Digital education: why Uruguay's students are getting through the corona pandemic so well

Icon: enlarge

Elementary school student Amelia, 7, is studying in a park in Montevideo using her government-provided tablet computer

Photo: Tali Kimelman / DER SPIEGEL

Two weeks after Amelia's first day of school last March, she was no longer allowed to go

- the school was closed due to the corona pandemic.

But it wasn't so bad for the first grader from Uruguay: She learned the alphabet through audio tutorials.

She enjoyed digital math lessons so much that she did extra tasks.

Three times a week there were video conferences in which she got to know her teachers and classmates better.

And, under the guidance of her sports teacher, Amelia, seven years old, did gymnastics exercises in her room.

Amelia is not a wealthy private student, she attends a public school in Uruguay's capital, Montevideo.

She got her tablet computer from the state - like all the other students in the small country between Argentina and Brazil.

Uruguay has been relying on digital school teaching and equal access for all for years.

The country's education system was thus better prepared for the corona crisis than that of most countries in the region - and than many in the richer West.

While teachers in Germany sometimes did not contact their students for weeks, they were in constant contact in Uruguay.

Instead of blurry scans and faulty Internet links with untraceable content, Uruguay had digital school books with scientific experiments, homework in the form of quizzes or games, interactive video switching, personalized exercises and chats for questions.

Icon: enlarge

Leandro, 10, works on his tablet computer at home in Montevideo

Photo: Tali Kimelman / DER SPIEGEL

The country implemented the one laptop per child policy more than ten years ago - one of six worldwide.

Uruguay has also installed free internet in public places in rural areas and one with Plan Ceibal

state agency for digital education founded.

"Overall, we had a well-functioning last school year," says Fiorella Haim, manager at Plan Ceibal.

Uruguay is the big, small exception in a region with disastrous forecasts.

Unicef ​​assumes that 2020 was a lost school year for millions of students in Latin America.

Around a third of the children would have learned hardly anything, and more than three million will probably stay away from school forever.

And for 2021, the experts expect another year with lockdowns and school closings.

"Every child should have a laptop and internet"

“Children, especially those from poor backgrounds, are the biggest losers in this crisis.

Your dream of a better future has already been destroyed, «says the Brazilian education expert and former director of the World Bank for Education, Claudia Costin.

In addition, the education crisis has exacerbated the already extreme inequality on the continent.

Private schools and their clientele cushioned school closings much better.

She even observed the phenomenon of "illegal schools": Rich parents of the upper middle class hire private tutors for their children - while poor children in public schools do not even have access to computers or the Internet at home.

In Uruguay, 85 percent of all students attend public schools.

"When all of the teaching shifted to digital last March, we were able to act flexibly," says Haim, the manager of Plan Ceibal.

The agency has been training teachers for years and operates a central platform with digital school books through which assignments and content can be uploaded.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Plan Ceibal expanded the capacity of its servers practically "overnight".

Since then, the country has also made 50 gigabytes of free internet available to every student every month.

"98 percent of the students have used digital school lessons regularly," says Haim.

The poorer children in rural regions also took part.

"We don't know exactly how, but they did it."

Icon: enlarge

The start-up founders Frederico Bello and Nicolas Pereyra at an award ceremony at the University of San Diego

Photo: private

The experts agree: a laptop alone is of little use, it needs a holistic concept.

The example of Uruguay shows above all that digital teaching content is important.

That is why Plan Ceibal also promotes the development of innovative software.

Among other things, the agency bought the digital book EduCiencias, with which science can be learned in a playful way.

The whole thing looks like a comic, a cat, for example, helps with physical experiments.

"We want digital lessons to be fun and motivate the children," says developer Federico Bello, "for this we work with educators and psychologists."

Bello quit his job at the Uruguayan central bank in 2018 to start the start-up Edu Editorial with two friends.

They are currently working on a new platform called Boki to help teachers create more engaging digital presentations.

"Frontal teaching can be combined with experiments, animations, videos, interactive games and competitions," says Bello.

In addition, he and his colleagues are developing an app to help students deal better with emotional problems and reduce stress and anxiety.

Edu Editorial products have already been exported to Peru, Chile and Mexico.

This year the founders want to conquer the Arab market.

Bello does not understand why even in rich countries like Germany there are children who do not have access to a computer and the Internet.

He thinks this is a kind of children's right in a digital world.

"Every child should have a laptop and internet," he says, "but we managed to do it too."

With its 3.5 million inhabitants, Uruguay is much smaller and also less poor than most of the countries in the region.

But it is far from being a rich country; it is in the lower midfield worldwide.

"It's a question of priority and will," says Miguel Brechner, an expert in digital learning who founded Plan Ceibal in 2007.

“Our then President Tabaré Vázquez Rosas had a great vision.

He wanted every child to be able to become anything. ”Plan Ceibal costs 100 US dollars per student annually - including a laptop, teaching material, teacher training and Internet connection in schools.

The parents of the students even save money as they have to buy fewer school books and other learning materials.

Icon: enlarge

Seven-year-old Francisco and his father do schoolwork outdoors

Photo: Tali Kimelman / DER SPIEGEL

Brechner now advises states and international organizations on educational issues.

If someone asks him today whether they really need laptops and the Internet for every student, he'll ask back: "Do we really need electricity or hot water?" Under no circumstances does he want to replace teachers with technology.

"But we cannot continue as we did before the pandemic," says Brechner, "we live in the 21st century and have 19th century schools."

The Brazilian education expert Costin says of the German school system that it is overall very good.

"But if you are very good at something, there is often the risk that you will become a little sluggish, that the will and the strength to innovate will suffer." Uruguay created something good out of nothing.

That doesn't mean that Germany should become like Uruguay.

The country is in second place in the Pisa comparison for Latin America.

However, the region does poorly in a global comparison.

It's not all perfect.

But one can definitely learn something from Uruguay's successes: "The future must be a hybrid of online and offline teaching so that we are better prepared for future crises."

Icon: enlarge

Uruguay not only relies on laptops for everyone, but also on the development of digital school materials

Photo: Tali Kimelman / DER SPIEGEL

For Margarete Sachs-Israel, Unicef ​​education expert in Latin America, Uruguay is also such a great example of success because the country reopened schools early in the crisis.

Face-to-face teaching and contact with teachers and classmates cannot be replaced.

"School closings not only affect learning, but also the health and safety of children," she says.

Many children in Latin America are dependent on school meals, and domestic violence and child labor have increased sharply during the crisis.

Uruguay initially reopened the less visited schools in rural regions in order to reach particularly vulnerable students, but also to gain experience with protection concepts and to reduce the fear of the virus among parents and teachers.

The fact that many countries around the world are simply keeping schools closed and thus carrying the crisis on the back of children makes Sachs-Israel downright angry.

»

We now know from studies that there are functioning hygiene concepts for schools.

«

Amelia, the elementary school student from Montevideo, also went back to school after four months, unlike most other children in Latin America.

Your tablet is an integral part of the lesson there too.

Amelia says that she especially liked the many virtual buttons.

The seven-year-old already has an idea of ​​what she wants to do later - a job in which she can press even more buttons: "Spaceship pilot."

Icon: The mirror

This contribution is part of the Global Society project

What is the Global Society project? Up arrow Down arrow

Under the title Global Society, reporters from

Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe

report on injustices in a globalized world, socio-political challenges and sustainable development.

The reports, analyzes, photo series, videos and podcasts appear in the international section of SPIEGEL.

The project is long-term and will be supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) for three years.

A detailed FAQ with questions and answers about the project can be found here.

What does the funding look like in concrete terms? Up arrow Down arrow

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is supporting the project for three years with a total of around 2.3 million euros.

Is the journalistic content independent of the foundation? Up arrow Down arrow

Yes.

The editorial content is created without any influence from the Gates Foundation.

Do other media have similar projects? Up arrow Down arrow

Yes.

Major European media outlets such as "The Guardian" and "El País" have set up similar sections on their news sites with "Global Development" and "Planeta Futuro" with the support of the Gates Foundation.

Have there already been similar projects at SPIEGEL? Up arrow Down arrow

In recent years, SPIEGEL has already implemented two projects with the European Journalism Center (EJC) and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The "Expedition The Day After Tomorrow" on global sustainability goals and the journalistic refugee project "The New Arrivals", as part of this several award-winning multimedia reports on the topics of migration and flight have emerged.

Where can I find all publications on Global Society? Up arrow Down arrow

The pieces can be found at SPIEGEL on the topic Global Society.