Santiago's story
Santiago started high school in 2017 in Montevideo. At the time, he lived with his parents and his sister.
That year, he didn’t do well in high school.
So, in 2018, he repeated 1st grade.
“It was bad, because out of 32 in the class, 10 of us repeated. Seeing most of them pass and then the next year seeing them all in 2nd grade was hard.”
“[My parents] told me to get my act together next year, because if not, everything would be over for me.
And so it was, I got my act together and passed.”
The following year, he did 2nd grade.
And in 2020, 3rd grade.
“During the pandemic, I did well; it helped me; I got up in the mornings, and I did all the work. I did well all year. I had no failing grades.”
Classes were held online, but students didn’t attend as much.
“The time when there were more of us, we were 10 or 15. But normally, we were just two or three.”
In 4th grade, Santiago changed to a school that taught upper secondary education.
But this time, by the end of the year, he had failed six subjects.
So, the following year, he took those six subjects.
But by December, he had failed five of them.
“When I repeated again, [my parents] told me to study or get a job.”
“I was very demotivated. (...) For me, [repetition] is not [an effective strategy], because there are many who, after repeating a year, become demotivated and prefer to stop studying and start working, and then they never finish high school.”
“The majority of those who dropped out of high school did so because they had already repeated once. Or they tried several times and repeated many times.”
Santiago was forced to leave his high school because he was told he couldn’t take 4th grade there at the age of 18.
He asked to be transferred to a different school, but by the time he got to the new school, they told him there were no more places available, and that he had to wait.
Classes began in March, and it wasn’t until June that Santiago received a call from his high school, saying that they could take him.
“They were already in midterms, I was lost, I didn’t understand anything”
“I was new, I didn’t know anyone. (...) The students in the class didn't make me fit in with the group either, they didn't make me feel very comfortable.
So, after a couple of weeks, Santiago stopped going.
No one at the high school called him to ask what had happened or to offer support.
Santiago has been taking a few temporary jobs ever since.
And he is currently on the lookout for new work opportunities.
This is what his educational trajectory looks like so far.
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