Graduation Tables: a proposal for a demographic analysis of educational indicators in Latin America Countries

Demographic censuses usually contain information about a graded education system, i.e. age and grade declarations. This information can be used to estimate a series of indicators, useful for diagnostics and prognostics of the educational system. One of the principal goals of this paper is to provide a new demographic technique to better understand the population trends in terms of levels of schooling, in a country or region. A detailed scrutiny of the derived indicators proposed can be a powerful tool for policy makers. Our technique follows in the tradition of formal demographic methodologies used in analyzing and projecting population, such as Life Tables. Thus, one could study the probable social consequences of the implementation of any educational policies related to promotion and retention practices, over the medium and long runs. The methodological procedures were applied to the Latin American Countries, although it could be replicated or adapted to other developing countries or regions that have the usual information of grades concluded by age.
Key Words: Demographic analysis, trends and forecast of educational indicators, regional inequalities