Education in El Salvador

Education in El Salvador is regulated by the country's Ministry of Education (MINED).^[1] El Salvador consists of the following levels of education:

• Basic Education divided into three cycles of three grades each:
  • 1st Cycle: from 1st to 3rd grades
  • 2nd Cycle: from 4th to 6th grades
  • 3rd Cycle: from 7th to 9th grades; which is a transition to secondary education (e.g. specialized teachers for each assignment).
• Secondary school, called Bachillerato:
  • Two year General High School
  • Three year Technical High School (e.g. Accounting, Secretariat, Electronics and Computer Science, etc.)
• Five years (minimum) of Higher Education, consisting of university education or other tertiary education.

Almost all students, public and private, take the PAES test during their second year of bachillerato. PAES is a learning aptitude test that acts as an indicator of their achievement. Students are tested on mathematics, language and literature, natural sciences, and social studies.^[2]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)^[3] finds that El Salvador is fulfilling only 64.8% of what it should be for the right to education based on the country's level of income.^[4] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration El Salvador's income level, the nation is achieving 64.5% of what could be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education and 65.2% for secondary education.^[4]