Disponibilidad de Computadora en el Hogar y resultados escolares en Uruguay.

An analysis of schoolchildren’s outcomes for the cohort that did their first year in public schools in Montevideo in 1999 shows that one of the main problems is that a low proportion of children completed the six-year primary school cycle on schedule because so many had a high repetition rate. A modeling of the probability that a child will finish the primary school cycle on schedule shows that the availability of a computer at home have a large positive marginal impact. Other important factors are per capita income of the household, educational level in the home, the fact that a child lives with his/her biological parents, and that the child started pre-school at an early age. On the other hand, a history of absences in a child’s school attendance, and the fact that there are other younger children in the home, has a negative impact on school performance. In turn, the availability of a computer and of Internet connection at home depend positively on household income, on the educational and cultural level of the home, and on the fact that the child lives with his/her biological parents, and depends negatively on the level of overcrowding in the house.