REPORT

“EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HONDURAS”

PLAN

I.       State of the Honduran education system.

II.      Structure of the Honduran education system:

         1. Pre-school education

         2. Primary education

         3. Secondary education

         4. Higher education

         5. Adult education and professional training

III.     Current trends in education.

STATE OF THE HONDURAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

 

Honduras lacked a national education system until the late 1950’s. Before the reforms of 1957, education was the exclusive privilege of those who could afford to send their children to private institutions. The government of Ramуn Villeda Morales (1957-63) introduced reforms that led to the establishment of a national public education system and began a school construction program.

Data from the Program for the Development of the Organization of the United Nations (PNUD) reveal today that 51% of the matriculates finish primary school, in an average of 9.4 years, and that the number of dropouts increases each year. The acutest problem is that the basic educational system only covers 86.5% of school-age children, while the remaining 13.5% cannot get access to the education.

Although the Honduran Constitution formally stipulates that minors have to have their educations taken care of, many arrive at adulthood without learning to read or write, while the state tries to justify this by the insufficiency of resources at its command. Illiteracy encompasses more than half a million people in this country, which is the equivalent of the entire population between 15 and 40 years old. Good education is still largely the privilege of the few who can afford to send their children to private institutions.

Statistical information shows that the state of the public education system remains poor. Figures cited by the Ministry of Education suggest that Honduras suffers from widespread illiteracy (more than 40 percent of the total population and more than 80 percent in rural areas). A significant percentage of children do not receive formal education.

The statistics collected by the Ministry of Education reflect that no department in Honduras reaches, on average, the six-year minimum of primary education. According to recent data indicating educational efficiency, for every thousand graduates of the first grade in 1990, only 292 (29%) complete primary school in six years and 468 (46%) never finish. The situation with universities is much more worrying, since only 20% avoid failing out in universities such as the National Autonomous University of Honduras (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, or UNAH).

The quality of instruction in Honduran public schools is greatly impaired by poor teacher training. The situation is worsened by the extremely low wages paid to teachers, lack of effective and up-to-date instruction materials, outdated teaching methods, poor administration, and lack of physical facilities.

Because of the deficiencies of public education, the years since 1970 have seen the proliferation of private schools. With few exceptions, however, private education is popularly viewed as a profit-making enterprise. Great skepticism remains regarding the quality of the education that private schools offer.

The UNAH is the primary institution of higher learning. Located in Tegucigalpa, it was founded in 1847 and became an autonomous institution in 1957. The university has approximately 30,000 students. There are two branches of the UNAH in San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba.

President Ricardo Maduro is attempting the change the educational system, but at the current rate of reform it would take at least 23 years to reach the level of the educational system in other nations in the area like Costa Rica and Panama. Evaluations performed by international organizations denounce the backwardness of the state’s investments in the sector with respect to the majority of countries in the region, and that the current educational model has reached its limits after more than a decade in Honduras.

STRUCTURE OF THE HONDURAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

 

ISCED level

Name

Ministry Responsible

Pre-school Educacion Pre-basica Ministry of Education Primary Educacion Basica (Grades 1-6) Lower secondary

Educacion Basica (Grades 7-9) including

EDUCATODOS

Lower secondary vocational Formacion de Oficios (INFOP, Academias) Upper Secondary (general) Educacion media (academica) Upper Secondary (vocational) Educacion media (tecnica) Tertiary, first stage

­  Tecnico universitario (first certificate, short),

­  Bachiller Universitario (5A first certificate, long),

­  Licenciatura (second certificate),

­  Maestria (further certificate)

National University Tertiary, second stage Doctorado

1. Pre-school education

Pre-school education covers a three-year period with the aim of adapting children to the social environment and developing their sensorial and other faculties. The program tries to provide adequate nutrition, eradicate parasites, vaccinate, give medical and dental care, and to educate parents in health, nutrition, hygiene and family welfare. Although planned for children between four and six-and-a-half years, the government has decided, in view of financial constraints, to provide these services only for six-year-old children, especially the less privileged ones. Teachers for pre-school education are trained at the Escuela Superior del Profesorado. ............