Educational Systems in Ecuador vs. Guatemala Cancel Title is required

One of my top priorities when I picked an older girl was to help support her to keep her in school when she was most at risk of dropping out. I have read different things about the school system in Ecuador, but through different sources I thave pieced together how I think it works. Can somebody confirm or correct my understanding?

I read there are 6 years of primary education and 6 of secondary in Ecuador. Unlike the American system, it appears that the final grade is at age 16 -- this seemed to be validated by a post on LiftOne about a girl the age of my Briggitte who is the equivalent of a freshman in high school. This jives with one other thing I read, which is that the first two primary years in Ecuador is the equivalent of our pre-school and kindergarten.

Is that right, or am I way off?

According to a recent blog post, education is only free through the 6th grade. Is there anything like that in Ecuador? If not, are there educational opportunities, special programs or services that are not free that I may want to consider offering as a SNG if Briggitte is interested?

Finally, regarding Guatemala (off-topic for this forum, I know), what age corresponds to the 6th grade? Is it the same as ours? When I am ready to sponsor my next child, I may consider a child in that country who could need help to stay in school.

I managed to answer my own question, at least as far as Ecuador goes, here: http://www.childinfo.org/files/LAC_Ecuador.pdf. Several of my assumptions were wrong.

Official school age (years) Entrance age Graduation age Duration
Preschool, 2005 5 5 1
Primary school, 2005 6 11 6
Secondary school, 2005 12 17 6
Compulsory education, 2005 5 14 10

Elsewhere, I learned that while education is compulsory through age 14, only less than 76% complete 6th grade (on source indicated 71% through the fifth grade), and there is a serious drop-off thereafter. While public education is free through secondary school, there are numerous costs borne by the family, including fees and transportation.

Thank you for all that information! It is very interesting since I have the most kids in Ecuador!

This was posted in the google group by Debbie (from Chris Jozwiak):

Ecuador – Children will tend to graduate high school around 17/18, as
in the US. The Ecuadorian government has tried hard in recent years to
strengthen their education system. Schools are funded by the
government, and no fees are required of students in order to
participate. Class sizes are fairly reasonable, and students tend to
have access to the proper resources. Because of a progressive new law
that was enacted on January 1st, 2009, students who maintained a C
average or above through high school AND who choose a degree program
that is deemed as necessary to the health of the Ecuadorian nation
(there are many choices that meet this requirement) are able to attend
vocational or university education for free. The government pays all
tuitions and fees associated with the educational opportunity so long
as the child keeps their grades at a C level or above and attends
classes faithfully. Typically, the only cost that a child would still
have to shoulder would be for meals or personal supplies. All that
said, if a child wishes to study a degree program that is NOT
considered as vital for the nation, the costs can be rather high as
Ecuador makes us of the US Dollar for its currency- we don’t get the
benefit of an exchange rate.

Guatemala – Children will tend to graduate high school around 17. This
is one of the most troubled educational systems that we work with. The
government only requires students to complete the 6th grade, and any
student that wishes to continue beyond that point into high school
needs to pay tuition to do so. Transportation, lack of meals, and
tuition fees make it very tough for students to progress beyond the
6th grade. Teacher/student ratios are a problem leading up to the 6th
grade, though this isn’t an issue beyond that point because very few
students progress through high school. As is done in parts of Europe,
Guatemalan students select a “speciality” (essentially a major) when
they enter high school, and they take courses that give them specific
instruction in that field. Students would graduate high school with
certification in this “specialty”, and this document is a big help in
getting a career. There are vocational opportunities in the country-
even for students that never made it past 6th grade. There are also a
few universities for children lucky enough to have gotten through high
school, but they can be quite expensive.

Well, that's great news about Ecuador -- my information was from 2005/06, I believe, and it sounds like they've put in some improvement since then. Very little positive to find in Guatemala's system, though.

My 17 y/o Blanca in Quito says she's in 4th grade and hopes to attend university. 14 y/o Nancy just graduated from "beauty" and was very proud of her accomplishment. I am no closer to understanding their comparitive grade levels as I was 8 months ago. I'm going to write to Blanca and ask her. She'll tell me. then I'll post her answers when I get them. 12 y/o Cristian sells sneakers after school to help their family financially.. these kids are AWESOME!

I have 4 (well, 3 now as Alex just graduated the program in Feb.) kids in Quito - Alex, 19, brother Diego, 17, sister Daysi, 15 and Mayra, 18, from a different family. I sponsored Alex since he joined the program about age 6. This is what I have learned:

Alex, Diego and Daysi all attended the same high school. It has a engineering/techical emphasis - I think electrical, auto, etc. Diego will graduate next year. Alex planned on going on to be a electical engineer. Unfortunately, he and his girlfriend found themselves "in a family way" and he choose to drop out to get a job. I still have high hopes for Diego and Daysi (Daysi told me in her last letter she was "studying hard so she wouldn't let me down"). However, before that we did some research in Alex's chosen field. There was a three year techinical school he wished to attend near his home. As stated before, the government would have covered the cost and he would have to cover just supplies - which would have been about $350.00 for the entire year. I had planned to pay this for him - which would have been easy as I sponsor Diego and Daysi - but I guess it wasn't to be.

Mayra will graduate this coming July. She attends a high school that specializes in sewing/fashion design. She wishes to study at a fashion design college. Since this field is not considered "vital" the government will not cover it and the cost would be $3200. - 3500. per year. Pretty reseasonable by our standards but still a good chunk to cough up. As she wraps up the year, we are exploring options. Since she is an only child, it may be more difficult to help her with schooling after she graduates the program at 19 but I know some sponsors have done this so it must be possible some way. I have mixed feelings about fashion design - I don't know how easy a field this would be to get into. On the other hand, she is also a extremely talented girl and a very hard and dedicated worker ( hope to post some of her designs here soon).

I was fortunate enough to visit Quito and our kids several year ago. The one thing I did notice is that while the boys are often encouraged to continue their schooling, girls often times are not. They are most often seen as just wives and mothers and are many times taken out of school to help at home or with younger children. So I think we as sponsors need to take extra time to encourage our girls in their education as they might not be getting this encouragement at home or at school.

Thank you Cheri for sharing that! I find it very interesting since I have 5 kids in Quito. And I hope to be able to help my kids as they get older. I think if you contact Chris J over at CI he can help you figure out a way to help her. I would love to see her designs. If she has her heart set on it, it would be great for her.

Sadly, Chris J. isn't with CI anymore. I will really miss him as he was always a wealth of information and knew my kids almost as well as I did. Jacob has taken over "educational duties".

Oh sorry, I didn't know that! I had heard great things about Chris but never worked with him since my kids are all pretty young.