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On July 25, policymakers, educators, non-profit leaders, and academics met in Tegucigalpa to celebrate the launch of the 2017 PREAL Report Card on Education in Honduras, “A Debt Unpaid” (Una Deuda Pendiente).
The report, produced by Honduran non-profit FEREMA (Fundación para la Educación Ricardo Ernesto Maduro Andreu) in collaboration with the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional Francisco Morazán (UPNFM) and the LAC Reads Capacity Program supported by USAID, is part of a series of reports on national education systems and quality that the Education program at the Dialogue has produced in various countries since 2002.
The report highlights several key challenges the education sector in Honduras is currently confronting:
- Increasing coverage for all students in primary and secondary education.
- Improving the academic achievement of students, especially in Mathematics.
- Reducing educational inequalities through affirmative action policies.
- Increasing completion rates in primary and secondary education
- Strengthening decentralization efforts in accordance with current legislation.
- Creation and implementation of a national evaluation system.
- Improving policies for teacher pre-service and in-service professional development
- Increasing the amount and efficiency of public spending on education
Dr. Ariel Fiszbein, Director of the Dialogue’s Education Program, presented at the event, which was also attended by Honduran Education Secretary Rutilia Calderón, President of FEREMA’s Board of Directors, Michael Dieckmann, as well as the organization’s Operating Director, Carolina Maduro. Also in attendance were Dr. Mario Alas, who led the research team, and Bridget Drury of the LAC Reads Capacity Program.
Dr. Alas, who presented the report and its key findings, highlighted both the strengths and challenges that Honduras currently faces in its education system. “We can see the advances in a positive light with what we have achieved, but we also have to see the negative part because we are [not progressing],” said Alas.
Speaking at the event, Secretary Calderón affirmed the importance of the PREAL Report Cards for calling attention to critical areas for improvement in the education system: “In addition to telling us what the situation is, [the report] also points to what factors we must strengthen in order to move forward, in this case from [a period of] stagnation and be able to advance in a positive and favorable way in terms of our students’ learning.”
Following the launch of the Report Card, an event was held in the afternoon to discuss and reinforce the importance of teacher policy in ensuring quality education in Honduras, which was the basis for the Dialogue´s 2015 report “El Estado de las Políticas Públicas Docentes en Honduras,” part of a series of reports on teacher policy in four countries throughout the region.
Media Coverage:
- Roundtable Interview on PREAL Report Card. July 25, 2017. Televicentro: Frente a Frente.
- “Honduras logra avances, pero enfrenta retos en educación” – July 25, 2017. Proceso Digital.
- “Ferema presenta informe de progreso educativo de Honduras 2017”—July 25, 2017. Primicia Honduras.
- “Honduras ha hecho cosas muy positivas en la enseñanza”—July 23, 2017. Secretaría de Educación de Honduras.
