ABSTRACT
A growing number of countries in Latin America are administering education censuses to collect individualized information on every student, teacher, and school within their education systems. Despite the cost and complexity of conducting a universal data collection, instead of a sample survey, these sources are crucial for a more inclusive education planning. This universal aspect is particularly relevant in Latin American societies that are not only ethnically diverse but also highly unequal and excluding societies. In this sense, data produced by education censuses are becoming increasingly relevant for other policy areas in the region. To analyse countries’ trajectories in relation to census taking and the use of ethnoracial categories in education censuses, we have analyzed and compared national regulations as well as data collection documentation and instruments from ten Latin American countries. Taking the past three decades as a reference, we observed that the political context of increasing tensions between neoliberal education reforms and recognition movements was decisive for the design of education statistical systems in Latin America. Results indicate that the existence of regular data collection on indigenous peoples via education censuses is related to a broader national political commitment from governments to recognize these populations and their cultural needs. However, further analysis of national education plans suggests that despite this rather generalized recognition, the political use of these data differs significantly among countries. We identify one group that proposes the use of ethnicity data to reinforce traditional practices in educational planning and another group that proposes a post-colonial revision of these practices.
