The present article accounts for the current demands for a universal high-school level education the various countries in the region are subject to, draws on speeches justifying these demands and the social and cultural conditions under which it occurs, in an attempt to make a contribution to an understanding of its senses and purposes. High-school level expansion and changes introduced by various reforms are presented, while portraying the invariances of a school format that has remained unchanged since its creation at the end of the 19th century. National designs of high-school level in three countries are analyzed - Brazil, Argentina and Chile, - presenting a continuity in strategies of inclusion with segregation and a functional dependability between high-school level expansion and both market and political demands.
School format; National designs; Segregated incorporation; Social and cultural conditions