Global North, Global South, and SDG 4: Unpacking the Challenges of Educational Change in Latin America
In this blogpost, Felicitas Acosta argues that achieving meaningful educational transformation in Latin America requires moving beyond a narrow focus on global targets and adopting a more nuanced and context-sensitive approach.
This blogpost will focus on Latin America in exploring the interconnections of global agendas such as SDG 4, the relationship between the “Global North” and the “Global South” and the deep historical roots that have shaped regional particularities in order to understand how education systems evolve. Latin America was part of the global expansion of schooling beginning in the late 19th century. Yet, despite considerable progress, the region continues to face substantial challenges in ensuring universal and adequate education for all children and adolescents. While economic, political, and social conditions play a crucial role in shaping access to education, it is crucial to look at the internal dynamics of educational systems—analysing their interdependencies and unique characteristics. The aim is to grasp better the tension between efforts to expand and transform schooling into a more inclusive system and the persistent challenges of achieving universal access and completion amid broader social and educational segmentation patterns.
A key issue in this discussion is the frequently assumed standardisation of educational reforms and policies—a theme that has gained prominence in the era of globalisation. A prime example of this trend is SDG 4, which sets ambitious targets for inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all by 2030. Despite its universal aspirations, the implementation of SDG 4 faces considerable challenges. While these goals have influenced educational policy development worldwide, many countries struggle to achieve them fully. This does not suggest a lack of progress but that global targets often remain out of reach due to inadequate funding, limited institutional capacity, and persistent historical inequalities (Edwards, Niaz Asadullah & Webb, 2024). These challenges were first identified in early studies on educational expansion and are deeply connected to the specific contexts in which education systems operate.
Given these complexities, critically examining the language used to frame global educational goals is essential. The terminology often fails to capture the specific characteristics of individual education systems, a particularly relevant issue when considering the relationship between the Global North and Global South. The concept of the Global South is widely used in social sciences and development studies to refer to regions historically marginalised by colonial and neoliberal systems, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
However, critics argue that this term oversimplifies the diversity within these regions, potentially obscuring the unique historical, cultural, and social contexts shaping their educational challenges (Ruiz Perez, 2023). In the case of Latin America, the Global South label often fails to account for the region’s specific colonial legacies and socio-political dynamics, which differ significantly from those in Africa or Asia. Latin America’s colonial history was shaped by both internal and external forces, leading to distinct educational challenges. Consequently, applying a broad label like Global South can limit nuanced understandings of the region’s educational realities, highlighting the need for more context-sensitive analyses when designing educational reforms.
Along the same lines, SDG 4 exemplifies how global policies may not always translate effectively across diverse regions. The goal of ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all—while critical—often fails to account for regional particularities. In Latin America, for example, educational challenges extend beyond simply increasing school enrollment. They also involve addressing issues such as curriculum modernisation, teacher training, and deep-rooted structural inequalities (UNESCO, UNICEF & ECLAC, 2022). While state institutions are typically regarded as the primary agents of educational reform, scholars argue that civil society and academia also play crucial roles in driving change. Some advocate for gradual improvements within existing systems, whereas others call for more radical transformations, such as emancipatory education models that challenge neoliberal educational frameworks. These diverse perspectives reflect Latin America’s complex relationship with global power structures and its ongoing struggle to implement locally relevant and historically informed reforms.
The Expansion of Secondary Education: Global and National Goals vs. Historical Conditions
The growth of secondary education in Latin America offers a pivotal lens for understanding the intersection of global objectives and national policies. Since the 1960s, secondary education in the region has steadily expanded. Today, most adolescents are enrolled in secondary school, with 94% of 12–14-year-olds and 83% of 15–17-year-olds attending. However, while 82.5% of students complete lower secondary education without significant delays, the completion rate for upper secondary education drops to 65%, indicating that only six out of ten students reach this milestone. This trend highlights a persistent pattern where access to schooling takes precedence over completion.
Both global frameworks, such as SDG 4, and national policies acknowledge this challenge. One strategy to address it has been the diversification of secondary education by introducing new school types and learning modalities to accommodate the needs of a changing student population. Global and national objectives appear to be aligned. However, from within education systems, this diversification often builds upon historical mechanisms of institutional differentiation, which have long contributed to disparities in schooling experiences.
My research on students’ experiences in secondary education underscores a widening gap in both material resources and lived educational experiences. This growing disparity is not only about material inequalities but also reflects an increasing qualitative divide in students’ academic trajectories. The coexistence of inclusion and exclusion processes within secondary education further exacerbates social divisions, ultimately creating a system of differentiated inclusion. While Latin American states have successfully expanded educational access, the form and quality of this access remain uneven, reinforcing broader patterns of social inequality (Acosta, 2023).
Rethinking Educational Reforms in Latin America
Suppose the goal is to build education systems that are inclusive, equitable, culturally relevant, and historically informed. To achieve that, it is crucial to analyse the interactions between transnational discourses—such as the objectives set forth by SDG 4—the policies adopted by states in collaboration with various actors and the internal dynamics of education systems. Understanding these interactions requires careful attention to the institutional forces and historical trajectories influencing policy outcomes. These factors mediate, reshape, or even redirect educational reforms, highlighting their potential and limitations.
Ultimately, achieving meaningful educational transformation in Latin America requires moving beyond a narrow focus on global targets and adopting a more nuanced, context-sensitive approach. Recognizing the region’s unique educational history is essential to developing reforms that align with its social and cultural realities. Rather than viewing these historical legacies as obstacles, understanding their role in shaping current challenges can reveal opportunities for educational change.
The Author:
Felicitas Acosta is a researcher and Professor at Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento and Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She serves as NORRAG’s regional coordinator for Spanish-speaking Latin American countries and as the NSI Spanish editor. Her research focuses on the expansion of schooling from a transnational and historical perspective, with an emphasis on education reforms, secondary education, standardized assessment, and teacher training, among other topics.