EDUCATION in PERU

A - ACHIEVEMENTS

1. The 1993 Constitution extended compulsory and free education from primary to secondary education. In 1997, a proposed structural change of the education system redefined basic education by extending downward by one-year to include initial education for 5-year-old children, and by shortening secondary education from five to four years. This will make the overall duration of basic education 11 years.

2. In 1997, school enrollment was practically universal for the 6- to 11-year olds, about 80 percent of the 12- to 16-year olds, and over 30 percent of the 17- to 25 year olds.

3. Between 1950 and 1997, the average education level of the population of age 15 and over increased from 1.9 years to 8.6 years, and the illiteracy rate was reduced from 58 percent to 11 percent. Female illiteracy was reduced from 70 to 18 percent, and rural illiteracy from over 60 to 29 percent. These are impressive accomplishments in a country as physically and ethnically diverse as Peru, particularly in view of its recent history of macroeconomic instability and civil unrest.

4. As a lower middle-income country with a Gross National Product (GNP) per capita of 2,460 in 1997, Peru has made impressive progress in extending education opportunities over the last five decades.

B - CHALLENGES

1. Important challenges remain. Quality- and equity-focused policies have been somewhat discontinued or slowed down in the recent past. To level the playing field for all Peruvian children, it is necessary to improve equity, quality, and efficiency.

2. Disparity between the rich and poor, and between rural and urban areas, remains pronounced in access to preschool, secondary education, and tertiary education, as well as in primary school completion rates. Disparity is also obvious in levels of achievement between indigenous and non-indigenous populations, and between public and private schools.

3. Meanwhile, the earning differentials between workers with different levels of education are growing. In urban areas, the largest increase in earnings differentials is between university educated and secondary educated workers. This signals a growing demand for higher skills levels in an economy that is facing increasing international competition and technological change. These trends have serious implications for the employment prospects and future life-time earnings of disadvantaged groups.

4. At 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Peru’s public expenditures on education remained significantly less than the Latin American average of 4.5 percent. 5. Lack of communication and operational parallelism at the Ministry of Education level steals much of the power and productivity of some otherwise ambitious programs.

6. There is more smoke than fire in the education decentralization process, with regional and local initiatives still heavily depending upon bureaucratic decisions made in Lima.

7. - Student assessment results have not been shared with administrators, principals, teachers, parents ands students and the general public. Complementary improvement in the frequency, quality , and transparency of these performance tests could add to the overall quality of teaching and learning processes.

8. Administrative discontinuity has hampered the development of several promising programs. Peru has had 13 Ministers of Education in the past 10 years.