BY: ENOCH HWANG AND SUSHMITHA DIVAKAR GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN NICARAGUA'S EDUCATION SYSTEM

INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION While it seems that education spending is increasing yearly, taking inflation rate into account, the effective dollar amount is actually less

GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION AS A % OF GDP Why is this important? GDP is a measure of the goods and services produced by a country a period of time. It is often used as indicator of Standard of Living. (It is used so because it is a belief that all citizens will benefit from a country’s increased economic benefit) As we can see, Nicaragua spends about $220.1 a year for one student. However, this number is only an average computed by taking total Government spending/ total number of students. Although this figure is meaningful, without looking at a complete information set can be misleading.

INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION EXPRESSED AS % OF TOTAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE Notice the allocation of funds in the Nicaraguan school system. Almost half of the budget is directed for primary education. This unequal distribution of funds has mitigating effects which can be seen in the enrollment rates of primary vs. secondary school.

COMPARISON OF EDUCATION SPENDING DISTRIBUTION Case study: Hungary Ranked 15 th smartest nation GDP per capita is 7x that of Nicaragua

PERSONAL COSTS OF EDUCATION Although Education is technically free in Nicaragua, there are costs absorbed by the family in order to send their children to school. The total costs of uniform and school supplies $35 (USD) per child. Since average earnings for Nicaragua are $370 (USD) annually, a family earns ~$31 (USD) a month. That means education costs alone per child is 16% of a family’s monthly expenditure.

EDUCATION IN THE PAST Sandinista rule in education Inherited a terrible education system Decreased illiteracy from 50% to 23% through the Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign Published biased information Education was not free Less funding from the government was spent on education

CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM Focused on Decentralization Involving municipal governments in developing education systems Building more preschools Studies show that children who do not go to pre school either enroll late into primary school or do not go to school at all Establish Adult Education Programs Education is “free” according to Nicaraguan Constitution Have set a national goal of having universal primary school education by 2015

CURRENT EDUCATION SYSTEM Renovating classrooms (especially in the rural areas) Compared to urban areas, rural schools are not in good conditions and the government is spending money to combat this Trying to establish programs to promote equity There is a large illiteracy gap between males and females and those who live in urban and rural areas. Some of the programs include APRENDE and RPS that provide money to poor rural families to grant their children education

PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO EXIST Teachers are underpaid Major difference in quality and importance of education in rural and urban areas Major difference in quality of education between public and private schools Education is not entirely free Lack of funding for higher education Quality of education is not great (Nicaragua performed very badly in a world wide test) School year is too short Children are learning at a very slow pace