented to
address the problems. The Glonacal Model is used for policy analysis at the global, national,
regional, and local levels. Another element that will be used in comparing policies within the
analyzed countries will be the MDGs, which were implemented by the United Nations, with a
target goal date of 2015. The second goal was specifically created for the attainment of universal
primary education. The matrix I created analyzes these countries based on child labor and drop
out percentages; percentage of children enrolled in and completing primary and secondary
schooling; completion rates in different strata and regions; and policies aimed at child labor
prevention, families with low income, and accessibility for indigenous children.
Keywords: Access, Millennium Development Goals, Secondary Education, indigenous, child
labor

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INTRODUCTION
Education in Latin America has been a pressing issue for some time. It is so important
that the United Nations chose to address this issue in the international agenda through the
Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The MDG focuses on Primary Education, but as of
recently the focus has shifted from primary to secondary education, encompassing basic
education as a whole. As defined by the International Standard Classification of Education
(ISCED), the levels of education are as follows: primary education is for school aged children
typically in grades 1 through 5 or 6 and secondary education generally encompasses grades 6
through 12. Primary education is the base building block for a strong education later on and for a
stable life once children mature. In several Latin American countries, the completion of
secondary schooling is necessary in order to obtain a well-paying job in the formal sector, rather
than continuing work in the informal sectors. Now that the region has almost reached a 100
percent enrollment rate in primary education, as was the MDG goal, the focus has shifted to
improving access to secondary education. Primary education is compulsory in every Latin
American countries, but yet very few have taken the initiative to include the first let alone both
levels of secondary education in the compulsory mandate. There are still several problems in
terms of education the region, with two of the most important being access to and quality of
schooling.
Education is an important factor in all aspects of life, especially in Latin America. Not
only does it help the population become more developed, but in the long run it can help
individuals overcome inequalities and being more integrated with politics and society as a whole.

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In Latin America, indigenous populations have been linked with poverty, and it has stayed
constant for quite some time (Department of Public Information 2010).
There are several factors affecting children’s access to education, which ultimately hinder
their completion of secondary and even primary education at times. The pressing issues affecting
access are violence, gender disparities, school locations, and low-income levels. The lack of
secondary education for children impedes their development and ability to be able to succeed
later in life. In many Latin American countries, a completion of both upper and lower secondary
school levels is required in order to be able to obtain a decent occupation. The jobs that can be
obtained after having completed a full course of secondary education are in the formal sector and
help cycle money through the social pension system and add to social security, unlike their
informal counterparts.
Low-income families face several challenges, such as inability to pay for school supplies,
incapability to provide food for the family, and in many cases these families are single-parent
homes with an absent father. When children, specifically males, reach the working age, the
families see them as another means of income, thus removing them from school and making
them work jobs in the informal sector, including but not limited to agriculture and mining.
Income inequality usually leads to higher levels of violence because families living in poorer
neighborhoods are surrounded by people affected by similar, if not worse, situations. A solution
for this problem is a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, where the beneficiaries are paid
based on their children’s education level (IADB n.d.). This program is crucial in encouraging
parents to keep their children enrolled in school, especially for low-income households who need
their children out of school in order to work.

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Child labor in Latin America has declined in recent years, but it is still an important issue
that needs to be addressed. Child labor as defined by the International Labor Organization is
“work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is
harmful to physical and mental development” and also includes work that deprives children the
opportunity to attend school (ILO n.d.). This phenomenon stems from economic and social
pressure not only within families, but countries as well (University of Pennsylvania 2014). It
encompasses different types of labor in three different sectors: agriculture, industry, and services
(Department of Labor 2013).
Both child labor and low-income levels lead to lower amounts of continuity in to
secondary school, and high drop out rates in both the lower and upper levels of secondary school.
According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), every time a
student drops out of school, they are forfeiting around 14 percent of per capita Gross Domestic
Product for every working year of their life (UNICEF 2008). Poverty and child labor are linked
hand-in-hand because family income levels directly impact whether or not children will begin
working at an earlier age.
Accessibility to education for indigenous children is becoming a bigger problem because
of the cultural divide. Children from indigenous backgrounds and communities are the most
marginalized group when it comes to education. There are three problems that can be attributed
to inequalities in education for the indigenous sector: language, poverty, and location. Aside
from these three major problems, indigenous children are the subject of bullying, harassment,
and discrimination in the school setting. Language is an enormous barrier when it comes to
education. Currently, there are policies in place that are aimed at overcoming the language
barrier by teaching classes in the indigenous language, which are found in countries where the

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indigenous people make up a large percentage of the population, such as in Bolivia and
Guatemala. This is a great attempt at overcoming said barrier, but a problem stems from this:
parents want their children to learn in the language in which normal schools are taught. This is
because learning the indigenous language will not help the child succeed later on. If the language
barrier problem is not addressed properly earlier in the development stages of childhood, it will
become increasingly difficult for the child to learn the main language later on in life when it is
most crucial. By not attempting to teach bilingually or even just teach indigenous children in
their native language, the government is denying the children their right to education. In several
countries the lack of policies aimed at the language barrier has excluded this marginalized group
from completing upper level primary and secondary education in certain cases (UNESCO, Lopez
2009).
POLICY MODEL
The glonacal model is used for the analysis of policy implementation of a region
(Marginson and Rhoades 2002). It is made up of the global, national, and regional components
which all play separate roles in homogenizing and diffusing policies through different levels of
society. Sometimes international mandates are not taken seriously and implementation at the
regional and national levels can have poor results and still not benefit marginalized people, such
as those living in poverty and indigenous communities (Department of Public Information 2010).
At the global level, there are two noteworthy actors that play an important role in the
development and homogenization of policies in Latin America: The United Nations, through
their MDGs and the World Bank, through funding projects. The MDGs were created by the
United Nations in 2000 in order to address the globally prevailing issues such as extreme

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poverty, gender inequalities, and hunger among many others. There are eight goals with the
intention of having all the highlighted issues addressed if not eradicated by the target date of
2015. Since education is seen as fundamental for human development, the second goal in the
agenda is to “Achieve Universal Primary Education”. The two indicators for access to education
are net enrollment in primary school and the survival rate from grade 1 to grade 5. The region as
a whole has nearly reached 100 percent in access to primary education, so the focus of this paper
will be shifted to secondary education and these same indicators will be applied. The only
difference that should be noted is the survival rate years—instead of grade 1 to grade 5, the
analysis will focus on the survival rate from the beginning of lower level secondary school to the
end of upper level secondary school.
The World Bank lends money and gives grants to countries to aid in the development of
projects that will help reduce poverty. Their goals are ending extreme poverty and helping
stimulate income growth for the bottom 40% of the populations of countries around the world.
One of the ways they are approaching these problems is through promoting education for all and
increasing the accessibility of education for children through funding different projects.
At the regional and national levels, agencies like Inter-American Development Bank
(IADB), the Vidanta Foundation in Mexico, the Foundation for Education in the Bilingual and
Multicultural Contexts (Fundación para la Educación en Contextos de Multilingüismo y
Pluriculturalidad, FUNPROEIB), Pachamama Foundation (Fundación Pachamama), Nor Sud
Intercultural Foundation (Fundación Intercultural Nor Sud), and Regional Education Project for
Latin America and the Caribbean (PRELAC) have all contributed towards establishing goals and
creating programs that work on social inequalities. PRELAC in particular has worked through
the Education for All (EFA) initiative which works towards completing not only the MDG, but

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also targeting the problem areas that affect access to education. It worked with the governments
within each country to establish action plans and increase investment in education as a whole
(UNESCO 2007). It also places an emphasis on making sure that citizens are participating in the
creation and implementation of these policies. Certain groups created both within the region and
individual countries have different focuses and also work with citizens to develop programs. For
example, FUNPROEIB in the Andes region of Bolivia was created to give the indigenous people
a voice since they have historically been underrepresented (FUNPROEIB 2014).
Table 1. Programs by Country
Country Year Policy
Bolivia
2010 Avelino Siñani Education Act
Article 13
1994 Education Reform Act Law No. 1565
Articles 31, 46
2006 Telecentros Educativos Comunitarios (TEC)
Ecuador
1983 Education Law No. 127
Article 2 section h, 21,
2003 Código de la Niñez y Adolescencia. Ley No. 100
Articles 6, 7,
2000 Betterment of Quality in Single-Teacher Schools
1999 School Alimentation Program (Programa de Alimentación Escolar,
PAE)
2007 Free Textbooks (Textos Escolares Gratuitos)
Guatemala
1991 National Education Law. No. 12
Articles 2, 21, 78, 79
Mexico
2006 General Law of Education.
Articles 2, 4, 6, 13, 23, 32
1997 Oportunidades (CCT)
2001 Program for Academic Transformation and Strengthening of Normal
Schools in Mexico (Programa para la Transformación y el
Fortalecimiento Académico de las Escuelas Normales de México)
Table createdby author. Data source:
SOCIAL INCLUSION AND FAMILY AID POLICY ANALYSIS: BOLIVIA, ECUADOR,
GUATEMALA AND MEXICO
The countries compared are Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador. These countries
were chosen because they differed in their enrollment and completion rates for secondary

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education, types of policies implemented to address the problems, and similarities in policy
types. The intensity of these vary from country to country, with Mexico generally having
excellent enrollment and completion rates, and Guatemala and Ecuador experiencing the
opposite. All projects mentioned were funded by the World Bank while laws, decrees, and social
programs were created by each nation’s respective government. In the following analyses, the
stipends for the CCTs are represented with the United States currency for uniformity. At the end
of the policy analyses, I plan to answer one question based on the data available for each
country: What types of policies should be implemented in order to better address the societal
inequalities hindering children from completing their education?
Bolivia
Indigenous and Poverty-stricken Inclusion Policies
Around 67% of Bolivia’s entire population lives below the national poverty level, and
94% of those living in poverty are concentrated in rural areas. Of that number, 88% are of
indigenous background (Encyclopedia of the Nations n.d.). Bolivia’s indigenous population is
the highest of all in Latin America, accounting for 62% of its entire population. Poverty is a
major problem in this country, hindering children from being able to take advantage of
educational opportunities.
Bolivia completed the “Secondary Education Project” in 2007, which was funded by the
World Bank. This project was aimed at increasing access to secondary education, encompassing
grades 9 through 12 as well. There were two parts to this project, but the focus on students was
seen more in the second project. Because of its funding, Bolivia was able to create 19,600
schools throughout its country, thus successfully addressing the accessibility issue in isolated

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rural regions. Through this program, children in isolated areas, especially those coming from
marginalized groups, were offered a secondary education.
In addition to working with the World Bank for project developments, the Foundation for
Sustainable Development (FSD) has worked with several organizations within the nation that are
meant to improve children’s education and development. A very important program created in
1972 is the Center for Rural Promotion “Jesus Maria” (Centro de Promoción Rural “Jesús
Maria”, CEPRUJEM). It has a central focus on education as well as health promotion in the rural
regions. CEPRUJEM was created because schools in these rural regions only provided children
with education up to grade 5. This program has created four schools throughout the high valley
in the Cochabamba province that offer both primary and secondary education. These schools also
offer room and board in order to help students that live far away (such as those living in isolated
areas) so they have the opportunity to continue their education regardless of proximity to school.
Aside from room and board, these schools also offer three meals and two snacks daily. This
helps students coming from poor households who do not usually have the opportunity to eat.
Conditional Cash Transfers
The program Bono Juancito Pinto was Bolivia’s first nationwide CCT program
implemented in 2006. It is aimed towards children enrolled in public schools who would then be
eligible for an annual $25. In order to be eligible, school administrators must prove that the child
has a 75% attendance rate throughout the school year. This program is similar to Ecuador’s in
the sense that it is universal, although families in the upper quintiles that are still living in
poverty are eligible in this case. I believe the fact that Bolivia’s CCT is open to the entire nation
reduces the possibility of discrimination against those families that find themselves moving back

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and forth between living comfortably and not having enough resources to provide for the entire
family.
Child Labor Policies
Child labor is surprisingly a big problem in Bolivia, with 20.2% of the school-age
population working and 18.7% of these children attending school while working. According to
article 26 of the Child and Adolescent Code of 1999, the legal minimum age for work in Bolivia
is 14, but earlier in 2014 the legal working age was moved down to 10 years of age. The
International Labor Organization of the United Nations states that the absolute minimum age a
child is allowed to begin work is 14. The reason behind this drastic change was the extreme
levels of poverty in Bolivia, where some families in rural regions are living on only 0.60 cents
daily.
There have been several programs aside from CCTs that are aimed at eradicating, or at
least bettering the conditions of, child labor. The “ÑPK: Combating Indigenous Child Labor in
Bolivia” program was developed in 2010 and set to end after a four year period. It works towards
bettering educational opportunities and the livelihood of people living in rural areas in order to
discourage families from putting their children in child labor. It functions alongside the Ministry
of Education so as to expand the “Leveling Program” which helps children who are behind to
catch up through an accelerated learning program (Department of Labor 2013).
A four year plan called “Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Horizontal
Cooperation in South America” was implemented in 2009 and ended in 2013. It was developed
to work against the worst forms of child labor and ultimately ended up preventing 5,478 and
withdrawing 3,047 children from working in less than desirable conditions (Department of Labor

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2013). The initiative targeted children in discriminated groups, such as children of indigenous
and afro-descent.
Ecuador
Indigenous and Poverty-stricken Inclusion Policies
According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), poverty
affects 86.1% of the indigenous population in Ecuador, contrasting the 54.6 and 45.9 percentages
of the mestizo and white populations living under similar conditions (IWGIA 2014). The
indigenous people accounts for 25% of Ecuador’s total population.
Two major programs that specifically help the poverty-stricken marginalized populations
are the following: Programa de Alimentación Escolar (PAE) and Textos Escolares Gratuitos.
These two policies are aimed at relieving those living in extreme poverty from having to pay for
textbooks and food for the children throughout the school year. The PAE focuses on serving all
children enrolled in the first cycle (Primary School) breakfast and lunch every day for the 200
school days. This policy’s aim is to reduce the gap in universal access to education by providing
children with the necessary nutrition to be able to focus sufficiently and relieve their parents
from worrying about how to feed the children (Ecuador Ministry of Education, 2013). The
Textos Escolares Gratuitos Program also lifts a financial burden off the shoulders of parents who
are incapable of providing their children with the necessary school supplies. This program
provides both schools and students with free textbooks in order to lessen the financial burden
resulting from having to buy supplies. Since the CCT only grants a limited amount per
household, it may seem more beneficial to buy food for the family with that money rather than
put it towards all the books a child may need. This program will not only help parent with

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financial burdens, but will also help children get the most out of their education. Another project
was “Inclusion and Quality Education” which lasted from 2006 to 2010. Its main purpose was to
contribute to the completion of the MDG of universal primary education completion. As a whole,
the project focused more on managerial and teacher-based policies, but placed some emphasis on
increasing coverage at the basic education level in most disadvantaged areas (World Bank n.d.).
Conditional Cash Transfers
Ecuador’s CCT program, Bono de Desarrollo Humano, was developed in 2003 and
currently covers 100% of the nation’s poor population, regardless of the income quintile they are
in. Specifically, the program strives to help those families with children between the ages of 0
and 16 who find themselves in the 2 poorest quintiles. Although it does not seem like much, the
CCT grants $15 per household. The conditions to receive the stipend are that children between
the ages of 6 and 15 must be enrolled in school with a 90% attendance. Although it encompasses
the entirety of the population living in poverty, the amount granted simply is not enough for
parents to keep all their children in school up to the end of secondary school. There is still a high
likelihood of boys being removed from school by their parents in order to begin working.
Child Labor Policies
Aside from Bolivia, the “Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor through Horizontal
Cooperation in South America” initiative was also implemented in Ecuador. The “2005-2013
National Plan for the Progressive Elimination of Child Labor” is the main policy instrument for
combating child labor, as stated by the Department of Labor (Department of Labor 2013).
Different levels of agencies within the state are responsible for the coordination of the policy:

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government, private sectors, and civil society. The problem with this program is that aside from
not doing anything about children being out of school, there is little to no aid to the child and
their family after being fired (Human Rights Watch, 2014). There are some CCT-like programs
in place that aid children that have recently been fired, but they are either functioning at maximal
capacity, or do not have the financial means to help more children. A very important policy is
“Ecuador Without Child Labor” which focuses efforts on the complete eradication of child labor.
One way it works towards this goal is by increasing assistance to families in need, and has
helped up to 41,000 children (Department of Labor 2013). “Agenda for the Equality of Children
and Adolescents in Ecuador” was an action plan created by the government, which created an
program to get rid of child labor completely and diminish the amounts of poverty and social
inequality present in the country. It outlined strategies that were to be used throughout the
duration of its implementation, 2012 to 2013 (Department of Labor 2014). One of the goals
outlined in the action plan was to have a separate instructor in each province, in order to make
sure that there were no children working under the table in the more isolated regions and work
sectors.
Guatemala
Indigenous and Poverty-stricken Inclusion Policies
The indigenous people in Guatemala make up 60% of the country’s population (IWGIA
2014). The poverty rate for indigenous people in Guatemala is 2.8 times higher than the rest of
the Latin American region. Opposed to 35% of the country’s non-indigenous population living in
poverty and 8% in extreme poverty, 73% of the indigenous population are living in poverty and
26% in extreme poverty (IWGIA 2014). Guatemala’s “School Assistance” was created by the

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Ministry of Education and aims to provide children with school supplies, transportation to and
from school, and daily meals. Aside from placing an emphasis on the financial and nutritional
needs of children, its other main focus is on child labor (Department of Labor 2014). “Zero
Hunger Pact” (Pacto Hambre Cero) is a government program implemented to reduce the
economic vulnerability of over 700 thousand families and alleviates them of financial burdens
pertaining to school and nutrition(Department of Labor 2014).
Conditional Cash Transfers
Guatemala has two CCT programs in place: “Mi Familia Progresa” and “Mi Bono
Seguro”. The target population for “Mi Familia Progesa” are families living in extreme poverty
within one of the 130 most vulnerable municipalities. In order to receive benefits for education,
the family must have a minor between the ages of 0 and 15. The benefits received for school
attendance is a set amount of $20 monthly regardless of the number of children present in the
household. The condition for receiving the stipend is at least a 90 percent attendance rate in
school. The benefits from this CCT may be problematic, especially for those families living in
extremely poor conditions. If there are four children in a household, they will still only receive
$20 and the family will still find itself trying to make ends meet. A different CCT “Mi Bono
Seguro” is led by the Ministry of Social Development and is aimed towards families living in
extreme poverty (CEPAL 2012). The household must have children between 0 to 16 years of
age. The school bonus is granted for having children between the ages of 6 and 15 attending
school. Each household is granted 350 Quetzales (equivelant to around $45). Guatemala also has
a program like a CCT, except with food assistance called “Mi Bolsa Segura”.

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Child Labor Policies
The percentage of children in the child work force is 13.4% and of these children, 9.6% are
simultaneously attending school and working. “Roadmap toward the Elimination of Child Labor
in Guatemala” is directed towards eradicating the worst forms of child labor in Guatemala by the
year of 2015 (Department of Labor 2014). It works towards this goal by integrating children in to
education and anti-poverty programs that are designed toward keeping them from going back in
to the work force. Aside from this effort, Guatemala has also increased the number of inspectors
that check workplaces for child labor, and in 2013 they government was able to 346 children.
Mexico
Indigenous and Poverty-stricken Inclusion Policies
Mexico’s indigenous population constitutes 13% of the net national population, and as whole
constitute for the majority of the 62 separate languages and dialects spoken within the country
(Minority Rights 2005). The vast number of languages creates obstacles for children coming
from different indigenous backgrounds. The development of a bilingual and multicultural
curriculum would have to incorporate at least a simple majority of these languages. The “Basic
Education Development Project” was funded by the World Bank had two focuses: to provide
teaching material to schools and to include marginalized and indigenous children in their pilot
programs (World Bank 2014). The project was developed from 1998 to 2007 in three different
phases, each having a different emphasis Mexico has taken several initiatives in its attempt to
dealing with the indigenous learning barriers present. Some of its most successful projects
include introducing Maya as an L2 (second language) language in public schools and the “Basic
Education Development Project”.

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Conditional Cash Transfers
The Oportunidades CCT program in Mexico had a positive effect on the retention rate of
children in schools as well as the decline of 40% of children in the work force, specifically 8%
less boys between the ages of 12 and 15 that are working (World Bank 2013). This program is
targeted towards helping extremely poor households living in the lowest 35% of the country’s
population. The benefits families receive depend on which level of schooling the children are in.
For primary school they receive between 12 to 23 dollars monthly per child, depending on the
specific grade the child is in and regardless of their gender. Beginning in grade 7, female
students receive a higher amount (Behrman 2005). The reason behind this was to help work
towards reducing the gender gap that existed prior to the development of the CCT program,
especially in the more rural areas. Yearly, the household receives $23 per child to be put towards
school supplies. Once children are in the lower secondary school level, the household receives
between 34 to 43 dollars per child depending on their grade. The yearly compensation for school
supplies is increased to $29 per student. Upon commencing the upper level of secondary school,
the stipend is increased to reward between 57 to 74 dollars monthly per child, while the amount
granted for school supplies remains the same. Something remarkable about this program is the
reward to children who complete their education. Upon graduating from grade 12, $336 is
deposited in a savings account. This type of program is a great initiative that encourages children
to not only complete their secondary education, but to move on to higher education as well.
According to the World Bank, “The conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades also
contributed to create incentives for parents to keep their children in school. There are 8% less
boys between 12 and 15 years old that work thanks to the program” (World Bank 2013).

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Child Labor Policies
The Federal Labor Law of Mexico states that children under the age of 14 may not work
in any type of hazardous labor, which encompasses the entirety of the informal sector. Children
between the ages of 14 and 16 must have had completed secondary school before applying for a
job, but the problem with this is that children can still work under the table even before the
indicated age. Currently, over 870.000 children under the age of 13 are working (World Bank
2013), while the minimum age to legally work is 14. As of 2013, 40% less children between the
ages of 12 and 14 are working, specifically boys worked 3% less in the agricultural sectors
(World Bank 2013), which is considered one of the “worst child labor sectors”.

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Table 2. Challenges and Policies in Guatemala, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Mexico
Createdby author. Data sources: Machinea, José Luis. 2005. “The Millennium Development Goals: A LatinAmericanandCaribbean Perspective.” Educationas a Pillar of HumanDevelopment.
Comisión Económica Para America Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). Accessed9 December2014. http://www.cepal.org/en/publications/millennium-development-goals-latin-american-and-
caribbean-perspective ; ComisiónEconomica Para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). “Conditional Cash TransferProgrammes.” http://dds.cepal.org/bdptc/en/program/?id=56
“—“ indicates data is unavailable.
*Percentage
**Basedon UnitedNations,Gender Parity Index is the ratioof girls toboys in different levels of schooling. A value ofless thanone signifies lower enrollment rates forgirls thanboys, where as values
greater than one signifythe opposite.Particularly in this case,I am usingthe primaryandsecondarylevels, withthe most recent data up to 2010fromunstats.un.org
GUATEMALA BOLIVIA ECUADOR MEXICO
Challenges
Incompletion Based
on Ethnicity*
Indigenous
53.3% 37.6% 18% --%
Non-
indigenous
32.2% 11.1% 7.6% --%
Low Family Socio-Economic Level
(Children with incomplete Primary
Education coming from families
with low income levels)*
63.7% 38.9% 15.3% 16.1%
Child Labor* (Ages 7 to 14) 13.4% 20.2% 2.7% 12.5%
Millennium
Development
Goal
Completion
Rate *
Children enrolled in Primary School 88% 88% 97.3% 99%
Children that have completed their
Primary Education
65% 69% 65% 93%
Children enrolled in Secondary
Education
37.5% 70.9% 55.4% 68.6%
Policies
Conditional Cash Transfers
Mi Familia Progresa
(2008)
Bono Juancito Pinto
(2006)
Bono de Desarrollo
Humano (2003)
Oportunidades (1997)
Indigenous Accessibility
Funding via Ministry
of Education
CEPRUJEM Purepecha
Child Labor Policies

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COUNTRY ANALYSES AND COMPARISONS
Of the five countries chosen for analysis, Mexico, Bolivia and Guatemala have the
highest percentage of indigenous people making up the total regional indigenous population.
(UNESCO Lopez 2009). Bolivia has the highest gross national indigenous population of these
five populations, with a percentage of 66.2, and Guatemala being the second highest regionally
with 39.9 percent. It is clear to see that the need for fitting policies are urgently needed in
Guatemala and Bolivia, seeing that their populations are the highest concentration of the five
countries. Every country in Latin America has compulsory primary education completion, but
very few have required secondary education to be obligatory as well.
CCT programs in the region as a whole do not only help combat poverty, but also work
towards increasing attendance and completion rates in schools using a financial incentive. These
programs also have positive effects on child labor, meaning that the rate at which children drop
out to join the work force under the table has decreased due to these programs (McGuire 2013).
Guatemala and Ecuador are the only two countries that do their CCT per household rather than
per member of the family. I believe this would be appropriate if the amount they awarded was
larger than $20 and $15 respectively, however it is not. Parents may not see this as the type of
aid they need in order to be able to fully provide for their families. This can ultimately loop back
. Two years after the initial implementation of CCT programs in the analyzed countries, net
enrollment in schools either fell, rose, or stayed the same. In Bolivia, the net enrollment fell from
84.5 to 82.1%. Of the analyzed countries, it seems that both Ecuador and Guatemala have
implemented similar programs, where the stipend is granted to each household rather than each
child. Parallel with this observation are the secondary school enrollment rates both countries

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have. As can be seen in Table 2, Ecuador and Guatemala are the two countries with the smallest
percentage of children enrolled in secondary school, with 55.4 and 37.5% respectively.
Overall, child labor has decreased over the past ten years mainly because of a betterment
of social policies. Ecuador in particular has focused on the complete eradication of this
phenomenon, creating numerous policies to pull children out from wherever they may be
working, reaching a miraculous 2.7% of child labor. In recent years, government officials have
been visiting sectors where child labor concentration is highest, such as the agricultural and
domestic sectors, and successfully removing children from these work conditions. Bolivia, on the
other hand, has adapted its legislature to allow children from ages 10 and up to begin work. This
matches up with the high 20.2% of child labor in country. Basically, around 1 of every 5 children
work by the time they are 10.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
There are several recommendations I have that could maximize the outcomes of all the
policies that have been created to address issues pertaining to marginalization, poverty, and child
labor that ultimately obstruct children from benefiting from their education.
Improve the Conditional Cash Transfer system
In order for a financial incentive to work in boosting enrollment rates and lowering child
labor percentages in this region, the CCT needs to be created to fit the population that is being
targeted. This program was created to aid families living in poverty in order to help children
obtain a quality education among other things. The fact that some of the CCT programs in the

22. 22
countries analyzed give a set amount of money per household rather than per child may be off-
putting to parents. They are still going to be in a bad position because of the continuing inability
to provide for their children. If they were to have four children and a CCT program like
Guatemala’s was in place, chances are the family would rather have their children working in
order to be able to live comfortably. CCTs are short-term benefits that could have a long term
effect if used efficiently. Implementation of a CCT program like Mexico’s Oportunidades would
be ideal. Not only would this type of program provide the short term, monthly benefits, but
would also have the long term benefits within reach for both the students and the parents. Once
each country’s GDP is increased enough, the CCT programs should be reformed, specifically in
Ecuador and Guatemala. Aside from helping households living in extremely poor conditions, it
will tackle the child labor problem as well.
Incorporate the Indigenous Populations
Having regional and national Non-Profit Organizations working towards eliminating
social gaps is not enough. In order to be able to fully address the education problem in Latin
America, governments need to step up to the plate and stop discriminating against these
marginalized populations in the form of their legislation. The indigenous population is usually
the poorest in the national populations for the countries analyzed, and it is one of the poorest
groups in the region as a whole. Without recognizing this and taking it in to account in the
creation of policies, the problem with access to education will continue.
The region as a whole is close to completing the universal primary education MDG, but
each country has yet to offer an adequate education to the entirety of its population. Although the

23. 23
majority of the population completes primary education, the enrollment rates in secondary
education are dismal and the completion rates are even worse. Three challenges hindering
children from obtaining a quality education are child labor, poverty, and marginalization.
Indigenous children particularly face problems, even with primary education. Alongside the
issue of poverty is the language barrier that causes difficulties in learning since bilingual
education, especially with indigenous languages, is not something that is seen in countries where
there is a smaller indigenous population. Policies are being created in each country that aim to
tackle the inequality still present, the huge difference in quality between schools in different
areas, and reaching out to the marginalized populations. Reaching these goals will soon open
several doors of opportunity for the region, such as reduced amounts of poverty, universal
literacy rates, and eventual equality throughout all parts of society. The problem with inequality
in education isn’t only coming from insufficient funding to certain districts or unqualified
teachers. This problem has to be tackled from all aspects, including but not limited to supporting
financial need of the marginalized populations, creating programs to eradicate violence among
the youth, education adults as well as children, and perhaps even expanding the years of
compulsory education to reach the second cycle, from grades 6 to 9.

24. 24
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