Education in Bolivia for the past 50 years Essay

In the year 1989, education in Bolivia was not considered as a right by many people. However, it was observed as a means to control the lives of the masses by the ruling sector. The government restricted the release of funds to education because it gave more attention in other branches of the society. As a result, the illiteracy rate was very high. A country which has 13-14% illiteracy rate, Bolivia is regarded as the worst in the South Americas. The Bolivian government allocates 23% of its yearly budget to education which is actually the highest percentage in South American countries despite of its small budget. However, this did not help improve the literacy level of the country as a whole. According to the Bolivian National Statistics Institute in 2002, the rate of absolute literacy level is about 20%, functional literacy rate is about 35%, with totality of 55% only. There are about 11. 8% literacy rate in men were proven and this increases to a relatively high 27. 7% for women (Carlos Santander-Maturana, 2007). Nowadays, the absentee rate is very high learner for children in the primary school from six to eight years. It is comparably lower on children aged nine, but increases significantly when on children aged 12 (Santander-Maturana, C. 2007). A very familiar explanation for this growing dilemma is that the majority poor families, which comprise the leading portion in the Bolivian people, force their kids to stop from going to school in order to help their parents increase the family income. Similar thing is true to the other students who are in the secondary and tertiary level as is confirmed in Country Studies (2007): Only 1/3 of the first graders completed the 5th grade, 20% started secondary school, 5% began their postsecondary studies, and just 1% received a university degree. Dropout rates were higher among girls and rural children. Only about 40% of rural youngsters continued their education beyond the third grade (Country Studies, 2007). This astounding percentage is the worst among the South American countries and the government is now trying its best in combating this central problem in education. As years go by, parents of poor families started seeing education as a means to save them and their future generation from poverty. But as a family strives hard for survival, problems will always remain as problems no matter how they manage to resolve them. The current economic condition of the family is one of the many causes of their being illiterate. As of now, the literacy condition is getting more and more improved because people are paying much attention in education more than they did before. The government is also in support of the projects to make education better. Many programs are now laid out and are being implemented to secure the future of the country. The Bolivian style of education compared side by side with the United States’ is quite similar in a few ways. As what is stated in Encyclopedia Britannica (2007): Primary education for children 6 to 13 years of age is free and officially compulsory, although school attendance is difficult to enforce in some areas. Secondary education, lasting up to 4 years, is not compulsory. Most education is state-supported, but private institutions are permitted (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007). Education in the United States is funded mainly by the government in three levels: federal, state, and local. Primary education, which starts from 5-6 years old and secondary education are both compulsory. College education is still an option because there are still vocational and technical courses being offered by the state. Reading literacy rate in the US is as high as 98% being recognized as one of the best reading literacy all over the world.