How much can we spend on education?

The technology employed by Latin America's educational systems was developed by the countries which are now industrialized. This technology is labour-intensive, with expenditures being concentrated in the salaries of teaching staff and administrative personnel, and its effective utilization -as it is applied in the industrialized countries- entails a high level of expenditure per student. In line with recommendations made by international agencies, many Governments in the region have voiced their intention to raise the amount they spend on education to between 6% and 8% of the gross domestic product. The Latin American countries would have to spend much more than this, however, in order to create an efficient system affording universal coverage. Public education does not have the means of obtaining sufficient funding; only private schools receiving financial support from their students' families are in a position to use these technologies properly. In order to solve the region's educational problems, a policy is needed that will encourage the development of more efficient -and, in general, more capital-intensive- educational technologies based on the successful experiments that have been undertaken in the region.