Preventing and reducing school dropout in Latin America and the Caribbean

Despite considerable strides in education in recent decades, in 2019, Latin America and the Caribbean was a long way from achieving the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for. The path towards their achievement is fraught with greater challenges than ever owing to the protracted social crisis brought on by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Between 2020 and 2022, schools remained closed in Latin America and the Caribbean for an average of 70 weeks, longer than in any other region. Thus, children and adolescents either benefitted from the advantages afforded by their households or were at the mercy of their disadvantages, which included increased exposure to violence and child labour, interruptions to education, and negative impacts on learning and progress in school.