In recent years, most Latin American countries have committed themselves, implicitly or explicitly, to achieving universal provision of a good-quality basic secondary education. Despite the diversity of the situations to be found in the region, it is possible to see that what this commitment means for each of these countries is having to cope simultaneously with educational deficiencies inherited from the past –primarily, incomplete coverage that leaves some adolescents outside the system– and the new challenges raised by the exigencies of change in the organization of work, culture and citizenship. The present article sets out\nby recognizing this “surfeit of demands” on education, and seeks to show some of the greatest dilemmas and tensions faced by policies to achieve good-quality, universal secondary education in the region.