Latin America needs to create a ¡°single ecosystem¡± of tertiary education and improve regulation to stamp out ¡°waste of human resources¡± in low-quality private universities, according to the World Bank¡¯s head of education.

Jaime Saavedra, a former minister of education of Peru, was speaking at the?Times Higher Education?Latin America Universities Summit on 13 July.

The World Bank saw higher education as ¡°an essential sector for development of the region¡±, he told the event.

Looking at pre-Covid issues in Latin American higher education, he said one key factor was that ¡°most, almost all the growth, in enrolments in the last 20 years has been related to higher investments in private education institutions¡±.

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There was also a ¡°weak¡± connection between course offerings and labour market needs, he added.

And there was a disconnect between universities and technical education, with a dearth of short programmes. ¡°We don¡¯t see yet one single ecosystem of tertiary education,¡± Dr Saavedra said.

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Meanwhile, ¡°quality continues being a tremendous challenge¡± and half of those who enrol don¡¯t graduate, he continued. ¡°There has been an expansion that has unfortunately been driven by many low-quality universities in this expansion, particularly of the private sector.¡±

Plus there was ¡°growing fiscal constraint for public support [for] quality¡± and for research, he added.

The pandemic has exposed a ¡°huge digital divide¡± in terms of household online access and institutions¡¯ infrastructure, showing ¡°low and unequal preparedness for virtual instruction¡±, Dr Saavedra continued.

The second wave has caused ¡°massive closures of HEIs¡±, with ¡°no foreseeable reopening of face-to-face classes until more of the population is vaccinated¡±, and significant impact on research through lab closures. In Brazil, there has been a 40 per cent drop in new enrolments during the pandemic, Dr Saavedra said.

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To address these problems, he said Latin America needed ¡°strategically diversified systems¡±, bridging university and technical and vocational education, so students do not have to choose between routes. ¡°In this world of lifelong learning, these paths¡­have to touch each other,¡± he added.

Equity in access was ¡°a social and political priority¡±, with ensuring that all students can take courses that are ¡°useful in the future and pertinent given the structure of the labour market¡± being important ¡°from the perspective of social stability¡±, Dr Saavedra said.

Latin America must ¡°improve regulatory systems such that we discourage low-quality institutions¡±, he continued. ¡°Because that is probably the major inefficiency in terms of wasted human resources.¡±

One solution could be ¡°results-based financing schemes¡±, linking funding for public and private institutions ¡°to improvements in the quality of research [or] teaching¡±, he suggested.

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com