Students from Private Schools Spend More Time Studying than Those from Public Schools

Students from private schools spend more time studying than those from public schools, this was evidenced by a recent survey by the State of the Nation based on information from 2,546 households, where 62.7% had students in preschool, primary and secondary school.

While 22% of students in private schools dedicate more than five hours a day to review their academic activities, after excluding virtual lessons, only 8% of public schools reach that amount of study time. On the other hand, it was found that 65% of public education students dedicate just between 1 and 3 hours a day to academic work.

In the case of Senior students, this indicates the need for universities to offer leveling programs. On the other hand, this gap also occurs in primary school, where 61% of the families consulted indicated that they spend between 1 and 3 hours home-schooling.

The survey also asked about the support of the caregivers, to find out how prepared they felt to help the students with the learning process and assignments. In that case, 42% indicated that a lot, 41% that some and 17% little or nothing.

Regarding the factors that make a family have the perception of feeling very prepared to give this support, the probability ratio increases with age or if the person has a secondary or higher education. And decreases when at home someone attends school or a member is enrolled in a public center.

For example, the probability that the family claims to be very prepared to support their children is 2.4 times higher when they have completed high school or university than when it is a household where the person has incomplete high school or less schooling.

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Marked inequality

“To the impossibility that many families have to support their children at home, the deterioration of the economic conditions they face due to problems of unemployment and reduction of income is added.

In turn, the situation of change in employment conditions has had strong implications on the quality of life of families with students, since more than half of them reported that their income is not enough and that their situation has worsened with the Pandemic, which also means that their maximum attention is placed on generating income and that the time to support their children with study is less.

In this sense, the survey revealed that 10% of those who were working before the crisis were fired and that 18% had a reduction in working hours. While in the case of business owners more than half reported a drop in sales, 29% closed the business and 12% stopped working.

These data reinforce the need to promote differentiated strategies to serve students who come from vulnerable homes and with low educational climates, warns the State of Education.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has allowed the system to better understand the situation of its students and families. The work carried out by the Costa Rican Educational Ministry, from its different levels, to support the households most affected by the Pandemic, seven months after the suspension of face-to-face classes, is what will make the difference between the number of students left behind or not.