Edtech sells patches, schools need teachers and budget

Published on May 30, 2026 | Translated from Spanish

The latest educational trend promises to end bureaucracy through digital platforms. However, the technological discourse hides a fundamental problem: teacher precariousness and staff cuts. While companies sell solutions, governments reduce personnel and increase the administrative burden on those who remain.

classroom interior with empty desks and a single overburdened teacher facing a glowing digital dashboard, stacks of paper files and red tape piling up on the desk, a cracked chalkboard behind showing a broken budget graph, teacher holding a tablet while a ghostly silhouette of a colleague fades away, technical illustration style, cold fluorescent lighting, desaturated colors, clutter of cables and outdated monitors, dust motes in air, photorealistic cinematic render

The efficiency trap: minors' data as currency 📊

These tools often operate with freemium models or subscriptions that monetize student information. A recent study reveals that 70% of educational apps share data with third parties for commercial purposes. The promised reduction in paperwork turns into a silent surrender of children's privacy, while teachers still lack time to prepare classes due to the same forms that technology was supposed to eliminate.

The magic solution: an app that asks for the same data as Excel 🤡

The ultimate irony comes when the new digital system requires filling in the same fields as the old paper, but with a corporate login and a twenty-minute tutorial. Teachers discover they now spend more time learning the platform than grading exams. In the end, the great innovation is that bureaucracy now works with wifi and sells your children's data in exchange for a virtual patch.