What are their stories?
You’ve already read Camila’s story. In this work, I've collected eight stories of young people aged 18 to 25 who have gone through the educational system in Uruguay in recent years. Each one is a unique story of adversity, challenge, resilience, and inspiration of people who had different kinds of educational trajectories.
You can now glimpse the rest of the stories and read the ones you wish in full.
Julieta (25) went to high school in Canelones. During 3rd grade she missed many of her classes for what she calls a “family instability” at home. That, in addition to failing five courses, led her to repeat that year. She felt It was a wake-up call, and she is currently studying at university.
Valentina (23) decided she didn’t like high school soon after starting first grade. She stopped attending classes and went only at the end of the year to sit all subjects’ exams. Before starting 6th grade, she moved from Tacuarembó to Montevideo but struggled to finish because of family care duties.
Federico (24) started high school in 2012. Since then, he attended three different high schools. In 2018 he repeated one subject from his last year. He is currently studying at university.
Agustina (24) can barely remember her first year of high school. Due to family issues, she barely went that year, and repeated. In 5th, she moved from Tacuarembó to Montevideo, but later on decided she wanted to attend vocational education (UTU). After a year and a half, she began working and never resumed her studies.
Santiago (19) started attending high school in 2017. After repeating 1st and 4th grade, his parents told him to get his act together or else start working. After repeating 4th for the second time, he was obliged to change schools. The school he had changed into was full and only allowed him to attend by mid-year, at the time of midterms. He dropped out shortly after.
Florencia (19) started high school in 2018. It wasn’t until 4th grade that she learned about vocational education (UTU). It was then that she decided to attend Construction UTU, where she is currently studying, even if it meant retaking 4th grade in a different format.
Matías (25) started high school in a private institution in 2013. After his parents’ divorce, being diagnosed with diabetes and being bullied, he started to attend on and off and changed schools. Only when he started attending night school at the age of 21 did he find his place. This year, he is taking his two last subjects to finish secondary education.
Mental health.
Bullying.
Family support.
Institutional support.
These are just some of the factors faced by interviewees in this project. When faced with challenges and barriers, trajectories are anything but linear.
Imagine time as a line, yes, but that line can be abruptly cut, it can be thinner or thicker, or it can be the same colour for more than a year. In fact, in Uruguay, less than 2 in 5 students (38 %) manage to have a "timely" trajectory in secondary education. (13)
Education’s challenges and solutions do not only implicate the educational system. They deal with ramifications that are deeply rooted in society, like poverty, inequality, violence, or mental health. So, while it is important that the education system confronts its challenges head-on, the other issues at stake must be tackled as well.
In a fast-changing world, it’s important that education considers the voices of its protagonists to accompany their trajectories in the best way possible and better prepare them for their future ahead. As reflected in this work, each story is so unique, that it is crucial to have more tailored solutions and approaches. There is no place for “one size fits all” where there is so much diversity of voices and paths in education.
References
1. United Nations Development Prgramme (UNDP). Human Development Index 2024 [Available from: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/human-development-index#/indicies/HDI.
2. Our World in Data. Democracy index 2024 [Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu?tab=table.
3. World Bank Group. Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) | Data 2024 [Available from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/democracy-index-eiu?tab=table.
4. United Nations. Goal 4 2022 [Available from: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4.
5. Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (Ineed). Reporte temático 9: La esquiva meta del egreso [Thematic Report 9: The elusive goal of graduation]. Montevideo: Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (Ineed),; 2024.
6. Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (MEC). Anuario Estadístico de Educación 2022 2023 [Available from: https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-educacion-cultura/datos-y-estadisticas/datos/anuario-estadistico-educacion-2022.
7. Ley General de Educación [General Education Law], (2008). [Available from: https://www.impo.com.uy/bases/leyes/18437-2008]
8. Unicef. Trayectorias educativas en Uruguay: Principales rasgos, tendencias y desafíos para las políticas públicas [Educational trajectories in Uruguay: Main features, trends and challenges for public policies]. Montevideo: Unicef; 2017.
9. Unicef. 13 principios para reimaginar la educación [13 principles to reimagine education]. UNICEF, editor. Montevideo, Uruguay: UNICEF; 2022.
10. Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (Ineed). Informe sobre el estado de la educación en Uruguay 2021-2022. Resumen ejecutivo [Report on the State of Education in Uruguay 2021-2022. Executive Summary]. Ineed, editor. Montevideo, Uruguay: Ineed; 2023.
11. Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). PISA: Programme for International Student Assessment 2023 [Available from: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/programmes/pisa.html.
12. Instituto Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (Ineed). Aristas 2022. Informe de resultados de tercero de educación media. Resumen ejecutivo [Aristas 2022. Third year of secondary education results report. Executive summary]. Montevideo: Institutio Nacional de Evaluación Educativa (Ineed); 2023.
13. Administración Nacional de Educación Pública (ANEP). Análisis de las trayectorias educativas de los egresados de la educación primaria entre 2013 y 2021 [Analysis of the educational trajectories of primary school graduates between 2013 and 2021]. ANEP, editor. Montevideo: ANEP; 2023.
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