Pandemic removes millions of students from Latin American Universities

Pandemic removes millions of students from Latin American Universities

Over the past two decades, millions of young people in Latin America became the first members of their families to go to college, a historic expansion that promised to propel a generation into the professional arena and transform the region.

Now, as the pandemic spreads across Latin America, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and devastating economies, an alarming setback is taking place: millions of college students are dropping out of universities, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

Enrollment is expected to decline by as much as 25 percent in Colombia by the end of the year, with similar numbers in other countries.

The exodus threatens decades of achievements that helped lift entire communities out of poverty and represents a major setback for a region struggling to escape this centuries-old trap - an often destructive dependence on the export of raw materials - and moving towards a knowledge-based economy, according to a report by Julie Turkewitz and published in the New York Times.

Since the early 2000s, huge investment in elementary and high school programs, as well as the decision to build new universities, helped higher education enrollment across Latin America doubled to nearly 20 percent.

It's nearly 100 percent (more than 50 percent of the college-age population) according to the World Bank.

The expansion allowed millions of previously excluded students, including indigenous, rural, and black students, to enter university.

Amid confinement, youth unemployment has skyrocketed and many students cannot afford tuition, which even at public universities can amount to between one and eight times the monthly minimum wage.

Most classes have moved via the internet, but millions of people do not have a service or a reliable cellular connection.

The challenge for many students is not only having no internet or a computer.

Many share mobile phones with family members and live in places where coverage is spotty.