ABSTRACT
Argentinahasplacedgreateffortsinimprovingeducationattheelementary, secondary,andhigherlevels.Until1997,sevenyearsofprimaryschoolwere required.Fromthenon,basiceducationwasextendedtotenyears,andincluded oneyearofpre-primaryschooleducationandcompulsorybasicgeneraleducation lastingnineyears,althoughsomeprovincesdelayedimplementationofthetenyearrequirementuntil1998.Thegovernanceandadministrationoftheeducationalsystemisconcurrentlytheresponsibilityofcentralandlocalpowers. Consequently,althoughtheschoolyearextendsfortenmonths,thelengthofthe schooldayandnumberofdaysofschoolperyearvariesamongtheprovinces. Despitetheincreaseineducationcoverageandareductionindropoutsandilliteracyinthenationoverall,primaryschoolrepetitionandlowlearningachievement remainseriousproblemsinseveralofthepoorestprovincesandamongchildren fromlow-incomehomes(EichelbaumdeBabini1995,41-64;1996,25-41).
