E ,. D U e 'A I ION ~ ) oe educational situation T among the countries in the regíon is not hornogeneous and available information 0 1' the subject also differs. Significant diffetences arefound in lhe enrollmeat ranosor coH'rage provided by tbe educationalsystems al dilferentlevels and, consequently, in lhe degree ofschooling ofthe populationingeneral.Taking these aspects intcconsideration, Cuba SE'emS loenjoy themost advanced situation in the región.The Cuban educarionalsystemprovidesslmost fu ll coverage al the primary level, and highschooleducanon is available to most people. ln 1981, a very small percentage ofthe populationaged ayer 15had not received srhooling (2.72%) and, al presenl, illileracy is low. Guatemala wasatthe other end of the scale in 1981,with Ihe worst educaticnal ratio. Al the lime, almost halfthe population had no schooling wbüe 40%of the populetíon aged over 15 ís illiterate al present. Considering tbe enrollment ranos or coverage oí theeducational system, there is a top groupofccuntres with high coveragt> inprimary school edueallon. dose loor betlt>r lhan 90%, lhal haveexpandl?d cm'erage ofhigh schooleducation loreaeh percenlagE'S approximaling or exeeed ing 50%oi the age group. Argentina. Chile, Cuba. Pa nama and Uruguay arein Ihis group. \'\~lh somewhallower coverage perrentagE'S, Cosla Rica aOO Peruaboform part oi this group oi counlriE'S. Generali7at aocess loIhe school syslem is reñected inthe ed ucational structure ef the 15 years old agegroup. The uneducated perrentage of the populalion in these countries is under 10%, and ilhteracy ratesarealso below I ~. Furthermore, incountries wherefhe educationsys temdeveloped earlier, a higher ratio of pecple with high school educaticnor higher educaron can beseen In Cuba, over halí the population was in tbis category in 1990. Inthe early nineües. half the population in Panama and Peruwas in this calegory. Asecond group is that of count ries that have managed lo providealmost fu ll roverage in primary school educaticn, but rugh school educaticn isevailable only lo ene third or lessof theege group; that is, it isstill highly ehtist.The number of uneducated individuals insuch countries varíes from 10 lo15 per cent ofthe populationaged 15 and overowhile illiteracy retes are similar. I his was the situation in Colombia, Paraguay, andVenezuela intheeighties. and in México and Ecuadorin the nineties. Higherrowrage in México and Eruador ís recent, and therefore, the resultsare not yetevident in the educalional slruetureoi lheolder populalion. The lasl group ismade upof counlries wilheducational syste!Il5 lhal provide insufficienl coverage, e\"en al Ihe basie le"'eLln Ihisgroup Ihe population wilh no schooling reaehespercenlagesabove 16lJo, and Ihesame occurswilhillileracy rates. .. In the eighties, this group included El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, and in the nineties, Bolivia, Brazil, the Dorninican Republic,and Nicaragua. Educational underdevelopment in El Salvador is drarnatic.In 1990, net coverage in ElSalvador was 71 %for primary sehool and 15%for high school, while the illiteracy rate was 27%. InGuatemala the figures were even worse, wi than ilIileracy rateof 40.7%that yea r. Theeducationalsiluation ofwomen is notdirectly related to the educational development of the countries. Althoughcountries with a moredeveloped educational system tend toshow a higher degree of equality, the relationship isnot linear. Peru, forexarnple, whichcurrently has a highly deveJoped educational system, isthecountry wi th the highest level ofdiscrimination against women, because the systemis highlysegmented inlernally. Differences between menand women in Peru in terms ofiI1iteracy, lackof education, wornen's presence in highereducation, among others,are the highest in the region. Discrimination in nurnbers is also evídent in the school curriculum, since Peruvian lextbooks showoneof the lowest percenlages ofwomen. In Nicaragua,onthe otherhand, with an undeveloped educalionalsyslem, the figurestend lo favorwomen. And in Honduras, another country with belated educational development, there is a rela tivelyfair educationalsystem. Significanl progresshas been madein the last two decades in terms of the sexdistributionof the coverage provided by the school system.The most outstanding achievements are found in wornen's accessto higher educalion, since this levelshowed the biggest lag in 1970. Colombia has made the most significant progress, as its fema le enrollmentrose from 27%in 1970lo51%in 1990. AIthough women in the nineties ha ve more educational opportuníties, in many countries their participation at the top ofthesystemisstill much lower than it is for menoIn preschool, primary and secondary education, enrollment percentagesbysexare practically idenlical. Nevertheless, women's enrollment in primary education tends to be slightly lower than thal of menoThis situation is reversed in secondary education where, in severalcountries, percenlages ofenrolled women reachslightly over50%. With regard to coverage, the presehool levelshows thegreatesl growth,sinceenroll rnent increased six-fold at the regional level. This growth is linked, first, with increased dema nd resulting from the growi ng numberof women looking for paid work, and second, with the need to improve the levels al which childrenenter theschool system. So far, lhis last factor seems lo predominate, as an in-depth analysis shows that thecoverage provided by preschool educa tion is significant only ingroups of five years old children where the figures for the agegroupareclose to 60%. Thisis not the case with children under five where coverage iseven more limited, 96 Sinceequalaccess to the schoo! systern is relatively recent in many countries, the educalionalstructureof the populationover fifteenyears old stillshows evidence of discrimination against women. Illiteracy rates are always more unfavorable as faras women areconcerned;thesame is trueamong the population withno schooling. The figures get worse when the area of residence is considered. For example, rural women are very backward as regards ed ucation.The moststriking data in this respect is fou nd in Peru, where urban-ruraldiffere nces are considerable as are those between menand women: the illiteracy rate among rural wornen reaches 45.6%, whereas among ruralmenitis 10.4%, and among urban men it only amounts to 2.2%. Despite wornen's progress in improving lheir access toeducation, theschool syslemhelps to reproduce the traditional roles played by men and women.Thisis c1earlyevident in the professionalchoices Olade in seconda ry and higher education. ln secondary education, women tend to choose. to a greater extent, professional careers that signal the end of their education. Instead, most men choose ageneral academic COlme in preparationfor university. In professional highschooleducation, men concentrate in industrial careers while women gravitale toward service-relaled careers. In higher ed ucation, women showa tendency to studyservice-related careerssuchas professions in fields like heaIth or education. Engineering and farming arecareers chosen primarilybymenoAlthough feminine and masculine areas can be identified, education appears lobe more successfu! than that ofmenoAlI the countries record lower repetition thereare severalcareers which, in rates for womenin primary rnostcountries, have equally distributedenroll ments, a fact that indicares the diversityof professional positions occupied by wornen at present. These are careers like mathematics, compulerscience, naturalscience, law, management and services. education compared totheirmale c1assma tes. The distribution ofenrollment by field ofstud varíes from ene country toanother, and ome distributions can beidentified as moreequitable than others, dependingon the number ofcareers with relatively equal enrollmenl between menand wornen. Cuba, Honduras, lexico and icaragua are the mostequitable countries in this respecto Panama, however, whichhas a high percentage ofwornenin higher education, has a more segmented dislribution. The educalional systemreproduces traditional gender roles, nol only in the departures from the syslem, bul ona daily basis through the implied pedagogical discou r e.Adetailed analysisofschool textbooks carried oulin variouscountries repeatedly showed women in a lower profile within thesystem. Whenwornen do appear in textbooks, they do so primarily in thehome andonly ina considerably smaller proportion outside the home. Regarding the percentage ofwomen in leaching, there issegmenlation by sex ÍJ1 all the countries: women's participation ishígherat the bottom ofthe educational syslemand lower in the upper stages ofeducation. Although percentages vary from one country toanother, thetrend is fo r wornen's participa tion to bealmost total ÍJ1 preschool education, reaching majority percenlages in primary education -rough1y abouI70%·, around halfinsecondary education, and less thanonethird in universities, Variation bycountry are not directlyconsistenl with the development of the educational systems al any levelofthe school system, Therearecountríes where teaching is aneminently feminine activity, like Argentina, icaragua, Brazil orCosta Rica, andcountries where there are fewer women teachers, like Gualemala, Peruand Mexico. In the fu ture, it is possiblethat leaching will be mostly carriedout by women, since rnost ofthe students enrolled in teaching careersin all the countries arewomen. A11hough pedagogical discourse seems to make men stand out, women's experience ÍJl primary 97 IlllTERACY I n the las twodecades, illiteracy has fallen ccnsiderably in the región asa dircct resu tt of the greater coverage providcd by the basic school systern and literacy campaigns. This progress, nevertheless. isexpressed in diñerent ways among thecountries ,lOO in the counlrics themselves. Differences from ore country to anotber fluctuare bctween those that heve practical1y solved rhe problem like Uruguay, that has anillitetacy reteof3.8%, and Guatemala. whichis the most backward country in this aspect, with anilliteracy rete of -W.7% of its pcpulationover 15 yt>ars oíd. Between these 1W0 extremes. thereere three groups ofcountries:al Countries wit h illiterecy retesbelow 10'1, i.e. Argentina, Chile, Cuba. Costa Rica, Paraguay, Vff\('zuí'la and Uruguay; b)Countril'S with illiteraey rall'S bt'lwffill O% olnd 20%, i.e. Bolivia, Brazil,Colombia,Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mt'xioo, Panama and Peru;and el Countrit>s when> more than 20%of the population agt'd owr 15(or ]O) is illilerate. i.t'. El Salvador, Honduras,:\licaragua ando a! lhf ht'adofthis group, Gualfmala. Although tht'number ofillilerale proplE' dropped in ,111 thf' counlries in the Il'gionbt>twCt'n 1970 and 1m , thE' rvolutionis unequal. Sornecountnf'S havr moldr aconsidt'rable rfforl for thrir populalion lo Ií'arn torrad and wrilt'. This is lhrcasrof Peru, which in lhf' last two dffadf'S rrducrd its illitrracy ratf' by Iwo lhirds, moving from thf' lWf'lfth place among the counlries in thr n>gion up tothf' righth.Significant dfons have ,lIso bren set'n in Bolivia,:\licaragua, Honduras,lOO El Salvador. Although tbese counmes still show considerable signsof illilf'racy,lht'y have reduced the problem byabout 16 pE'rrenlagf' poínts. The reverse is the rase inColombia, whichMSnot progressed et the seme paceas the other Latín American rountries. This is illustratcd by the factthat Colombia dropped from the síxth placein 1970 lo the twelfth in 1990. ThE' way the problem has bren tackled in Guatemala has not answered the needs of itspopula tion cilher, and it continúes 10 be the rountry wíth the highest illiteracy rate in the región, In thiscontext,women's illiteracy tates elso dropped. Most countries showa relative balance in the retes persex oNevertheless, inallthe countries, with the excepñon ofCosta Rica, there aremore ílliterate women than meno Peru isore of thc countries with the biggest dffererces between menand .....omen: women's iIliteracy ralf'S arefour times higher than those oi mf'l\ . Bolivia is anolht'rcase, whm lherf' art' lwicr as many i\lileralt' womenas mt'n. Othercounlrieswith imporlant difft'rt'nct'S between womrn and ffif'n arr Guatemala and El Salvador. O¡fft'rt'ncl'S insidf' !he countriesare especially significanl depeOOing on thf' place oí rrsidrnce. llIiteracy in rural an>as rontinuesto be a major problcm inmost of Ihecountnesin the regi ón. Only Uruguayhas a rural illüeracy rolle below 10%. The other comtries show percentsges tbat, in most caSE'S, amount to over 2O'l or even higher.The worst situation s found, once egain. inGuatemala whcre, in 1990. half the rural population was illiterate. The lack oí equality forwomenis worse among rural women. Peru has tbe mostextreme figures in thís rcs pect, with anilliteracy rolle of 2.2~ among urban men aro 45.6'1. among rural women The situation is similar inBolivia, wíth a rate of3.8\ for urban men and 49.lfI. for rural women. This trendistheoppositein Brazil and Nicaragua, wherein1990 literacy tatesamong women in thc rural population were higherIhan among men. Ethnic affiliation is anolher importan! factorofinequity.ln coentries wbee information brokt'l1 do.....n by ethnic group isavailable, iIIiteracy among Ihenative Indian population ismuch hígher than the national average, and iliSl'Specially acuteamong nativt' Indian women. lnGuatemala and Paraguay, countries wilhan important native Indian population, oolyone quarler of lodian\'lomen know how 10 read and write.ln Panama the figure iscut almosl byone halí. ILLl T ERACY RATE, ACCOROING TO SEX , AHONG THE NAT IVE POPULATION OF GUATEMALA, PANAHA ANO PARAGUAY GUATEI'W.A 1911 PANAI1A 1990 PARAGUAY 1911 -- .. '" ILLlTERACY RATES. ACCOROINCi TO SEX ANO ZONE. 1970 -1990 "" A.. '~P ARGENTINA BOlMA ". ". ". ., .."'_ -=--_ al 1.' 14.6 4.1 _ - = -'--.- H 15,1 -=~-I 6.5 5J U 37J lB 111 15, 4 145 115 50.0 5.4 236 U 55 10.9 " l.6 9.0 16.3 318 1.1 14.6 10.9 lH '" lO' 180 5.1 ,4> lO 11.0 14.1 " '" "' la. CHI" l.6 45.6 )1.5 116 12> "' 13 11 .'--_ _ c._---''-_'-_--'''_~_ ~_'.• QJ'" DOMJNICAN R. ECUADOR ELSALVADQR MEXICO '" 11 ,6 •• PANA'" •., 14.7 PARAGUAY 1.' 19,8 lO' 116 ns " " 112 28.' II 11.0 5.1 H .. URUGUAY VENE 711FlA m 51.9 39,6 P8<U 1>1 10.2 'H 3U 19.4 13 .. " .0 lO' lO.1 18 2 34.) 104 ". 11.1 SCHOOllNG A vailable data on the educational attainmenl ofthe population is dissimilar with regard lodates. In half the countries, fhe iniormation refersto theeighties whereas in thcother half it correspondstothe nireties. Nevertheless, lhe dala If¡x'aledlyshows that mosl coentries in the region have a pyramidal educationalstructure with rcgard te the population over 15years old. Ibe structureíscharecíerized by a bread base ofpeople wbo merely have basic educanon or lC5s; a much smaller group who possess asecondary educatiorrand a small vertex fcrmedby tbose who baveuniversity studies. Cuba was thecountry withthe highl."sl education levels already in 1981 , where the p)Tamid is in\'E'rted, and Ihus lhe population wilh serondary studies is largerlhan !heollt' that onIy has primary studies.The remaining countries can be das.sifiedinto threE.- groups. Thefir.;t is moldeupofcounlTies wilh the highest educationlevels, where propIe withprimaryedueation or less number bclween 5()%and 65%oflhepapulation. Chile and Colombia k'ere in trus group in tht> eighties,. and Panama, Pero, Boli\ia, Costa Rica. Eruador and ~1roro k'ere in th.is group in the nineties. The S«1lIld group is fonnt'd by countrie5 ....ithIo"''er [evels ofschooling. where the population wilh primary schooJing or less reaches percentages around 66% and 80%. Al thebeginning oflhe eighlies, lhese counlrles ineluda! Argentina, Paraguay, and Venezuela, and in the nineties, Nicaragua and lhe [A)minican Republie.The third group. lhal is, countries wilh lhe "" orst Ie\' els alschooling. where more lhan BO% of thepopulation h.l, prim.uy sdlooIing orless were,in 1980and 1981, El Sah'ador and Guatemala, n.'5~\'eIy. .100 in1989, Brazil. population with no schooling amounts lo 23.7\ . íe dccble the rolle far lhe male popuIation. Taking intoacrounl merely tbe population wíth noschcoling.the mosI backward rountries are Guatemala 147,9%), Among !he population with edvanced El Salvador 130.2' 1and Nicaragua educatien diff",,1lCl'S betseen meo and (27.7%), Amore moderaredegree of backwardness is present in Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, where the populañon thatlacks schooIing flurtuates around 15%t0 2O%of the group over 15 yemold. \Vhen !he population with advarced education isexamired. it ís evident that in most ccuntries ildoes nct exceed 5%oi theage group. The ercepüons lo ths case are Bolivia, Ecuador, México. Panamáand Petu whee pt'rct'Tltages of the population with advanced studiesare cver 11%. women are less thanamong the population with noscbooling. Al lhe higher level. the mosl outstandingdiscrimination against women occurs in Mexiro. But there are also rounlries where the situalion is reversed, i.e, tbe female papu. Ial:ion with uruversítysudesisgrearer than tbe male popalaticn. This ísthe case in ParaguaylI982land Parama lIm!. As in other arcas, the educational levels of fbe natívelndianpopulation are much lower lhan those of!he general popclation More than 90% of the Quechua-and Aymara-speaking people in Bolivia had Although the differences between meo no schooling in 1988, and tbe maprity of and w'omen are minor in most rountrles, !he small group that had geined iKU'S510 tbe gereralterdency ls for worren lo !he sdlooI had onIy received priha\'e a kw.'erleve! aleducalion lhan m.uy education. The situalion was slightmm The highest degreo of disalmina- Iy hett" in Paraguay. in 1982 A1'rough !ion is found in tre population "'i!h no !he t'ducaliooal ...1of!he Guarani porschooling, and il becomesmore moder- ulation was Iower lo thdt oflhe Spanishate wilhin theschool syslemi!self. speaking population,78.71J had received Regard ing population thallacks school- primary schooling asa resuJI ofnational ing entirely, the country with !he largesl efforts lobring!heGuarani population differcnces is Bofivia, where lhe female inlo theschoolsyslem, ')'1"'" EOUCATlONAL LE V ELS O f T H E INOIC ENOUS POPULATION. BY - LANCUACE IN BOLIVIA ANO PARACUAY T.... ....""'o ~ $ ! I lOUVIA (I'Jll8) (I) """""" "'''''", T" - _ _ __ .... 1'. 4 41.1 9S.l 4.6 918 14.1 0.0 0.1 " <0.1 n 6 OJ 0.1 u _ _ 100.0 ~ -'º- nI ,o"'o. PAAAG\lAY (I9ll2¡ (JJ - ~-- "'......... """ - --......... T"" I(U, IU 69.9 171 7&7 11 <O. 100,0 1000 1~ 1) 0_ _ _ ~ ~_---," 415 o,o-.-:=-~~==~~ '" j t 1 j 1 J ! j 100 -, PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTlON OF POPUlATION 15 YEARS OlD AND OVER, BY EDUCATIONAl ATTAINHENT ANO BY SEX, lAST AVAllABlE YEAR III """"" _. No ,,,., AAGENTl"" W;orrflerecl 1'""W1t4 U IH llOlMA w_ (1 m) ~~-- BAA2I. (1 989. Toaf) CHU w_ .... COl""'" COSTA~ 'l1 - w_ (1m 12·' JX>1O'OCAN • (19''1) 7.' su JO.] ""58 ) . H~ Ilol" sexes 41.9 (1981) w_ ~. H~ HOOCO llo\lI _ ~ . (1 991, 12+) w_ ........ _. PANANA w_ ........ (1990) w_ _. .... .... _. w_ .... - ----- lO UGUAY .... ........ _. w_ w_ .... """'"'" .... ....w_ (1'!85) (1'!81) -, 7.1 II .. 11.1 IU 11.1 21.1 v. 17.1 ". 17.2 9.7 81 9.7 lB so ae " 1.0 lO " - - "J --· lU 118 llJ "' III -U 1l.8 1I) .l '" '" lO' ". B.O 10.1 - --Sl5 ns .. 1],2 II " lO 'JOl" lO' IOJ '" 4l) )1, '" )55 ItS 161 15.2 ,U '8 su '<J 151 ~8 n• '"41 1 7,~ ~. " 0 4l _ _ oc_..._-.....- • ~ - m- § - - ~ ~ f 1; · - • . ~ 1.7 80 7.S ~ J j ti lIJ 17.1 15.7 I S • lB lB ni .! · -O- w_ ii ... HEXlCO ( 1" 1, 1] -.1 .) I1 -_ . .=- -- I . ;: . , ....,- ".. ____ ,......-_,.. -*l- _ .......... _ ... ........... ,...,.. . .. . - .. --...... ...-., (l) _ _ _ .... " " " - .... ........... - - , .. • • No _ _ _ .... ~ 101 1I - 100 - S.J 1IJ 214 l<J j ; (1992, 12 alld+) . llJ 59 ' w_ - ... COSTARICA It• 10.0 111_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ · Jl 101 101 IU M' 11< 51.9 51 ~ 11.1 10.5 7" " - - S" - _ '21_ _ -- - 7.' ~51 U 10.2 106 111 1.' lJ 101 ~7 8 lO ' -s m- 100 , 16.2 '" '" 10,1 lO ' JU IU • .. - ~ 191 ) 1.2 ..,- -· - - ... 'OIM' (1" 1,1 5-.1 +) Sl '0 19) 248 •• 11 . . 1L6 • lO ll.l III lJ' II I V, ~ U lO7 ---- GUATtMAl.< (1991192. 6+) S' - - 'lO UI "'u 55 U lIJ lB 17.1 w_ ~ IU u m w_ (19112) - - JO ' 80ltI 'toes PAAAQJAY ''"lB 1JS 1JS (1980. 10>-) (1m ) - - SJ 58 B.. SAl.VAOQR NlCAAAGUA U IIB I~J --- 1J llS lO' .... _- "1 .... ....w_ '" ECUADOR au '84 '84 190 2U 1J.9 (I"'l - m- ~5 .8 Sl5 w_ (1'!81) . ~ ~t4 4l~ U II aMA RC~ ecLllI - ns .... "' ........ _. "' ........ _. " n . ........ _- " ,'".. ,- w_ (198S) ~ lid. ~1 . 1 107 w_ '''''' ~ ~ ~td ÚIIIlpIltld" "'7fd. .... '" '" ........ _. ........ _. n1 '" "S" ........ _. w_ • - 100 - Hizhnt Ioe'fel ~nt<I (2,l ~ 8 j PRESCHOOL EOUCATION nrcllrnent in preschooleducation E in tbe región hasgrown substant ially between 1970 and 1990. In 1970 the boys and girls who received preschool edacation amounted lo 1.6 million, while in 1990 there were len million. that is, the systemincreased itseducational cepaciry ten-fold for cbild ren under theage ot six. Twooftheprincipal causes that have influenced growthat thís level are women's Increesed participation in the labor marketand thedesire toimprovethe level at which chl ld ren enter primaryschcol soscholast ic failures can be reduced in the earlygrades. The enrohment oí girls in preschool education practically equals that oí boys inalJ countries in the reg ión. even including the 1970 figures. In fact, in1970 feminine enrollment in the reglen was51 %and in 1990 it was 5O%. Allhough preschool enrollment has increased in alJ the countries, lhe rale ofgrowlh is uneven. Varialions /luctuale belwt't'n countries lhal have praclically maintai ned thesame enrollment rates and countries thal, in 1990, show figures twelve times higher Ihan in 1970_Between thE.'St' two extremes, lhecounlries can be divided into four groups:a) Countries wilh lillle growth: Bolivia, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. In the caseofCuba, !his isin/luencN by lower birth rates. b)Countries where preschoolenrollment between 1970 and 1990 increasro lhrre-fold or fourfold: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay. e) Countries in which enrollment has increased sixorseven times:Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexicc, Nicaragua. And d) Counlries with a high growtb rete, that haveincreased lheirpreschool agegroup while inothers il refers only lo 5 yearsolds. In countries wbere tbedistinction can be made, an overall studyof the 2lo6years old age group shows that coverage is eorollment rafemore thaneight close lo10%, while if onlythe SY'''' limes: Brazíl, Peroand Venezuela. old group isconsidered, coverage tluctuates around 60%. The increase in coverage has beenespecially signíficant al the pl1'paratory level for primary education. Fmm these figures it isevident that enrollment al the preschoollevel hasgrown more as a reply lo the intemallogicof the system than asa response to the demand caused by women entering fhe labor market.In this respect. therefore. a long road still remains lo be traveled. Overand ebove the general increase in preschool enrollment. coverage al Ihis level isstill insuffident. Most of tbe count ries provide coverage to less than30%of the agegroup_Coverege inColombia,Guatemalaand the Dominican Republicis lower fhan 10%. Tbe countrieswlth the best coverage, therefore. are Panamá, Mexicoand Venezuela, with figures clase to 60%. A Iact that must be emphasized with regardlo coverageis Ihat the available dalais not consistení.In sornecases, il covers the under-six PRESCHOOL ENROLLHENT (I), ACCORDING TO SE X o 1910 -1990 Country Al e Number of mil>Of1, enroJlM of bottl sens (thouSloncls) (lJ AAGfNTlNA WUVIA Percenu.ze of women In t ou.J enrollment t.I910 d980 c.199O 22U 62.0 480.2 90.0 861.4 121.1 SI 41 60.4 n9 7.s 114.9 1144 21.9 220.4 na4 46.6 S2 - '---''.-_ .. SO 49 U4.l 16.9- 121.1 - 21.3 22.2 _ SO.8 108.3 SI SI SO 4t!1 489 ¡i"""""-: 33.0 51 S2 SO , ,- - 51 SO 51- 48 - SI SI SJ 50 SI SO 51 .. .. . c. I910 IlRAZlL ,_-_-_-,,=,.l=='J-15-.l-J.i".~ ,j=::::::.-',,"- CHILf S COLOMIll4 COSTA R!CA S s.s CU" = = , -_S I+U DOMINÓN R. J- ECU~ 4 118 EL~~ADOR ___ 4 }.t,2 BJ.9 GUAlIMAlA HONDURAS 4 4 21.5 14S.1 60.1 MfXJCO NICARAGUA 4 J 422.1 10,1 1.011.6 t1H.J 3O.S 6J.2 PANAMA 5 6 J 1 5 7.1 74.] 20.1 SO.2 PARAGUAY PERU URUGUAY - - -- VENEZUELA ~9 18.1 109 U8.2 424 42U 1 .61S. 8~,m .9 lATINAMERJCA NOI'" - ,.r.o-_ _ 30.1 34.2 60).8 65.8 614.8 __ ~ C- ~ o-a lO' .... .. • .. d990 48 - --SI SO - -SO51 ----52_-_50 _49 49 50 10.049.9_ _ " _ _',.'_ _ " . . ""'Ie&o_ .... _""'.. _ _en__.. ...-_ 01""',.,......fWO"" (1) K"'*v1..... ~ .o- ""' , _ 01 ~ ... lO on<l - . l. "'" . . ~ c.1980 <- , 01.... o.-,.u.-. J i i j doubled in recent decades Al theotherextreme are tbe countries withthe most signíficant growth in the number ofeerolled students. Bolivia, Nicaragua. El Salvador. Hondurasand Guatemala, which have more than doubled their primaryschool enrollment, These are 'han 5()'{. PRIMARY EDUCATION ENROLlMENT l l 1 ACCORDING TO sexo 1970_1990 Country Number of nudentet Pen:enb ee ofwomen enrolled of both le.et In tobl enrollml!nt (tbouunds) ARGeNTINA 6OI./VIA --- 1970 1980 )Jas a l.91 1.5 619.1 ' 18) (. 1' " 1910 "",,,'~ L _ _-.r-r--,17.fl66. 1 4,1 U .2 -- - _76'l.l ._ -I.IOSJ 1.0110.5 Ij )ol ) n W vAOOR. SIO &14.1 GUATEMAlA HONDlJII.AS HEOCO son I U.4 lBl} 60Ll ~ -- -- 91W 14.666J 50 28SJ 4n 2--t 6J17 PANAMA lSSJ ))1.5 JSU 4242 PERU l)4 U URUGUAY - ~ lA TlNAMER.ICA "- ; ll l _ ...- ... .. 1-4.401.6 NlCAAAQJA PNV.GJAY ID] " " " " " .". " " .". .". "" "" Sl90 687J ),161.4 4.0195 .... -.... .." ".. SI SI 47 n-u m) )46.4 1},' 7 1 158.S 4.osJO *-19l0 UI 90.0 nl lJ.2 5 ...... 1) . . - . . - - . . .... " ' - _.................... e - e- (. 1990 47 .". " _._-.vJ' . OQMINICAN R. . 119.4 HaJ - - -I.SlO.4 - - 1._. 468.5 COSTARICA 0J6A . 31$6.1 . , COlOM8lA 21..598.) 11)4(1.1 1 185.5 . OiIlf 1980 " - --::,"47 ---': . Thesystems are oriented towards achievingtotal coverage ofbasic education, and most of lhe countrles showaninm ase in enrollment between 1970 and lcm. Nevertheless. there aredifferent growlh rales acrording tothe actual situation of eaeh nation.Thus, there is a groupof countrieswilhmoderalegrowlhinils primary schoolencollmentrale. 8asic enrollment in Ihese rountries has increased by 4%or 1ess over thelasl Iwenty yearseither due lo demographicdynamics asin the case of Argentina. or because of Ihe polines implemented. as in thecase ofthe Dominican Republic.The Nevertheless, lhe increaseis linked lo the fact that the years01primary schooling were raised from six to nine, ¡.(I., it is morethe result ofan internal rhange in ee systemthan anexpensíonof«werage. The growth ofenrollment has been spedally signífícant tor wcmen.In the Iast twodecades they have increasingly enrolled in basic schoolíng and inmost cases iris almosl equal to thal of men. Nevertheless, inten ofthe fourteen ccuntries where available inforrnationisdivided by sex, the percentageof wcmen isless , P Another group ot countries has reduced itsprimary school enrollment inabsolute figures. This is thecase ofcountr ies líkeCuba. Chile and Uruguay. which had gross coverage retesclose lo 1m in 1970. Due todemographic dyoamics cha racterized bysubstantially reduced fertility retes, the actual demand per leve! has dropped in these countries. ~ rimary education, designed as the basisforknowledgeand skílls to beshared by the entire population, i..the tevel witbin the school systemwith the greatest coverage. Inseveralccuntries. coverage is prcvided topractically 100% of the age group. and countries where thisgoal has notbeen achieved are movíng in that direction. Wjlhin this framework.the rountries in the region thet are laggíng far behind the othersin the development of their primary school systemare Cuaternala. El Salvador. Nicaragua and Colombia. with net coverage ratesbelow &J%in1990. Alower percentage of female enrollment is also observedinGuatemala, t e.-46% in 1990.The next in Une isBolivia with afemale enrollment pcrcentage of47%that same year. In the remaining countnes, the figuresfor male and female enrollment are practicanyIhe same, although tht' percentage ofwomen tends to be slightlylower thanit isfor men. all countries with recentlydeveloped educational systems, which have not yet reached total coverage. Enrollmenl alsoincreased considerably in Venezuela: rates have . EOUCATlON rountries with moderare growth are Colombia, Costa Rica and Panamá, together with Argentina and the Dominican Republic. - PRIMARY ..... -..-.. - " ""