How do we ensure that future generations – professionals trained in Argentine creativity, knowledge and talent – have a secondary school that is attuned to the challenges of our time? The question is not a statement. It’s urgent For a country seeking real development.
Secondary education in Argentina faces a very difficult prognosis: only 10 out of every 100 students who started first grade in 2013 reach the end of secondary school in 2024 within the expected school time and have acquired priority knowledge in language and mathematics. In other words, there are few people today who have access to the tools needed to make the leap toward higher education or good employment. The latest educational evidence confirms this panorama.
High school today is where millions of teenagers experience a critical stage of their development: where they must establish values, expand knowledge, discover interests, build connections, and develop the abilities that will define their future. Therefore, transforming this level is not just an educational goal, but rather the responsibility of the nation and a basic condition for its development.
High school transformation is one of the most pressing and transcendent challenges of our time. What happens today in their classrooms directly affects the lives of the adults who pass through them, and thus the economic, social and productive future of the country. The current high school lives a double life. On the one hand, rigid structures persist, condensed curricula that are losing relevance, fragmented times, and teaching methods that fail to arouse curiosity or enhance students’ abilities, and do not guarantee the basic knowledge that everyone needs to function in the 21st century. It’s a school designed for another century, Which is making progress in the face of increasingly complex challenges.
On the other hand, the idea of a potential high school – and the evidence for it – is clearly visible: interdisciplinary, flexible, organized into projects, with important connections, and a collaborative and deep learning climate. A school that integrates knowledge, opens up to the world, and accompanies every student in building his life project.
Rebuilding high school as a space of meaning, opportunity, and future is possible, but it will not happen overnight or with one isolated action. It requires a transformation plan that is sustainable over time and is viewed as a state policy rather than a short-term initiative. The key here is to move from urgency to designing and implementing progressive and concrete strategies, supported by the commitment of various actors: educational authorities, management teams and teachers, students and families, as well as academic, social and productive world leaders.
In the first phase of the process, it is possible to move forward with a limited set of strategic objectives that are able to demonstrate results in the short term and begin to restore confidence in the system. This initial phase can be organized around five main objectives: Strengthen educational leadership, reduce dropout and increase effective graduation, improve learning in language and mathematics, encourage educational and technological innovation, and improve school climate and institutional linkages. These five themes do not exhaust the transformation process needed by a high school, but they provide a clear, measurable, and common starting point. If implemented well, it allows you to organize priorities, coordinate efforts, and achieve clear results that open the way to deeper changes.
In the later stages It will be necessary to confront broader transformations: Curriculum modifications, new methods of teaching and assessment, changes in school organization and in the time teachers spend in institutions. Only in this way can the secondary school be strengthened as a true space for the comprehensive development of all students.
What do we need for change to be real?
The challenges are well-known: redefining school models, reducing and streamlining educational bureaucracy, and overcoming a dearth of incentives, short political times, and often inadequate resources. However, there are specific conditions to proceed. International and local experiences show that transformation is possible when there are strong technical structures, high-quality information, and an ecosystem of actors committed to improvement.
A key element is the creation of dedicated change management technical units, capable of coordinating, accompanying and sustaining decisions over time. Added to this is the continuous use of data, not only for diagnosis, but for monitoring, adjusting and learning throughout the process. No sustainable education policy can do without rigorous and up-to-date evidence.
Progress also requires stable alliances between the state, civil society and the private sector, allowing for diversified funding, expanding capacities and strengthening support networks. Likewise, it is important to invest in ongoing training for teachers – especially in pedagogical leadership, language, mathematics and innovation in teaching practices – along with close monitoring of the trajectories of students and school teams.
Finally, change needs incentives and professional recognition for those who lead the transformation day after day. Reevaluating the work of principals and teachers is not only fair: It is strategic to maintain any process improvement over time.
Transforming the secondary stage is not a wish or a slogan: it is an imminent need for the country. What happens in the classroom will determine the future of our youth and, to a large extent, the direction of our society. Going forward, it is necessary to reach agreements that allow for the dissemination of a sustainable action plan: launching comprehensive programs for improvement and innovation, strengthening pedagogical leadership and teacher training, ensuring communication and resources in line with the technological age, adjusting processes in real time, measuring results transparently, and recognizing teachers who dare to lead change.
High school can and must change. We have the experience, the tools and, above all, the conviction that improvement is possible. Doing so is a commitment to current and future generations, And while building a more just and developed country, deeply committed to the value of education.
Co-Founder and General Director of Somos Red, an organization dedicated to promoting educational and technological innovation in the educational systems of Argentina and Latin America.