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Education Reform – 2006

No new developments reported in 2006. Nevertheless, the government continued its effort to bring down illiteracy rate. This led to the establishment of institutional mechanisms to promote and expand bilingual education and multiculturalism suggest that the provisions related to education were implemented to some extent. However, according to the State Department Human Rights Report, more than 50 percent of indigenous women were illiterate and a disproportionate number of indigenous girls did not attend school. The report, quoting the Guatemalan Ministry of Education, states that 78,692 preschool- and kindergarten-age indigenous children were enrolled in Spanish-indigenous language bilingual education programs.¹

1. “2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Guatemala,” State Department, 2007, accessed May 29, 2012, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100641.htm.