Why would seven million people of African descent drop out of primary school?

"In school books, there were never any black children," says Gabrielle Marquez, an 18-year-old student who admits she felt underrepresented in school materials. Today he studies medicine, but admits that many times he "felt that he could not reach" finishing school.

His feeling is not unique. In Latin America there are 34 million Afro-descendants of school age. However, statistics indicate that seven million of them will leave the education system before completing primary school, double the regional average compared to their non-Afro-descendant peers.

"Textbooks are one of the many pedagogical tools available to teachers and students," says Germán Freire, Senior Human Development Specialist at the World Bank and author of a new report. The books "allow us to understand the type of visions, prejudices or omissions that affect the school experience of children and adolescents of African descent," he explains.

The World Bank's study Afro-descendant inclusion in education continues extensive research on Afro-descendant populations in Latin America conducted in recent years, and reveals new data on the quality of education and educational returns for this population. In addition, it delves into one of the possible reasons for exclusion – racism in education – by identifying exclusion from education as one of the main factors that makes the regional educational crisis deeper for the Afro-descendant population.

All this is verified in interviews with Afro-descendant children and adolescents who share their reactions and tell their experiences in the first person.

No teachers or school books

An important factor behind the exclusion of people of African descent is racism, whether explicit or implicit, as children and young people receive negative messages and stimuli about themselves and their life prospects.

"Most of the teachers are white," says Maybell Serrano, a 14-year-old student, reflecting on an image in a school book. Unsupported faculty and a small number of teachers of African descent – who may be more sensitive and serve as role models – limit academic performance in these populations.

On the other hand, representations in school books often do not promote the recognition of the identity of Afro-descendant communities and, on the contrary, contribute to fostering folkloric representations and stereotypes.

The World Bank study includes the review of 5,121 images, from 40 primary and secondary books in ten Latin American countries. In them, there was only representation of people of African descent in 15% of the images, mostly in activities associated with music, sports, rural, manual or industrial work.

"School textbooks in the region rarely represent the contributions and desires of the Afro-descendant population," says Freire. "More frequently, they tend to strengthen visions that may not be negative in themselves, but that reproduce a limited and stereotyped vision of their contributions to society, and that impact on the aspirations and perception of opportunities of boys and girls of African descent."

Roniel Mesa, an 18-year-old student, says "it all starts at school." And he explains it clearly: "Books need to change so as not to repeat the same stereotype." He concludes that with that small change from one generation to another, permanent change will be achieved.

Changing the way textbooks deal with race relations and racism is a first step in the broader process of crafting an anti-racist education agenda. "That I can give a book to my niece and that I open and see a black woman, a lawyer," Marquez proposes.

In the region, children and young people receive negative messages and stimuli about themselves and their life prospects.

While Latin America is going through a widespread learning crisis, students of African descent are among the hardest hit. In Brazil, for example, almost half of children of African descent cannot read or understand an age-appropriate text, compared to 39% of non-Afro-descendant children.

In Colombia, the situation is just as worrying. Nearly seven in ten children of African descent were unable to comprehend an age-appropriate text in 2019, compared to around four in ten of their non-Afro-descendant peers.

A crucial step in advancing inclusion in education is to recognize and address the factors that cause and perpetuate exclusion. The report proposes a number of strategies:

• Create racially inclusive books and teaching materials that deconstruct discriminatory imaginaries about people of African descent and adequately represent their history and culture.
• Recognize and address structural racism by creating and expanding mechanisms to report and redress discrimination.
• Engage the community and school in conversations about the issue and create more inclusive school curricula.
• Support teacher training and development programs on diversity and inclusion to create safe environments that welcome and value students by applying a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination.
• Improve the collection and analysis of data on race to create and strengthen policies aimed at reducing educational inequality.

Eliminating the exclusion of Afro-descendant children and adolescents in Latin America is vital for the development of the region. Quality education without racism is the most powerful tool to achieve this. In the words of 10-year-old Yomairy Vásquez, the change is necessary so "that the new generation can see that there is a new opportunity for Afro-descendants."

Cecilia Martínez Gómez is a communicator at the World Bank.