guatemala the education sector

GUATEMALA POVERTY ASSESSMENT (GUAPA) PROGRAM TECHNICAL PAPER NO. 2

GUATEMALA

THE EDUCATION SECTOR

Prepared by

Maria Elena Anderson

October, 2001

This paper was prepared under the Guatemala Poverty Assessment Program (GUAPA) of the World Bank. The GUAPA is a multi-year program of technical assistance and analytical work. This is one of many working papers being prepared under the

GUAPA. For more information, please contact: Kathy Lindert, Task Manager, LCSHD, The World Bank, [email protected]. The views presented are those of the authors and need not represent those of the World

Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent.

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ACRONYMS

BEST - Basic Education Strengthening Project (USAID) CONALFA - Consejo Nacional de Alfabetización CENACEP - Programa de Centros de Aprestamiento Comunitario Preescolar COEDUCA - Comité Educativo de Autogestión DIGEBI - Dirección General de Educación Bilingue GDP - Gross Domestic Product MINEDUC - Ministerio de Educación NGO - Non-governmental organization NEU - Nueva Escuela Unitaria PAIN - Proyecto de Atención Integral al Niño). PEMEM - Proyecto de Extensión y Mejoramiento de la Enseñanza Media PRONADE - Programa Nacional de Autogestión para el Desarrollo Educativo PRONERE - Programa Nacional de Evaluación del Rendimiento Escolar UCONIME - Unidad de Coordinación Nacional e Internacional del Ministerio de

Educación UNICEF - United Nations International Children Education Fund URNG - Unión Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca USAC - Universidad de San Carlos USAID - United States Agency for International Development

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GUATEMALA

THE EDUCATION SECTOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No. I. INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW 1 II. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM 2

A. Initial Education 3 B. Pre-primary Education 4 C. Primary Education 7 D. Primary Adult Education 10 E. Secondary Education 15 F. University Education 17 G. Literacy Training 19

III.EDUCATION SECTOR EXPENDITURES 20 A. Historical Situation 20 B. Unit Costs 22 C. Teacher Salaries 23 D. Cost of System Inefficiencies 24 E. Conclusions 25

ANNEXES

Charts 1. School Age Population and Enrollment, 2000 26 2. Female Enrollment in PRONADE Schools, 2000 26 3. Cost per Student, per Level, by Department, 2000 27 4. Cost per Student, per Level, by Region, 2000 28

Tables 1. Structure of the System 29 2. Total Enrollment, by Regions and Departments, 2000 30 2a Pre-primary Monolingual and Bilingual Enrollment,2000 31 2b Primary School Enrollment, 2000 32 2c PRONADE Pre-Primary and Primary 33 School Enrollment, 2000 2d Adult Primary School Enrollment, 2000 34 2e Basic Secondary School Enrollment, 2000 35 2f Diversified Secondary School Enrollment, 2000 36 3. University Enrollment, 1999 37 4. Number of School Teachers per Level, by Regions 38 and Departments, 2000 5. Number of School Teachers per Level, 1996-2000 39 6. Composition of Education Expeditures, by Region, Type, 40 and Level, 2000 BIBLIOGRAPHY 41

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GUATEMALA: THE EDUCATION SECTOR

I. INSTITUTIONAL OVERVIEW

1. The Ministry of Education is the institution responsible for regulating, directing, planning, supervising and evaluating the country’s education system at the initial, pre-primary, primary and secondary levels, including public and private, and formal and non-formal education. The University of San Carlos, the only public tertiary level institution, has the constitutional mandate, since 1985, to direct and develop public tertiary education. Private tertiary education is regulated by the Council of Private Tertiary Education (Consejo de la Enseñanza Privada Superior), created by the Constitution of 1985. The Council’s mandate is to ensure that private universities maintain their academic standards and remain independent, to authorize the creation of new universities, and to apply sanctions to those universities not following established regulations. Under the leadership and coordination of the Ministry of Education, literacy training is provided by the National Literacy Council (CONALFA), by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and, since 2001, by secondary level graduating students. 2. The Ministry of Education has been undergoing a restructuring process for several years. The most significant changes occurred beginning in 1996 when the organizational structure was streamlined, administrative units with unclear or duplicate functions were eliminated, its overall size was reduced, and departmental directorates were created.

Ministry of Education Organizational Structure

* Recently created units a/ National and International Cooperation Unit. b/ Programa Nacional de Autogestion Educativa

Minister Admin. Vice Minister Tech. Vice Minister

Planning Unit Financial Admin.Unit

UCONIME a/ Personnel Tech. Unit

Project Coord. Unit Information Unit

Internal Audit

Legal Advisory UNit

General Admin. of the Minister’s Office

Communications Dir. *

Departmental Directorates

Education Districts

Schools

Curricula & Training Dir.*

General Dir. of Bilingual Ed.

Dir. of Support Programs

General Dir. of Non Formal

PRONADE b/ General Dir. of Physical Ed.

Programs & Projects Dir.*

Literacy Coord. Unit *

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3. The main objective of the restructuring process was to deconcentrate, decentralize and simplify education administration to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of quality education services. Close to 400 administrative staff were laid off, an additional 200 positions were eliminated, and 124 staff were reassigned, some of them to schools.1 The Ministry of Education became one of the institutions to pilot the government’s Integrated Financial Administration System. Since 1998, all central level administrative units, as well as Departmental Directorates have received budgetary allocations and have been accountable for their use. Important components of the decentralization efforts of the Ministry were the support provided to the PRONADE program (para. 23), where legally organized communities receive direct transfer of funds to run the schools; the creation of School Boards (Juntas Escolares), in most schools, that also receive a direct transfer of funds annually for school maintenance; and the creation of Teacher Selection Committees (Jurados de Oposicion) at the municipal and departmental levels. These committees operated successfully until 1999.

II. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

3. On December 29,1996, the Government of Guatemala and the URNG signed the Peace Accords that include the transformation of the country’s education system as an important component. Details of the transformation are specified in the Accord on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Accord on Socioeconomic Aspects and Agrarian Situation. These accords establish that education is a means to transmit and develop values and knowledge within a multilingual and multicultural society, thus the curricula must integrate equally the diverse cultures and languages of the country. They also establish that education and training are key factors to achieve equity, national unity, economic modernization and international competitiveness. These Accords set specific targets to be met by the year 2000. Among these are: a requirement for a 50% increase of the education budget relative to the 1995 allocation as a percent of the GDP, provision of at least three years of primary schooling to all 7-12 year olds, and an increase in literacy rates to reach 70% by the year 2000. The Accords place emphasis on community participation, continuous training of education sector staff, and financing of the University of San Carlos.

4. To make operational the objectives of the Accords, the government created a Committee (Comisión Paritaria) with representatives from the government and indigenous organizations that had a 10-month term. In July of 1998, the Committee issued the Design for Education Reform. To carry out this reform the government created a Consultative Committee with members from the government, Mayan organizations, teachers’ associations, public and private universities, members of the Comision Paritaria, representatives from churches, private schools, and the private sector. The Consultative Committee still holds regular meetings, has created subcommittees to analyze diverse issues and make recommendations for action.

5. The education system in Guatemala has two subsystems, the formal and non-formal education subsystems. The formal education subsystem includes pre-primary, primary, adult primary, basic secondary, diversified secondary, and university education. The non-formal

1 Ministerio de Educacion, Memoria de Labores, 1996-1999, pp. 8-11

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subsystem includes initial education, accelerated pre-primary (CENACEP), extra-mural, and literacy training. Non-formal education is directed to the population that has been unable to enter the formal education system, or has abandoned it without completing one level, principally primary education. It is carried out through intra-mural or distance modalities. Some programs are carried out by government institutions other than the Ministry of Education (Ministries of Health, Agriculture and Defense, and the National Literacy Council, CONALFA).

6. The structure of the education system (Annex 1) is similar to that of other Latin American countries. Initial education is directed to 0-6 year olds, monolingual pre-primary is directed to 5-6 year olds, and bilingual pre-primary to 4-8 year olds. Neither level is a requirement for enrollment in primary school. Primary education is directed to 7-12 year olds, secondary education is directed to 13-19 year olds who have completed sixth grades of primary school, and university education is open to those students completing secondary school. The system has a high rate of under, and mostly over-age students at all levels, ranging, in the year 2000, from 5% in bilingual pre-schools, and 8% in monolingual pre-schools, to 17% in primary and basic secondary schools. Only diversified secondary schools have most of the students in the proper grade for their age. A. Initial Education

7. The Ministry of Education supports an initial education program for 0-5 year olds called PAIN (Proyecto de Atencion Integral al Nino). This program which has been in operation for five years has four distinct activities: (i) provision of monthly orientation services to pregnant and lactating mothers on health care, nutrition and education of newborns; (ii) assistance to parents through meetings where child development and care is discussed, and promoting community involvement to build child care spaces; (iii) provision of training to promote physical and mental development of 0-3 year old children; and (iv) provision of education services to 3-6 year old children to promote development of the areas of cognition, psychomotor skills, social skills, language, health, and nutrition. The centers receive food donated by the World Food Program.

Table 1.1: Initial Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Coverage (No.) 26,188 30,840 33,861 42,269 n.a.

Mothers 9,848 14,280 14,381 18,252 n.a.

Children 16,340 16,560 19,480 24,017 25,380

No. of Centers n.a. n.a. 275 325 339 Source: Ministry of Education, Memoria de Labores, 1996-1999, PAIN program directorate, 2000

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Table 1.1 shows an impressive growth in the program in the last five years. The number of children covered increased by 55% from 1996 to 2000, and the number of mothers assisted by the program also grew a significant 85% in four years. This program functions in rural and marginal urban areas. The Ministry of Education appoints teachers as center coordinators; the community is expected to obtain a physical space for the operation of the centers, usually carried out with Social Investment Funds’ support. The center coordinator is expected to promote the program and obtain the cooperation of community volunteers to help with child development activities in the centers. 8. A study of the PAIN program carried out in the year 20002 by surveying a sample of PAIN centers, concluded that the program is more effective in developing motor skills, language and social skills in 5.6 to 6 year old children, than on 2.6-3 year olds. The survey results showed that, in general, children attending the centers have low weight for their height, and that the vaccination programs were acceptable in most communities. There are health risks in some centers because of inadequate handling of the water supply, and garbage disposal. 9. Issues. The main issues in initial education include:

• Coverage of initial education is very limited. • Most centers do not have adequate infrastructure, and they lack minimal furniture and

equipment to promote a good learning environment. • There are insufficient learning materials and teacher and volunteer guides. • PAIN center coordinators are primary school teachers, because of unavailability of

monolingual and bilingual pre-school teachers. This results in a tendency to teach children to read, write and learn basic math skills, instead of emphasizing psychomotor skill development, as well as social and language skills. There is also high teacher turnover, and very limited technical support for center coordinators.

• Some centers operate as childcare centers with no programmed activities for the children.

• There is no specific budget allocation for the program within the Ministry’s budget. B. Pre-primary Education. 10. This level is directed primarily to four to eight year old children. There are three education models at this level which have been supported by the MINEDUC for several years: monolingual (Spanish) pre-school, bilingual (Mayan language and Spanish) pre-school, and accelerated pre-school. The first two are part of the formal subsystem, and the third corresponds to the non-formal education subsystem. While there are private providers of both formal education models, in the year 2000, public pre-school enrollment accounted for 90% of the total in much of the country, with the exception of the Department of Guatemala which had one-fourth of pre-school enrollment. Public sector enrollment accounted for only 46% of the total (Annex 2a).

2 de la Roca, Urizar Aragon, and Arango Siliezar, Informe Diagnostico 2000, PAIN, Proyecto de Atencion Integral al Nino, prepared for UNICEF, December 2000.

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11. Monolingual pre-school services were provided mostly in large urban areas, but they now cover, almost equally, urban and rural areas. Enrollment growth has been an impressive 84% between the years 1996 and 2000 as shown below. There are slightly more boys than girls enrolled at this level, and the percentage of over-age students ranges between 4.5% and 8%.

Table 1.2: Monolingual Pre -School Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Total Enrollment (No.) 139,988 146,307 165,976 216,038 258,000

Rural enrollment (%) 21.5 24.3 31.9 45.6 49.2 Female enrollment (%) 49.3 49.2 49.3 49.2 49.7

Selected indicators (%)

Gross enrollment rate 21.1 22.8 25.3 32.2 37.5 Net enrollment rate 16.5 17.9 19.6 25.9 29.2 Repetition rate Dropout rate 7.6 7.3 7.4 9.7 5.7

Students/teacher (No.) 25 24 22 27 22

Source: Ministry of Education, Education Statistics Yearbooks, 1996-2000

Bilingual pre-school is offered mainly in rural, indigenous areas. When one considers that more than half of the country’s population is indigenous, the gross enrollment rate of about 14% shows that this model is limited to a very small number of children. As Table 1.2 shows, there are less female children enrolled, although the percentage has improved slightly since 1996. Both repetition and dropout rates are extremely high for this level, as is the number of students per teacher. This last indicator appears to have improved considerably in the last three years because of a concerted effort by the General Directorate of Bilingual Education (DIGEBI) to obtain and fill bilingual teacher positions. The number of overage students declined from a high of 7.5% in 1996 to 5.3% in 2000.

Table 1.3: Bilingual Pre -School Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000




Gross enrollment rate 11.7 11.9 12.2 13.7 13.6 Net enrollment rate 4.2 4.8 5.1 6.9 8.3

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Repetition rate 14.8 14.6 13.8 13.4 13.1 Dropout rate 13.0 12.9 13.3 14.3 12.0


Source: Ministry of Education, Education Statistics Yearbooks, 1996-2000 12. An important achievement in bilingual pre-primary education is the increase in the provision of services to a total of 14 different linguistic communities (Achuj, Chuj, Ixil, Kaqchikel, K’iche Mam, Poqomchi, Popti, Q’anjob’al, K’eqchi, Sakapulteko, Tz’utujil, Uspanteko and Garifuna). 13. Issues. While coverage has increased significantly since 1996, a number of issues remain.

• Less than one half of pre-school age children attend pre-school. There are important regional differences that range from a low gross enrollment rate of 38.2% in Region IV (Departments of Santa Rosa, Jalapa, and Jutiapa), and 42.2% in Region III (Departments of Izabal, Zacapa and Chiquimula) to a relatively high 61.3% in Region I (Department of Guatemala) (Annex 2a).

• There has been a considerable increase in enrollment of female and indigenous children in rural areas, through the PRONADE program. However, there are still less female children (1-2%) enrolled in pre-school in departments with a high concentration of indigenous population (Annex 2b).

• Repetition rates are very high in bilingual pre-schools. The causes may be lack of bilingual teachers and of bilingual pre-school teachers, low quality of teachers, as well as lack of educational materials.

• Limited number of teachers are trained to teach in pre-schools. Only 14% of graduates of teacher training institutions (normales) are pre-school teachers.3

• Results of standardized tests show that third and sixth graders attending rural schools in 1998, 1999, and 2000, who had attended pre-school do not perform as well as those students that did not attend pre-school. In urban areas, the opposite is true. 4 The main reasons for these surprising results appear to be the bad quality of rural pre-schools (poor infrastructure, ill-trained, or lack of pre-school teachers, including bilingual teachers, lack of educational materials, and attempts by teachers to teach pre-schoolers to read and write, and basic math skills).

14. CENACEP. This program was developed in 1994 as a low-cost alternative to provide children older than 6.5 years with basic psychomotor, social, language and math skills before they begin first grade. It consists of an accelerated pre-school program that prepares children to enter first grade for 35 days, 3 hours daily for a total of 105 hours (compared with 720 hours for formal pre-schools). The program takes place in November and December of each year, shortly before the official school year starts. The CENACEP centers operate in primary school 3Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, una revision, Informe Final prepared for the Sub-Committee on Human Resources, Consultative Committee for Education Reform, October, 1999. 4 Baessa, Yetilu, Informe de Resultados del Programa Nacional de Evaluacion del Rendimiento Escolar – PRONERE, prepared for the Ministry of Education, 1998, 1999, 2001

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classrooms, and are led by community volunteers or student teachers trained in the use of a detailed pre-school guide.

Table 1.4: Accelerated Pre -School (CENACEP), 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

No. of Children 15,620 37,000 74,160 284,098 a/ No. of Centers 443 950 2,486 7,374 a/

a/ There were no financial resources available for the program at end -2000 Source: Ministry of Education, Memoria de Labores, 1996-1999

15. As shown in Table 1.4, coverage increased by 1700% from 1996 to 1999. A 1996 evaluation of the program carried out by the Ministry of Education, financed by UNICEF,5 found that the level of school readiness of children who attended CENACEP centers was similar to that of children who attended one year of pre-school. Furthermore, the evaluation found that children who attended CENACEP centers performed better in all the areas evaluated than a control group, with similar characteristics, that had not attended pre-school. In the Department of Quiche, the children who attended CENACEP performed significantly better than the control group without pre-school experience. It was determined that CENACEP was an effective and low-cost alternative for the provision of pre-school education. 16. In 1997, the Ministry of Education began a longitudinal study to determine the effectiveness of the program.6 The first phase, carried out in 1997, was to serve as a baseline for the study and included a sample of 751 first, second and third graders. The second phase took place in 1998 with a larger sample of 1,090 students that included fourth graders, of these, 353 students were in the first sample. The sample included, as in the first evaluation, two control groups, one of 178 children who had attended pre-school and a second of 359 children that enrolled in primary school without pre-school experience. The main findings of the study include the following: (i) there was no difference in performance between boys and girls, (ii) there were lower repetition and over-age rates among students that attended CENACEP centers, but statistically significant results were found only in second and third grades, (iii) the results of students in the Quiche Department were better in most areas, than the control group with no pre-school experience, showing statistically significant differences, (iv) students who attended CENACEP performed better in math than the control group with no pre-school experience, although there were no statistically significant differences, and (v) CENACEP was found to be effective in providing cognitive and social skills development in students that attend the centers. The study recommends increasing coverage of the program, with particular emphasis in rural areas, and in those areas where repetition and overage rates are highest.

5 Ministerio deEducacion, UNICEF, Viabilidad y Evaluacion, CENACEP, September 1996. 6 Ministerio deEducacion, UNICEF, La Preprimaria Acelerada: Una opcion para favorecer el exito academico en la escuela primaria, October 1998.

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17. Issues. Despite the positive results of the evaluations, no CENACEP centers operated in 2000, and financial resources are not yet available for the operation of the centers in 2001.

C. Primary Education. 18. Primary education is directed to 7-12 year olds, although there is a high percentage of over-age students in the primary school system (between 15% and 19% in the years under review). Primary school education is provided mostly by the public sector throughout the country (90%), with the exception of Guatemala City where public sector enrollment covers only 58% of the primary school population. To the Government’s credit, and through concerted efforts to meet the targets set in the Peace Accords, primary school enrollment increased by 26% between 1996 and 2000, that is considerably higher than the primary school age population growth rate for the period. About half of the increase in coverage was achieved through the PRONADE program that provides education services in rural areas (para. 23). As shown it Table 1.5 below, there has been a greater increase in rural school enrollment than in urban school enrollment at this level.

Table 1.5: Primary Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Total Enrollment (No.) 1,510,811 1,544,709 1,685,411 1,823,989 1,909,389



Gross enrollment rate 84.3 88.2 94.2 99.8 101.8 Net enrollment rate 69.1 72.6 77.7 81.0 84.3 Repetition rate 15.3 14.5 14.3 14.9 14.5 Dropout rate 8.2 8.1 7.4 8.4 7.0



19. Since 1996, there has been a 1% increase in enrollment of female children, but there is still a significant difference between male and female enrollment at the primary school level. Regional differences are less marked than in the past, however, rural female enrollment still lags 1% behind urban female enrollment. Also, in Region II (Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz Departments), Region IV ( Department of Jutiapa), Region V (Department of Chimaltenango), Region VI (Departments of Suchitepequez and Retalhuleu), and Region VII (Departments of Huehuetenango and Quiche) female enrollment is between 1-3% below the national average (Annex 2c). Overall repetition and dropout rates have not changed significantly since 1996, although the numbers show a downward tendency. In general, female students seem to have

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slightly less repetition and dropout rates than male students do both in urban and rural areas. This situation is similar at all education levels.

20. With USAID and private sector support, the Ministry of Education initiated in 1993 a pilot program (Eduque a la Nina) to promote enrollment of indigenous girls in school and their completion of at least three, preferably six years of schooling. The program included scholarships for female students, educational materials, and community promoters. In 1996, a final evaluation of the pilot program was conducted7. The main conclusions of the evaluation which included the results of previous years evaluations, as well as a control group of students that were not part of the program, are: (i) the scholarship program was effective in promoting attendance, retention, and completion rates of female students in school, (ii) the highest impact was in retention of female students in the first three grades of primary school, with higher retention in first grade, and (iii) female teachers constitute an incentive for active participation of female students in the classroom. The results were consistently higher for scholarship recipients than for control group students.

21. A qualitative study carried out in 2000 in 10 communities8 found that parents think that girls have the same right to an education as boys do. Also, the community elders in indigenous communities indicated that girls and boys have the same right to an education.

22. The Ministry of Education used three administrative models to rapidly increase primary school enrollment in rural and in marginal urban areas, with local and multilateral financing. The first is the “traditional” model of opening schools, where the two most difficult aspects were the creation of a teacher position that took approximately 8 months and by 1999 had been reduced to 3 months9, and school construction that was done through Social Investment Funds. A second model, supported by the World Bank, was the establishment of afternoon shifts in existing schools in marginal urban areas, with the same difficulties of teacher position creation. The third model was PRONADE, supported by the World Bank and the German Development Bank (KfW).

23. PRONADE is a decentralized, community-led program that seeks to increase access and improve the quality of primary education, especially in rural, indigenous, hard-to-reach areas where there is not a public school. Under PRONADE, rural communities with no access to education services receive financing directly from MINEDUC to get a new school off the ground. Communities may qualify to participate in the program if they meet at least four criteria. First, the community must find a site and demonstrate ability and genuine interest in managing the new school. Second, the community must be located far from the nearest public school (at least 3 kilometers away). Third, the community must have at least 20 pre-primary and primary 7 Chesterfield, R. and Rubio, F., Incentivos para la Participacion de ninas indigenas guatemaltecas en educacion primaria: evaluacion final del proyecto piloto Eduque a la Nina, prepared for the Academy for Educational Development and submitted to USAID, May 1996. 8 Rodriguez Santana, M., Percepciones sobre la educacion: un estudio cualitativo y multi-etnico en Guatemala, Informe Final, prepared for the World Bank, February 2001. 9 Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, una revision, Informe Final prepared for the Sub-Committee on Human Resources, Consultative Committee for Education Reform, October, 1999.

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school-age children. Fourth, the community must not have any teachers already in the official government's payroll. Financing for the program is distributed by the Government to communities to cover teacher salaries, learning materials and school snacks, as well as to NGOs to cover administrative training and, until the end of the year 2000 to cover educational support services. These are NGOs that specialize in education and community development, and are contracted by PRONADE. Financing is fully contingent on extensive community participation in all affairs related to the school which usually range from hiring teachers to setting the local school calendar. Each community is represented by a COEDUCA, which itself is elected locally and comprised of parents and community members. PRONADE has had a significant role in increasing expansion of enrollment in pre-primary and primary education in the 1996-2000 period (Table 1.6). As of May, 2000, PRONADE schools accounted for 11 percent of the total enrollment in primary education at the national level, and they represented 33 percent of primary school enrollment in rural areas10. 24. At the national level, a relatively small implementation unit located in the capital coordinates the program. The implementation unit is responsible for strategic planning, financial management, monitoring and evaluation. The unit coordinates closely with staff from FIS on school infrastructure matters and on educational policy and assessment issues with the respective Ministry of Education Directorates. In keeping with the decentralized nature of the program, the implementation unit leaves all school administration and managerial decisions in the hands of the COEDUCAs. The COEDUCAs receive technical assistance and overall advice from participating NGOs.

Table 1.6: PRONADE Enrollment, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

No. of Children Pre-primary 0 0 8,903 27,665 43,056 Primary 67,734 118,392 179,442 193,992 231,408 Total 67,734 118,392 188,345 221,657 274,464 % increase 75% 59% 18% 24% No. of Teachers 327 892 1,990 2,815 3,585 No. of COEDUCAS 808 1,635 3,769 5,683 8,665 No. of Departments

13 15 20 20 20

Source: Valerio and Rojas, Education Decentralization in Guatemala, data for 1996-1999 Ministry of Education, Education Stat istics Yearbooks, data for 2000

25. In 1999, a study was carried out to serve as a baseline for future evaluations of the PRONADE program11. The main findings of the study that included a control group of public primary schools with similar characteristics as those of PRONADE schools include: (i) The time

10 Valerio and Rojas, Education Decentralization in Guatemala. School Management by Local Communities: The Case of PRONADE, July 2000 11 Ministerio de Education, PRONADE, Estudio Cuasi Experimental, Resultados de 1999, September 2000.

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spent in the classroom is longer for PRONADE schools (4.04 hours/day) than in the control group (3.69 hours), and parents report that the school calendar and schedule is adhered to 92% of the time in PRONADE schools, while control group parents report a 85% adherence to school calendar and schedule; (ii) attendance in control group schools was higher for boys and girls (81% and 69% respectively) than in PRONADE schools (72% for boys and 60% for girls); (iii) parents’ participation in school is higher in PRONADE schools than control group schools in matters related to hiring of teachers, administration of education, provision of labor for school improvement and school maintenance. Also, 23% of physical infrastructure of PRONADE schools was built exclusively with community funds, while only 7% of control group schools were built with community funds; (iv) over 50% of COEDUCAs members are familiar their functions and responsibilities which is not the case with the control group parents’ associations. However, only 42% of COEDUCAs reported that they know they can make decisions related to the school; (v) 60% of PRONADE teachers, and 70% of control group teachers are responsible for teaching more than one grade; (vi) 65% of PRONADE school teachers and 56% of control group teachers reported that their students speak mainly a Mayan language, 83% of PRONADE teachers speak the language of the students, and 57% have received training in bilingual education, by contrast, 66% of control group teachers speak the language of the students and only 47% have received training in bilingual education. The study found that less than 1% of books in PRONADE schools are in Mayan languages; (vii) both groups show that 26% of the children suffer from malnutrition; (viii) the infrastructure and basic service provision in PRONADE schools is very poor with 31% lacking water, and 20% lacking sanitary facilities or latrines, compared to 12% and 11%, respectively, in control group schools. 26. Preliminary data from the Quasi-Experimental Study for 2000 that included a sample of 22,993 students from PRONADE schools, and a control group of 6,590 students from public schools, with similar characteristics, show that students in PRONADE schools are being enrolled in the next grade at higher rates than control group students. Differences are more marked in the higher grades (i.e. 81% of fourth grade students in 1999 enrolled in fifth grade in 2000, compared to only 67% of students in comparison schools; and 94% of fifth grade students in 1999 enrolled in sixth grade in 2000, compared to only 58% of students in control group schools.

D. Primary Adult Education.

27. This level enrolled about 27,000 students in the year 2000. It is a small program and part of the formal education subsystem that provides adults with the equivalent of a primary education in four years. Primary adult education is offered mostly in urban areas (only 4% of enrollment is in rural areas), and 60% is offered by the public sector. Female enrollment is 46% (Annex 2d).

28. The Ministry of Education, with bilateral and multilateral financing, has implemented various education models to address quality issues in primary education. In the past ten years, the most important have been: (i) multigrade teaching methodology, piloted in schools with one to three teachers for six grades in the Departments of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Santa Rosa,

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Jalapa and Jutiapa; (ii) bilingual education methodology in departments with a large indigenous population; (iii) bilingual multigrade methodology, piloted in ten schools in the Department of Alta Verapaz; (iv) schools for excellence model, piloted in 24 teacher training institutions (normales) and 148 primary schools (34 of them bilingual), linked to the normales, throughout the country; and (v) B’e quality bilingual model, piloted in 46 schools.

29. Multigrade schools. This education model called New Unitary School (Nueva Escuela Unitaria – NEU) was designed for multigrade schools in rural areas of Guatemala and was financed by USAID’s Basic Education Strengthening (BEST) project. Planning began in 1991 and the first pilot schools began operating in 1993. At present, there are a total of 2,186 rural multigrade rural schools that provide services to close to 130,000 students. Of these, 687 are PRONADE schools in Alta Verapaz. Teachers in these schools have received training in multigrade methodology. The NEU model is children-centered, based on active learning principles that stress collaborative learning, peer teaching, the use of self-instructional guides, and participation in student government. The objectives of the program include providing students the opportunity to complete sixth grade; creating flexible, life-long learners, and encouraging the formation of participatory, democratic behaviors.12

30. An evaluation of the pilot schools was carried out in 1994,13 on the second year of the pilot. There was a control group made up of multigrade schools with a traditional educational program and with similar characteristics to those of the NEU schools. The principal findings of the study were: (i) the greatest impact of the NEU program in its second year of complete implementation was on the socio-emotional behavior of the children participating in the program. Students in NEU schools performed significantly better than control group students on the creativity measure, and their participatory behaviors were more frequent; (ii) the changes in behavior found to be promoted by the NEU program in the classroom were transferred to the home and community life; (iii) the changes in socio-emotional behavior and in the classroom environment did not translate into consistently higher gains in achievement; (iv) the NEU program had a significant effect on retaining children in school; (v) dropout rates for boys and girls were lower in NEU schools than in control group schools; (vi) the program was having an effect on the performance of girls as shown by the significantly higher scores on the creativity measure than did girls in the control group.

31. A second study carried out in 1994 sought to determine if the NEU model promoted democratic behavior and attitudes in children, which were specific curricular objectives of the model. Ten pilot schools were included in the study and ten traditional multigrade schools were used as a control group. The main findings of the study indicated that: (i) children in the NEU program exhibited significantly more democratic behaviors and attitudes (turn-taking, directing others in an activity, and receiving positive feedback) and with more frequency than children in

12 Chesterfield, Ray, Indicators of Democratic Behavior in NEU Schools, prepared for the Academy for Educational Development, Juarez and Associates, Inc., and IDEAS, Ltd. and submitted to USAID, July 15, 1994. 13 Baessa, Y., Giron, R., Ramos, T., and Valdes, J., Improving Educational Quality Project, Research Report - Year Two, Guatemala, prepared for the Institute for International Research, Juarez and Associates, Inc., and the University of Pittsburgh, and submitted to USAID.

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comparison schools; (ii) indigenous and Ladino children had greater incidences of democratic behavior than children in the comparison group; (iii) the program promotes democratic behaviors among boys and girls, however, in the first year it was more successful in encouraging these behaviors in boys than in girls; and (iv) one year in the NEU program was not sufficient to develop a broad range of democratic behavior among young children.

32. Bilingual Schools. With USAID’s support under the Basic Education Strengthening Project (BEST), the Ministry of Education began in 1991 a process of creation of bilingual schools in 11 departments with a high concentration of Mayan population. A comparative analysis carried out in 199814 reported that in 1997, almost 21.6% of all schools in these 11 departments were bilingual schools, or DIGEBI (Directorate General of Bilingual, Intercultural Education) schools. When DIGEBI schools were examined in relation to a control group of schools from the same region, not implementing the DIGEBI methodology, there were some positive findings. In the 1991-96 cohort, sixth grade completion rates for DIGEBI schools were 20% for boys and 14% for girls, while the control group schools showed 16% and 12% respectively. In the 1992-97 cohort, sixth grade completion rates for DIGEBI schools were 21% for boys and 15% for girls, compared to 15% and 11% respectively for the control group. While these rates are very low for both groups, children in DIGEBI schools appear to do better than children in non-DIGEBI schools in the same geographic areas. Other significant findings of the analysis were that: (i) less than 70% of boys who are not promoted to second grade return to school, and there is a consistent decrease, at each grade level, in the percentage of children who return to school when they have not been promoted—at the sixth grade level only 40% of male repeaters return to school; (ii) the pattern is similar for girls, however, the percentage of female students who drop out after not being promoted is higher than that for boys, and the percentage of female repeaters who return to school is lower at every grade level than that of male students. Rates of male and female children in the comparison group were somewhat higher, and the same trend was true for the system as a whole; (iii) in DIGEBI schools, over 90% of female and male children that are promoted return to school the next year to continue their studies.

33. In 2000, an analysis of the status of bilingual education was carried out15 that showed that there are more than 900,000 Mayan speaking 6-12 year olds, of these, only about 200,000 receive some type of bilingual, intercultural education. In addition, it was found that, in bilingual schools, a Mayan language is used only 24% of the time in the learning process, while Spanish is used 73% of the time. A breakdown of Mayan language use in the schools by grade shows that in pre-schools, a Mayan language is used 49% of the time, in first grade it is used 28% of the time, in second grade 17% of the time, and in third grade, only 9% of the time.

34. Unavailability of bilingual education, as well as lack of good quality bilingual education for Mayan students are variables that may account for the poorer results achieved by Mayan

14 Rubio, F., The Status of Primary Education in El Quiche in Relation to Other Departments served by DIGEBI and to Guatemala as a Whole, MEDIR Project, USAID, unpublished paper, 1998. 15 Rubio, F., Presentation on the Status of Bilingual Education, MEDIR Project, USAID, 2000

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children in standardized learning achievement tests in language and math.16 The year 2000 results show that in rural areas, 30% of the third grade student sample spoke a Mayan language, and 24% of the sixth grade student sample spoke a Mayan language. In both grades, these students obtained significantly lower mean test scores in reading in Spanish, and in math than the rest of the students in the sample. Similar results are obtained by Mayan students in urban areas where they were 17% of the third grade sample, and 20% of the sixth grade sample. When comparing mean test scores of DIGEBI schools’ students between 1999 and 2000, there was a statistically significant improvement in the performance of third graders in math, and of sixth graders in math and reading compared to the previous year.

35. The recently completed qualitative study on perceptions on education17 in 10 communities found that Mayan parents reported not having heard about bilingual education, with one exception. However, Mayan parents in five communities and community elders in six communities, indicated that they would expect education to be bilingual, but that Spanish is more important. In three communities, opinions were divided. Mayan schoolteachers in five communities felt that education should be in Spanish, and only in three communities, they indicated that it should be bilingual. Mayan children are divided in their opinions.

36. Schools for Excellence. This model began as a pilot in 1997 with support from the Social Investment Fund and an NGO. A total of 100 schools were selected by the Ministry of Education to receive textbooks, teacher guides, and teacher training targeted to develop logical thinking and problem solving skills. Close to 1,000 teachers were trained.

37. Results of the achievement tests for 2000 show that students in the sample that attended these schools in urban areas had higher mean test scores than all other groups in both reading and math, in both third and sixth grades. Also, the comparison of test scores between 1999 and 2000 shows that the students of both grades had significantly higher mean test scores in both reading and math in 2000, compared to the previous year.

38. Achievement Testing – General Results. The Ministry of Education, with World Bank financing, established the National Program of Evaluation of School Achievement (PRONERE) in an effort to set indicators to monitor and measure education quality. University del Valle was contracted to carry out the testing and analyze the results. Testing of third and sixth graders was carried out in 1997, 1999, and in the year 2000 in addition to testing third and sixth graders, basic and diversified secondary education students were also tested. The Ministry of Education has decided to continue financing, the PRONERE program with local funds.

39. The most significant findings that appear consistently in the test results in each of the three years show that there are great inequities in the primary education system. The system appears to favor urban school students over rural school students. In urban areas, schools 16 Baessa, Y., Baessa, Yetilu, Informe de Resultados del Programa Nacional de Evaluacion del Rendimiento Escolar – PRONERE, prepared for the Ministry of Education, 1998, 1999, 2001 17 Rodriguez Santana, M., Percepciones sobre la educacion: un estudio cualitativo y multi-etnico en Guatemala, Informe Final, prepared for the World Bank, February 2001.

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have more qualified and better trained teachers, better infrastructure, more books in the schools, the student’s parents have higher levels of education, and the students are more likely to be in the right grade for their age. In rural areas, girls are at a greater disadvantage than in urban areas, compared to boys. Following are the key findings:

• there are significant differences in student achievement across geographic regions • student achievement in reading and math is generally low in third and sixth grades • urban school student achievement in reading and math is better than rural school student

achievement in both areas • male student achievement in reading and math in third and sixth grades, and in rural and

urban areas is better than female student achievement • Mayan student achievement in third and sixth grades in urban and rural areas is below

that of non-Mayan students18 • rural third and sixth grade students who report having attended pre-school, have lower

mean test scores than their urban counterparts • chronological age is a significant variable in student achievement, since younger students

have better results than their older counterparts. 40. Issues. The main issues in primary education are related to coverage, equity, efficiency, quality and institutions. The key issues include:

• Coverage. There have been significant improvements in coverage in the past five

years; however, there are still an estimated 16% of 7-12 year olds that are not attending school.

• Equity. Female enrollment, while it has increased by over one point between 1996 and 2000, is still 3% lower than male enrollment. In some geographic regions, and in rural, indigenous areas, the situation is worse, but this is a systemic problem. Education indicators for geographic regions of the country with a high concentration of indigenous population are generally worse than those of other regions. Education indicators for rural areas are less favorable than those of urban areas.

• Efficiency. The rates of over-age students has increased by over 2% since 1996, probably due to the creation of new schools in rural isolated communities that had no schools before, and to high repetition rates. Repetition and dropout rates have decreased somewhat, but the rates are still very high. Repetition in the first grade of schooling is close to 50%. A high percentage of students that are not promoted do not return to school.

• Quality. As shown by achievement tests, children in rural schools are at a disadvantage, compared to those of urban schools. Mayan children in rural and urban areas are at a disadvantage compared to non-indigenous children. Female children in rural and urban areas are at a disadvantage compared to male children. Finally, older children are at a disadvantage compared to younger children.

18 Results refer to students that self-reported as speaking a Mayan language in the different type of schools (public, private, urban, rural) and who took the tests in Spanish.

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• Institutions . There is very limited, or no coordination between the different administrative units within the Ministry that manage the various programs, both in the coverage and quality areas.

E. Secondary Education

41. Secondary education in Guatemala has two levels, basic secondary and diversified secondary. Basic secondary education provides three years of education to 13-15 year olds who have completed sixth grade of primary school. At this level, there is also a high percentage of over-age students that ranged from 11% to 17% in the period under review. Basic secondary education provides academic and technical education that is expected to prepare graduates, who cannot continue their secondary education, to join the labor force.

Table 1.7: Basic Secondary Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000







42. In 2000, about 87% of primary education students who completed sixth grade the previous year had access to basic secondary education, and mostly in urban areas. In rural areas, basic education enrollment reached only 18% in 2000, showing an improvement compared to the 12% enrollment in 1996 (Annex 2e). Promotion rates at this level are alarmingly low, totaling 48% in 1997. The Ministry of Education sought to increase coverage at this level through two different modalities. The first consists of cooperative schools that function mostly in urban areas and that have been in operation for several years; and the second consists of distance education that takes place in a formal setting, is directed to provide education services in rural areas, and is called “Telesecundaria.”

43. Cooperative schools function through a tri-partite agreement between the Ministry of Education, legally organized parents’ associations, and municipal authorities. The Ministry

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provides a subsidy of the equivalent of US$1,000 per section (between 20-45 students) per year; the parents agree to pay the equivalent of US$2.7 per month, and the municipality agrees to pay the equivalent of US$133 per section per year. In addition, the municipality may donate land and may contribute funds for school construction, and the parents also contribute funds and/or labor to build the school. Between 1996 and 2000 there was a 20% increase in the number of students enrolled in cooperative schools.

44. In 1997, the Ministry of Education entered into a cooperation agreement with the Mexican Government to implement an alternative modality to increase coverage in basic secondary education. Telesecundaria operates in classrooms, equipped with televisions and video recorders, where videos containing the required educational materials are played. Students have learning guides that are used with the videos. There is a classroom facilitator to assist students. The program takes place in the afternoon shift in community primary schools and is designed for groups of about 30 students who attend school every day. In 2000, 6% of rural basic secondary enrollment corresponded to telesecundaria enrollment. Cooperative schools and telesecundaria enrollment represents 30% of total enrollment at this level, and 56% of public school enrollment. 45. With regard to the quality of basic secondary education, results of achievement tests, carried out in 2000 through the PRONERE program, show that students mean test scores are 38 in math and 51 in reading out of a possible 100.19 Also, in 1998, a study20 of PEMEM (Proyecto de Extensión y Mejoramiento de la Enseñanza Media) centers was carried out. These experimental centers, created in 1973, were designed to offer general and technical education geared toward preparing students to enter the labor force upon completion of their studies. In 1998, PEMEM centers enrollment constituted 28% of public sector enrollment at this level. The results of the study show that the centers lack financial resources to adequately maintain existing infrastructure, and equipment. They also lack equipment, and learning materials. The curricula, particularly in the technical areas are outdated. Teachers in technical areas have lower salaries than those in academic areas. Promotion rates of only 48% in 1997 are comparable to the rest of the schools that offer basic secondary education, probably at a higher cost. 46. Diversified secondary education has between two to four years, and occasionally five years, and is open to students completing the third grade of basic secondary education, who are between 16 and 20 years old. This is the only education level that has a relatively small percentage of over-age students (2.6%). It is also the education level with the least amount of coverage, although there has been a 25% increase in enrollment between 1996 and 2000. The promotion rate was an alarmingly low 66% in 1998. In 2000, the gross enrollment rate was only 15.8%, and rural enrollment was only 3.9%. The private sector is responsible for 76% of enrollment at this level (Annex 2f).

19 Ministerio de Education, Educacion para Todos, Prioridad en Guatemala, CD presentation, 2001, prepared by MEDIR Project, USAID. 20 Chang, L, Menendez, A., Diagnostico de los Centros Experimentales del Programa de Extension y Mejoramiento de la Educacion Media, PEMEM, prepared for IDB, November, 1998

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47. Diversified secondary education has four learning tracks, general education, teacher education, commercial education, and technical education. Individual schools appear to have discretion in the number and program options that they offer, since there are more than 140 different programs.

Table 1.8: Diversified Secondary Education, 1996-2000

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000







48. Teacher Education. Most prospective teachers attend “normal schools” or teacher training institutions at the diversified education level. Teacher education at this level has 12 different programs21, the most attended being urban primary teacher education (60%), followed by pre-primary (14%), rural primary (7%), and the remainder include various combination of primary teacher education programs. It is important to note that the private sector provided close to 60% of teacher education programs. At the university level, five universities offer three different levels of teacher training (see para.—below). As shown in the table below, in 1996, there were 6,300 students enrolled in public and private teacher training institutions. A 1994 study carried out by ASIES and PREAL estimated that in a 20 year period from 1975-1994, there has been a yearly average of 5,362 graduates from public and private teacher training institutions.

Table 1.8: Enrollment in Teacher Training at the Diversified Secondary Level, 1996

Type of Teacher Training Public % Private % Total Urban primary teacher 1,785 47 2,001 53 3,786

21 Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, una revision, Informe Final prepared for the Sub-Committee on Human Resources, Consultative Committee for Education Reform, October, 1999.

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Pre-primary teacher 173 19 718 81 891 Rural primary teacher 323 74 102 24 425 Bilingual primary teacher 20 5 365 95 385 “Educacion para el hogar” 207 73 78 27 285 Primary teacher 56 36 100 64 156 Primary teacher (environment) 0 100 100 100 Other (< 100 students each) 123 45 149 55 272 Total 2,687 43 3,613 57 6,300

Source: Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala

49. Results of the achievement tests of teacher students in teacher training institutions, carried out in 2000 by the PRONERE program, show that the mean test scores obtained by students were 28.5 for math and 54.3 for reading, out of possible 100 points. This is an indication of the low quality of students at this level. 50. Issues. The key issues in secondary education in Guatemala include:

• Very limited access, particularly in rural areas • A very high rate of students are not promoted to the next level • Limited resources • Low quality as evidenced by achievement test results • Most pre-primary and primary school teachers are trained at this level

F. University Education 51. Guatemala has one public sector university, San Carlos (USAC), founded in 1676, that had an enrollment of close to 100,000 students, or 66% of total university enrollment in the country in 1999. There are nine private sector universities (Annex 3), the oldest of which is Rafael Landivar University, founded in 1961 by Jesuit priests and a group of prominent Guatemalan citizens22. Guatemalan Universities offer three-year technical programs in areas such as graphic design, secondary education teaching certificates, speech and occupational therapy, social work, library sciences. Undergraduate programs, leading to a “Licenciatura” normally consist of 4-5 years of study, and graduate programs usually consist of two years of study. The main areas of study at these levels include agronomy, architecture, business administration, economics, law, medicine and dentistry, humanities, engineering, veterinary sciences, psychology, history, social work, communication sciences, and political science.

52. In 1999, there were over 6,000 students (27% of total), enrolled in technical programs in education leading mostly to secondary education teaching certificates. Most of these students (82%) were enrolled in the public sector university. There were close to 1,000 students enrolled in undergraduate programs in education (pedagogy, system administration, bilingual intercultural education, and psychology of education) in USAC and two private universities (Rafael Landivar and Universidad del Valle). These last two universities also offer master level degree programs in education (system administration, bilingual education, curriculum, and

22 Funes, M., La Educacion Superior en Guatemala, prepared for The World Bank, 2000

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measurement, evaluation and research). In 1999, there were 90 students enrolled in these programs, 60 of who were enrolled in the bilingual education program of Rafael Landivar University (possibly under the scholarship program (EDUMAYA) financed by USAID).

Table 1.9: University Enrollment, 1999

Department Other % of % Programs of Guatemala Department

s Total Total Private

Technical 10,998 11,760 22,758 15.1 30.3

Undergraduate 110,050 15,229 125,279 83.1 34.8

Graduate 2,685 57 2,742 1.8 51.6

123,733 27,046 150,779 100.0 34.4

Source: Funes, M., Tertiary Education in Guatemala, 2000

53. At the tertiary level, teacher training is offered at the technical, undergraduate and master levels. About 85% of student teachers are enrolled in technical level programs, 13% are enrolled in undergraduate programs, and 2% are enrolled in master level programs. It is estimated that only 5% of the initial cohort graduates from university level programs23. 54. It is estimated that dropout rates in universities reach more than 50%, particularly in the initial years of study. USAC lacks regulations for repeaters, thus students may stay in the university for as long as they want. A 1994 study24 of the 1970-80 cohort found that only 28% of students graduated within the degree requirement period, and that, on average, 22.3 student years were required to have one graduate. USAC reported that in the 1993-99 period repeaters in the Guatemala City campus reached 32% and they reached 37% in other departments. 55. In the 1993-99 period, 3.7 years were required to promote a student to the next grade level in USAC. There is limited relationship between universities’ curricula and the country’s labor market requirements. This situation is more critical in the public sector university. Curricula and teaching methods are outdated, and students lack adequate learning materials and tools. University professors have low salaries, have very limited access to training and are not

23 Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, una revision, Informe Final prepared for the Sub-Committee on Human Resources, Consultative Committee for Education Reform, October, 1999. 24 Mazariegos, M., Eficiencia Internal del Sistema Educativo. Cohorte 1970-80, USAC, 1994, quoted in Funes, M., La Educacion Superior en Guatemala.

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adequately prepared. In addition, it is estimated that less than 10% of them work full time, and 15% work part-time. The remainder work for only a few hours. Students who enroll in universities have low academic levels. 56. At present, there are efforts in Central America to improve the quality of university education. In 1995, the Central American Council of Tertiary Education was formed to promote a culture of self-evaluations in member universities with the ultimate aim of improving education quality. In Guatemala, USAC as well as del Valle University are members. The first phase of evaluations has begun with emphasis on program evaluation and institutional performance. The objective is to use these experiences to develop an accreditation system. 57. Issues University education, similarly to the rest of the education system, suffers from internal efficiency issues, as well as low quality issues.25 The main issues include:

• Efficiency. Dropout rates are higher than 50%, particularly in the initial years of study. On average, 22.3 student years are required to have one graduate. Repeaters in USAC reached 32% in Guatemala city and 37% in other departments in the 1993-99 period.

• Quality. In the 1993-99 period, 3.7 years were required to promote a student to the

next grade level in USAC. There is limited relationship between universities’ curricula and the country’s labor market requirements. Curricula and teaching methods are outdated. Students lack adequate learning materials and tools. University professors have low salaries, limited access to training and are not adequately prepared. Students who enroll in universities have low academic levels.

G. Literacy Training 58. Guatemala has low rates of literacy of both males (75%) and females (63%). As shown in Table 1.9 below, there have been important gains since 1989, particularly in females, and within that population group in indigenous females, and in rural indigenous population. In spite of these gains, over 50% of indigenous females, 49% of total rural indigenous population, and 34% of non-indigenous rural population are illiterate.

59. It is estimated26 that every year about 83,000 children can become future illiterate persons, 50,000 of these correspond to students that attend first grade, are not promoted, and do not return to school, and the remaining 33,000 consist of children that do not enroll in first grade of school.

25 Funes, M., La Educacion Superior en Guatemala, prepared for The World Bank, 2000 26 Ministerio de Education, Educacion para Todos, Prioridad en Guatemala, CD presentation, 2001, prepared by MEDIR Project, USAID

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Table 1.10: Literate Population, by Ethnicity and Gender, 1989 and 1998 (in %)

1989 1998 % change

Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total

Indigenous Population 55.3 36.5 74.1 50.9 34.0 39.5 Males 53.2 67.3 26.6 Females 28.1 48.5 72.5 Non-indigenous Population 87.7 65.6 89.5 66.2 2.1 0.8 Males 81.3 81.1 -0.2 Females 71.0 76.2 7.2 Total Population Males 88.1 61.8 71.2 87.4 66.0 74.7 -0.8 6.8 4.9 Females 75.8 42.8 55.5 82.0 49.1 63.1 8.1 14.6 13.6

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, 2000

60. CONALFA, in charge of literacy training, is going through an institutional reorganization with the objective of making literacy training more efficient, by reducing the program’s duration from nine to seven months, linking the program to productive projects, and reducing the number of illiterate children between 9 and 14 years old. To this effect, CONALFA and the Directorate for Extra-Mural Education have entered into an agreement to develop specific education programs that would allow 9-14 year olds that enroll in CONALFA literacy training to receive primary schooling in non-conventional programs.

61. CONALFA has two literacy programs, one is in Spanish and the second is bilingual. Both programs have an initial stage and a second post-literacy stage that has two phases. In 1998, promotion rates were reported to be 36% at the initial stage27. In 2000, they were reported to be 55%.28

62. Issues.

• CONALFA’s existence as an institution was extended from 2000 to 2008, but it did

not receive a budgetary allocation for 2000, although there is Constitutional mandate allocating CONALFA 1% of the government budget for literacy training. Ministry of Education resources to the tune of US$7.0 million equivalent were used for literacy training during the year.

27 Ralon Orellana, C., CIEN, Revis ion del Programa de Inversion Publica de Mediano Plazo, Sector Educacion, prepared for the World Bank, November, 1998. 28 Interview with Lic. Silvia Leiva, Executive Secretary of CONALFA

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• There are significant differences in literacy rates by geographic region, in urban and rural areas, and in males and females. The lowest rates are found in indigenous females

• Many of CONALFA’s clients are young adults who need to be in school. • Promotion rates are low

III. EDUCATION SECTOR EXPENDITURES

A. Historical Situation29 63. During the past five years, as shown in Table 3.1, GDP growth has been moderate, averaging 3.9%. It peaked in 1998 at 5.1% and has declined since then. Government expenditures have slowly increased as a percentage of GDP. Likewise, educational expenditures have increased as a percentage of government expenditures. Capital expenditures have averaged around 22% and recurrent expenditures roughly 78% of total educational expenditures. 64. The high increase in government education expenditures from 1.6% of GDP in 1996 to 2.6% in 2000, have been devoted mainly to increase the coverage of primary education whose enrollment grew by 26%. Education sector expenditures almost doubled in a five year period, thus, the Government met the target established in the Peace Accords (para. 3). Expenditures in education, as percent of GDP, in Guatemala are the lowest when compared to Central and South American countries. The education expenditures are 2.9% in Peru, 3.5% in Ecuador, 3.6% in Chile and Honduras, 5.0% in Belize, 5.1% in Panama and Brazil, 6.7% in Cuba and 7.5% in Jamaica.30

Table 3.1: Trends in Public Educational Expenditures (Amounts in constant Q Millions, Base Year=2000)

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Average

GDP 125,456 130,976 137,656 142,612 147,318 Yearly Real Increase 3.3% 4.4% 5.1% 3.6% 3.3% 3.9% Annual Government Expenditures 13,027 15,320 18,820 20,515 22,310 Government Expenditures as % of GDP 10.4% 11.7% 13.7% 14.4% 15.1% 13.1% Annual Educational Expenditures 1,978 2,307 2,960 3,503 3,854 Education Expenditures as % of GDP 1.6% 1.8% 2.2% 2.5% 2.6% 2.1% Education Expenditures as % of Govt. Expenditures

15.2% 15.1% 15.7% 17.1% 17.3% 16.1%

Capital Expenditures 415 508 601 951 749 Capital Expenditures as % of Total 21.0% 22.0% 20.3% 27.1% 19.4% 22.1% Recurrent Expenditures 1,563 1,799 2,359 2,552 3,105 Recurrent Expenditures as % of Total 79.0% 78.0% 79.7% 72.9% 80.6% 77.9% Personnel Expenditures 1,246 1,426 1,757 2,082 2,592 Personnel Expenditures as % of Total 63.0% 61.8% 59.4% 59.4% 67.3% 50.8% Sources: Banguat, Ministry of Finance, and Planning Unit, Ministry of Education

29 Most of this section is copied from the annex on Fiscal Analysis and Project Financial Impact of the Guatemala, Universalization of Basic Education, Project Appraisal Document, 2001. 30 UNDP, Human Development Report, 2000

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65. A breakdown of educational expenditures by educational level is given in Table 3.2 below. Figures are rough estimates because of changes in accounting practices during the period, fragmented accounting of educational expenditures, and the variety of programs within which they are located without being specified. The “other expenditures” include: literacy training, physical education and culture, some common administrative expenses, scholarships for internal and external study, in-house training programs of various ministries, uncategorized rural development, school maintenance, adult education and special education programs. It is important to note that the Guatemalan Government invests 46% of its education budget in primary education, thus showing the priority it gives to this level. 66. Guatemala is entering into a period of fiscal discipline. The fiscal deficit budgeted for 2001 has been reduced to 1.5% of GDP. The exchange rate has been stabilized at around Q7.8 = US$1, and annual inflation has been reduced to 5%. Monetary emission (M1) declined Q1,454 million in 2000. Even though the deficit is not inordinately high, the austerity measures would affect public expenditures in all areas, including education.

Table 3.2: Real Educational Expenditures by Educational Level (in constant Q Million, Base Year=2000

Average

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 % of Total

Annual Educational Expenditures 1,978 2,307 2,960 3,503 3,854 Pre-primary 159 227 266 219 299 8% Primary 973 968 1,226 1,629 1,791 46% Basic Secondary 155 112 153 194 203 5% Diversified Secondary 80 157 162 108 79 2% Tertiary a/ 276 255 371 365 377 10% Construction b/ 201 215 287 335 388 10% Other c/ 134 373 495 653 717 19%

PRONADE Personnel 85 115 166 Non-Personnel Recurrent 4 6 8 Capital Expenditures 13 18 26 a/ University of San Carlos b/ Information non available across levels of education, but would be weighted heavily for primary education c/ Includes adult education and literacy training, other training programs and special education programs, and miscellaneous expenditures not classified by level of education.

B. Unit Costs 67. Unit costs for education, by level, and by region, are shown in Table 3.3 below. These costs, calculated as expenditures/enrollment, are indicative because 20% of total Ministry of Education expenditures are not classified by level of education, and they are multiregional. These amounts were allocated according to their percentage participation in the total. In

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addition, unit costs exclude capital expenditures because expenditures in infrastructure are carried out by several investment funds (FIS, FONAPAZ, Fondo de la Presidencia, and FODIGUA), as well as by the Ministry of Public Works, municipalities, and a couple other public sector institutions. Investment data from the investments funds and municipalities are mostly unavailable in sufficient detail to be considered in the analysis. Some unit costs are also underestimated, because grants from bilateral and multilateral institutions that cover mostly investments in learning materials, teacher training, and technical assistance are not recorded in the Ministry’s budget. In some regions, underestimations may be considerable (i.e. the Department of Quiche in Region VII has a USAID grant for primary education, the Departments of Zacapa and Chiquimula in Region III have a Dutch grant for basic secondary education, and the Departments of Alta and Baja Verapaz have a European Union grant, for primary education). The Ministry of Education’s system for monitoring of projects under implementation shows a US$6.0 million (Q 46.0 million) investment in the year 2000, reported by donors. These investments are relatively minor when compared to the overall budget for a level (2% of pre-primary, primary, and basic secondary), but are significant when compared to the departmental budget for that level (88% in basic secondary in Zacapa and Chiquimula). 68. There are important regional differences in unit costs at all levels. Regions II and VII have the lowest unit costs at all levels, and Region VIII has the lowest unit cost in diversified secondary education (Annex 4). These differences clearly show the inequities in the system. PRONADE students are better off when compared to all other students in both pre-primary and primary levels. In basic secondary education, the Department of Guatemala students are much better off than their counterparts in the rest of the country.

Table 3.3: Unit Costs, by Level and by Region, 2000 (Q)

Basic Diversified Pre-primary Primary Secondary Secondary Tertiary a/

COUNTRY 884 1,108 1,306 2,418 4,453 PRONADE 1,560 1,014

Region I 999 977 1,916 2,417 Region II b/ 482 765 694 1,358 Region III 789 1,004 1,239 1,700 Region IV 618 892 813 2,414 Region V 702 889 771 2,116 Region VI b/ 638 828 727 2,442 Region VII b/ 410 806 784 1,393 Region VIII 632 759 608 1,360

a/ University of San Carlos. Data for 1999 b/ Regions with high percentage of indigenous population C. Teacher Salaries 69. The salary scale for teachers has six different levels. A teacher can accumulate sufficient points to reach the next salary level in five years. Thus it may take a teacher 25 years or longer

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to reach the top salary level in the scale. Teachers receive 14 monthly payments in a year and a Q200 bonus per year. In 1999, a primary school teacher at level C received an annual salary of Q 27,300, equivalent to about US$3,600. A secondary school teacher at the same level received Q 29,300, equivalent to US$3,900 per year. Teacher salaries increased only 1.5% in real terms from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, teacher salaries increased 10% in real terms. No specific studies were found comparing teachers’ earnings with other professionals with similar levels of education, but data from the Income and Expenditure Survey carried out in 1998-99 by INE31 shows that persons who completed between 9-12 years of education have average monthly salaries of Q1,850 in urban areas and Q1,400 in rural areas. Those with a university education have salaries of a little over Q4,000 per month. Pre-primary and primary school teacher salaries are comparable to the average for persons with 9-12 years of education and may be even higher when one takes into consideration the short work days and three month yearly vacations enjoyed by teachers. Secondary school teacher salaries appear somewhat lower than the average for those with university education, although prospective teachers attend university for only three years. 70. Teachers that work in rural areas, in difficult conditions, do not get differential payments, thus, teachers working in these conditions, including PRONADE teachers, generally try to obtain transfers to urban area schools, or to rural schools close to urban areas. This situation continuously creates vacancies in rural, isolated areas, and the sole candidates willing to take those positions are young, inexperienced teachers.

Table 3.4: Teacher Monthly Salaries, 1996-1999 (in Q)

% % % 1996 increase 1997 increase 1998 increase 1999

Pre-primary and Primary Base Salary 985 10 1084 9 1182 17 1382Class A 985 1084 1182 1382Class B 1182 1301 1418 1658Class C 1379 1518 1655 1935Class D 1576 1734 1891 2211Class E 1773 1951 2128 2488Class F 1970 2168 2364 2764

Secondary (Basic and Diversified) Base Salary 1069 10 1176 9 1283 16 1483Class A 1069 1176 1283 1483Class B 1283 1411 1540 1780Class C 1497 1646 1796 2076Class D 1710 1882 2053 2373Class E 1924 2117 2309 2669Class F 2138 2352 2566 2966Source: Acuerdos Gubernativos de aprobacion de sueldos basicos para el Magisterio Nacional

31 Ministry of Education, CD presentation prepared by MEDIR Project, 2001

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D. Cost of System Inefficiencies 71. In 1999, the Ministry of Education carried out an analysis of non promotion, repetition and dropout rates by grade, then proceeded to calculate the cost of these inefficiencies in the education system. It estimates that they cost the country about Q768.8 million per year (equivalent to US$101 million), and they cost the government Q697.0 million per year (equivalent to US$92 million). The Ministry further determined that close to 60% of the costs are related to high rates of non promotion, repetition, and dropout in first grade. In addition, the Ministry estimated the cost of reaching a net enrollment of 100% to be Q1,663 million (equivalent to US$219 million). It could be argued that a significant effort to reduce dropout and repetition rates and improve promotion rates would allow the government to reach its objective of having all eligible children in school in the not so distant future. 72. A study32 carried out in 2000 attempted to determine the relationship between child labor and education. The results of the study indicate that children having to work accounts for 37.5% of total absenteeism of children from school. It also indicates that, although there are large variations among geographic regions, child labor accounts for 51% of total dropout rate. Children dropout to migrate with their parents for work reasons, and to participate in agricultural activities. Repetition due to child labor accounts for only 15% of the total. Regions with a high concentration of indigenous population have the highest incidence rates of labor on their education. There appears to be no difference among males and females. A significant finding of the study is that only 23% of the total number of children between 7 and 14 that goes to school, does not work. They are mostly children from urban areas and in the metropolitan and Region V. A total of 18.7% of children aged 7-14 do not go to school, or stop going to school because they have to work. E. CONCLUSIONS 73. The education system in Guatemala has shown marked improvements since 1996, but a lot still remains to be done. The system as a whole suffers from low coverage, inequities, low internal efficiency and low quality. Access to initial, pre-school, secondary and tertiary levels is very limited for rural area children and young adults. There is less female enrollment throughout the country, at all levels. Within this group, indigenous females, are at a greater disadvantage. Female students who attend primary school have lower achievement than their male counterparts, and indigenous children who attend primary school have lower achievement than non-indigenous children do. High repetition rates, and late enrollment in primary school lead to a high percentage of over-age students whose achievement is lower compared to their younger counterparts. Finally, the Guatemalan education system has inadequate financing, compared to countries in the region, and to Latin America as a whole, and costly inefficiencies, particularly in the first grade of education.

32 ECODESARROLLO, Relacion entre el Trabajo Infantil y la Educacion Escolar, presented to UNICEF, 2000

31

74. Recent changes in policies and procedures within the Ministry of Education and the Government may slow down further system improvements. Among these are: (i) elimination of Teacher Selection Committees and centralization of teacher selection procedures; (ii) transfer of the school feeding program (designed to retain children in schools) to the Vice Presidency, causing significant delays in food distribution; (iii) replacement of almost all central level directors, and of all Department Directors, as well as centralization of decision making, slowing down execution of education programs at all levels; (iv) stopping all teacher training programs until the new curricula design is completed; (vii) prioritizing literacy training over primary education, thus, redirecting scarce resources away from primary education; and (viii) cancellation of agreements with NGOs that trained teachers of the PRONADE program, and provided subsidized education to poor students.

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CHARTS 1 & 2

GUATEMALASchool Age Population and Primary Enrollment, 2000

0.02.04.06.08.0

10.012.014.016.018.020.022.024.026.0

Guatem

ala

San M

arcos

Huehu

etenan

go

Quetzalt

enango

Alta Ve

rapaz Quich

e

Escu

intla

Chimalte

nango Pe

tenJut

iapa

Suchit

epeque

z

Toton

icapan Solo

laIza

bal

Santa

Rosa

Chiquim

ula

Retalhu

leu Jalapa

Sacat

epeq

uez

Baja V

erapa

zZac

apa

El Pro

greso

Departments

%

Total Enrollment Total School Age Population

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

55.0

%

Region II Region III Region IV Region V Region VI Region VII Region VIII

Female Enrollment in PRONADE Schools, 2000

bilingual pre-primarymonolingual pre-primary1st grade2nd grade3rd grade4th grade5th grade6th grade

33

CHART 3

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Quetzales

Alta Verapaz

San Marcos

Peten

Totonicapan

Huehuetenango

Quiche

Escuintla

Suchitepequez

Jalapa

Solola

Santa Rosa

Quetzaltenango

Izabal

Jutiapa

Chimaltenango

Retalhuleu

Baja Verapaz

Guatemala

Chiquimula

Sacatepequez

COUNTRY

PRONADE

El Progreso

Zacapa

Dep

artm

ents

Cost per Student, per Level, 2000

Pre-primary Primary

34

CHART 4

0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800 2100 2400 2700

Quetzales

Region VIII

Region VII

Region VI

Region V

Region IV

Region III

Region II

Region I

COUNTRY

Cost per Student, per Level, by Region, 2000

Pre-primary Primary Basic Secondary Diversified Secondary

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baessa, Yetilu, Informe de Resultados del Programa Nacional de Evaluacion del Rendimiento Escolar – PRONERE, prepared for the Ministry of Education, 1998, 1999, 2001 Baessa, Y., Giron, R., Ramos, T., and Valdes, J., Improving Educational Quality Project, Research Report - Year Two, Guatemala, prepared for the Institute for International Research, Juarez and Associates, Inc., and the University of Pittsburgh, and submitted to USAID, undated Chang, L, Menendez, A., Diagnostico de los Centros Experimentales del Programa de Extension y Mejoramiento de la Educacion Media, PEMEM, prepared for IDB, November, 1998 CIEN, Revision of the Mid-Term Public Investment Program, Education Sector, prepared for the World Bank, November, 1998 Chesterfield, R. and Rubio, F., Incentivos para la Participacion de ninas indigenas guatemaltecas en educacion primaria: evaluacion final del proyecto piloto Eduque a la Nina, prepared for the Academy for Educational Development and submitted to USAID, May 1996. Chesterfield, Ray, Indicators of Democratic Behavior in NEU Schools, prepared for the Academy for Educational Development, Juarez and Associates, Inc., and IDEAS, Ltd. and submitted to USAID, July 15, 1994. de la Roca, Urizar Aragon, and Arango Siliezar, Informe Diagnostico 2000, PAIN, Proyecto de Atencion Integral al Nino, prepared for UNICEF, December 2000. ECODESARROLLO, Relacion entre el Trabajo Infantil y la Educacion Escolar, presented to UNICEF, 2000 Funes, M., La Educacion Superior en Guatemala, prepared for the World Bank, 2000 Ministerio de Education, Educacion para Todos, Prioridad en Guatemala, CD presentation, 2001, prepared by MEDIR Project, USAID. Ministerio de Educacion, PRONADE, Estudio Cuasi Experimental, Resultados 1999, September 2000. Ministerio de Educacion, Educacion para Todos, Informe de Evaluacion, 1990-1998, Guatemala, 2000 Ministerio de Educacion, Memoria de Labores, 1996-1999 Ministerio de Educacion, Memoria de Labores, 1998

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Ministerio de Educacion, Memoria de Labores, 1997 Ministerio deEducacion, UNICEF, La Preprimaria Acelerada: Una opcion para favorecer el exito academico en la escuela primaria, October 1998. Ministerio deEducacion, UNICEF, Viabilidad y Evaluacion, CENACEP, September 1996. OEI, Ministerio de Educacion, ASIES, Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, March 1998 Ralon Orellana, C., CIEN, Revision del Programa de Inversion Publica de Mediano Plazo, Sector Educacion, prepared for the World Bank, November, 1998 Rodriguez Santana, M., Percepciones sobre la educacion: un estudio cualitativo y multi-etnico en Guatemala, Informe Final, prepared for the World Bank, February 2001 Rubio, F., Presentation on the Status of Bilingual Education, MEDIR Project, USAID, 2000 Rubio, F., The Status of Primary Education in El Quiche in Relation to Other Departments served by DIGEBI and to Guatemala as a Whole, MEDIR Project, USAID, unpublished paper, 1998. Torres Townson, Diagnostico de los Recursos Humanos Docentes del Sistema Educativo de Guatemala, una revision, Informe Final, prepared for the Sub-Committee on Human Resources, Consultative Committee for Education Reform, October, 1999.

UNDP, Human Development Reports, 1998, 1999, 2000 Union Europea, Programa de Apoyo al Desarrollo de la Educacion en Guatemala, October, 1996 Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Direccion General de Investigacion, Analisis Situacional de la Educacion Guatemalteca, 1944-2010, Informe Final, January 1995 Valerio, A. and Rojas, C., Education Decentralization in Guatemala; School Management by Local Communities: The Case of PRONADE. World Bank, 2000

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