Andres Chavez, Brigham Young University
Education
The purpose of this research is to explore the current status and condition of the public and private education k-12 in Ecuador and analyze the implications that recent policy changes made by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education hold for the future role of K-12 schools in the country. In order to do this, I first met with the Minister of Education and received information regarding national test scores of schools in six provinces, the provinces being Guayas, Santa Elena, El Oro, Manabí, Azuay, and Pichincha. I then visited four different types of schools in each of those provinces, the types being public, municipal, fiscomisional, and private. In each of these schools, I held an interview with the principal as well as a few selected teachers, and observed the general condition of the school grounds and facilities. I found that the majority of the public schools are overpopulated, while the private schools for the poor are disappearing due to the diminishing number of students who are enrolling in their programs. I propose that the reforms that the Ministry of Education has put in place will be more effective in improving education if the number of students in each public classroom is reduced to a manageable amount. This can be achieved by the government providing subsidies and financial aid for more students to attend private schools.