STEM education in Argentina
Teaching and learning for the world of tomorrow
A sustainable energy supply – what is it, and why is it important? Starting as early as primary school, children in Argentina use inquiry-based learning to address to one of the most important challenges facing our future: securing a supply of energy for electricity, heat, and mobility. Argentina’s education agenda focuses on exposing children to the importance of this topic as early as possible, ensuring a broad impact through extracurricular activities.
With its education policy, Argentina is linking an important issue for our future with equal opportunity. Despite high levels of investment, there is a qualitative gap in the country’s scholastic education between cities and rural areas, and between private and public schools. With its “El Plan Argentina Innovadora 2020” agenda, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation proposes concrete steps toward equal access to science and technology education for all social strata.
- Three-tier school system: Preschool (Escuela inicial: 2 years), primary school (Escuela primaria: grades 1—6), secondary school (Escuela secundaria: grades 7—12)
- Education budget: 5.9 % of GDP (2015)
- WEF Ranking Maths and Science: 108 of 137 (2018)
- PISA study 2015: 40 of 71
- Important issues: Education equality and reforming the teaching profession; large performance gap between boys and girls in STEM subjects
By working with our affiliate, Fundación Siemens Argentina, our engagement in Argentina ties into education goals established by education policymakers, universities, and specialist institutions:
International educational program Experimento
In 2013, Siemens Stiftung joined our local affiliate, Fundación Siemens Argentina, in adapting Experimento as a continuing education program for primary and secondary school teachers. Thanks to close collaboration with education authorities in Buenos Aires (Ministerio de Educación de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires) and the public Institute for Teacher Education (Escuela de Maestros), Experimento has since been implemented in all 465 primary schools in the capital and in 117 secondary schools. The teacher training courses focus on energy and its role for the future. As part of this emphasis on energy, Experimento has been expanded to include a unit on energy efficiency, introducing lessons that have fascinated students in schools and extracurricular activities along the entire education chain.
To encourage informal education activities, Fundación Siemens Argentina has also worked with local partners to create holiday programs for children and young people. At the request of regional education ministries, Experimento has been implemented into these programs and serves as additional support for science and technology education through extracurricular activities in Argentina.
Red STEM Latinoamérica
Since 2011, Siemens Stiftung has supported teachers and educators in eight Latin American countries with the foundation’s international education program Experimento, aiming to increase understanding in STEM subjects for children and young people and to awaken their interest in scientific and technological interrelationships. The Spanish website Red STEM Latinoamérica provides a comprehensive overview about the project and supports networking activities by individual stakeholders. Since 2020, you also find there a collection of about 500 open educational resources (OER) specifically designed for Latin American Schools.
