The Distribution of Educational Resources in Paraguay: Implications for Equality of Opportunity

Abstract

Paraguay has an educational system which is comprised of four stages: primary school (6 years), the basic cycle (3 years), the baccalaureate (3 years), and higher education.' Official statistics show that 83 percent of 7-14-year-old children are enrolled in school, and young adults aged 20-24 have an average of 5 years of schooling. The 1975 budget of the Ministry of Education was 2.7 billion guarani (US$21.7 million at the official exchange rate of US$1.00 = 0125), or 14.7 percent of the total government budget and 1.4 percent of GNP. Countrywide averages, however, hide large differences in educational attainment within the country. For example, adults aged 2024 in Asunci6n, the capital city, have an average 7.7 years of schooling, while those in rural areas have only 3.7 years. This discrepancy may, of course, in part be attributable to migration of the best-educated rural youngsters to urban areas. Other data, however, reinforce the impression of large urban-rural differences in educational attainment. While 48 percent of grade 1 pupils in urban areas complete grade 6, only 15 percent of grade 1 pupils in rural areas do so. Last, for those pupils in grade 6, reading achievement of urban pupils is double that of rural pupils.2 Differences in educational attainment between urban and rural areas