El Salvador

El Salvador's education system presents great challenges, including low learning rates in basic education and high dropout rates in secondary education. Access to early stimulation for children from 0 to 3 years of age is minimal, and enrollment rates at the kindergarten level (4 to 6 years of age) are low.

The government aims to transform the education system from its foundations and with a lifecycle approach, starting with a commitment to ensuring that children, from their earliest years, enjoy better learning. Hence, El Salvador’s Partnership Compact – subscribed by the members of the local education group, led by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology – prioritizes the achievement of quality early childhood learning, with equality and inclusion. Reform efforts reinforce the need to promote greater coordination between all levels of the education system.

Additionally, the Ministry’s strategic plan for the period 2019-2024, aligned with the Education Sector goals of the Cuscatlán Plan (Government Proposal 2019-2024), identifies the need to guarantee the right to education and to a comprehensive development starting at early childhood, as well as universal and equitable access, and a relevant and quality curriculum.

An education sector plan development grant from GPE has enabled the development of a 10-year (2020-2030) national education sector plan that can guide the response to current and potential challenges and risks in the sector, with a focus on closing existing access and quality gaps, as well as those created or deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic.