Various studies show the importance of educational infrastructure in guaranteeing children’s right to education and teachers’ right to work under dignified conditions. Let us remember that in our country, there have been cases of education workers who have lost their lives due to the terrible building conditions they must face daily.
The material conditions of schools positively influence students’ motivation, improve their hygiene and health practices, increase their sense of security and attendance levels, all of which contribute to better academic achievement. Moreover, good school conditions enhance teachers’ and administrators’ job satisfaction and foster the development of better teaching and learning processes. According to Cervini (2003), school resources account for a significant portion of learning inequalities that cannot be explained by the student’s social background or the school’s social composition.
In various reports, from the CIEC, we have sought to highlight the under-execution of the budget allocated to infrastructure that the provincial government has been carrying out for several years, which, together with the decline in teachers’ real wages, contributes to the gradual deterioration of the province’s educational quality.
During 2020, school buildings were not used for classes, and very little funding was allocated for their maintenance. Added to this, many schools also suffered acts of vandalism that worsened the state of school infrastructure.
In this pandemic context, having adequate school infrastructure is even more important to ensure the return to in-person classes with all necessary health precautions. In this regard, to begin with, we present some issues related to the conditions in which the return to in-person learning is taking place, followed by a comparative analysis of investment in educational infrastructure in several provinces of the country.
The first point to highlight is that the new model consists of an alternation between virtual and in-person learning. This model brings with it the double workload that teachers must take on, preparing both in-person and virtual classes and assignments simultaneously for the different student groups under their responsibility, without this additional effort being at least reflected in their salary. At the same time, it exacerbates the problems that teachers and students face with either form of carrying out the educational process. That is, to guarantee this hybrid model, difficulties associated with virtual learning (access to connectivity, devices, workload, etc.) must be resolved, as well as those related to in-person learning (classroom conditions, heating, furniture, supplies, etc.).
One of the difficulties of virtual learning is the digital divide. As mentioned in our report “The Difficulty of Educating in Confinement”, at the beginning of the ASPO (Preventive and Mandatory Social Isolation), 29% of teachers did not own a computer, and another 17% had a computer but had to share it with limited availability. Around 45% did not use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for educational tasks, and 23% of students also did not use them for this purpose. Furthermore, 59% of teachers reported not having an adequate internet connection, either through Wi-Fi or mobile data, a percentage that rises to 75% in rural areas and 77% in low-income neighborhoods or settlements.
Regarding in-person learning, we can list a series of problems that, although they existed before the pandemic, have become even more relevant in the current context.
First, we can mention that 39% of schools in the province do not have access to public transportation. Additionally, those who do have access must expose themselves to a higher probability of contracting coronavirus.
Second, 36% of schools do not have access to a natural gas network, and 76% are located in cold-climate areas, meaning that to ensure proper ventilation of spaces during winter, adequate heating systems will be necessary.
Third, 13% of schools do not have access to a potable water network, and according to the 2014 National Census of Urban School Infrastructure, 4.3% of school premises in Mendoza are located in areas with contaminated groundwater. A case that illustrates the severity of this problem is the Fray Cayetano Rodríguez School. It is located near the YPF Industrial Complex in the department of Luján de Cuyo, where years ago, water pumps, drinking fountains, and any access to well water were shut down, meaning that the water consumed is transported by YPF in trucks. Residents of the area have reported cases of leukemia caused by environmental contamination of groundwater. To date, ten cases of acute leukemia have been confirmed among the area’s residents. Most are children, with an irreversibly severe prognosis.
Fourth, according to the 2014 census, only 21.9% of surveyed urban school buildings had ramps, and 14.3% had restrooms for people with disabilities. Additionally, less than 1% met the proper signage and texture requirements for visually or hearing-impaired individuals. This highlights the accessibility issues in school buildings, preventing true educational inclusion—that is, the ability of all individuals to use a building, its facilities, and resources without any barriers.