Argentina

Teacher training at the secondary level is furnished by normal schools, which date from 1869. Today, the basic requirement for a teaching career is completion of a five-year normal school. Satisfactory completion earns a person a teaching certificate and permission to teach in a national primary school, or in a provincial school, if local authorities approve the certificate. An additional two years are required for teaching in kindergarten, and four years at secondary teacher-training schools qualify a person for teaching at the secondary level.

In 1956, the Teachers' Statute granted civil service status to teachers and guaranteed them, among other benefits, tenure and seniority, certain holidays, the right to appeal inequitable administrative actions, medical care, and pension rights. In 1961, about 99 percent of the primary teachers had the requisite certification, a record of qualification unmatched in Latin America. In 1967, about 325,000 teachers were employed in the schools. Seventy-two percent of these teachers were in the primary system; 17 percent in the secondary system; and 5 percent in higher education. By 1967, more than 200,000 students, 86 percent of them women, were enrolled in normal schools, up from 75,000 in 1953.

In the late 1960s, the preprimary and primary programs were elevated to the status of a non-university degree program consisting of a two-year course followed by a half year of residency. Students in this program had to have a secondary-school diploma from a normal school. At the same time, some universities began their own teacher-training programs. Since 1968, teachers have been required to attend a university to receive their credentials. Private institutions have also become important teacher-training centers. By 1967, about 140 different kinds of schools provided postsecondary education outside the universities to almost 30,000 students, more than three-quarters of whom were women. Teachers are now trained in a variety of institutions, including provincial, technical, and private institutes and universities. Even with these many avenues to teacher training, not every teacher in an elementary school has been through a teacher-training school. In recent years, teachers have swamped the marketplace, yet qualified teachers are in demand, especially in the remote regions.