Violeta Gonzales
The province of Cusco stands out in the Region of Cusco for 2015 as occupying first place in reading comprehension and second place in mathematics in reaching a satisfactory level according to MINEDU.
Education in a country or region is considered important. The United Nations Development Program considers it a major variable for growth and social development.
Though it is true that Peru has made great advances in educational infrastructure and coverage, in zones where there is poverty the gains are minimal. In this context, the improvement in a rural province of the southern highlands of Peru, the province of Espinar, stands out.
Espinar Province is located in the region of Cusco, around 4,000 meters above sea level and is known for its agriculture and animal husbandry. Nevertheless, this is not the only fact of importance. The children of Espinar are as enterprising as their parents.
As a result, Espinar occupies the first place in in Reading Comprehension and the second place in Mathematics for Cusco, with the highest percentage of satisfactory level (Prueba ECE 2015 del Ministerio de Educación).
To this is added an increase in the number of students passing from one year to the next in the province. For secondary students the number increased from 83.2% in 2011 t 92.7% in 2014. That is to say that Espinar attained an increase of almost ten percentage points in barely four years.
In primary school, even though the growth was lower, Espinar also managed to advance 2 percentage points in the same period according to statistics from the Ministry of Education. The decrease in students being in an appropriate grade for their age. This number for Espinar has dropped from6.2% in 2011 to 4% in 2014. This is a decrease of almost two points.
On another issue we see an increase in the number of students from rural zones in Espinar who are able to enter a COAR, a high functioning school. In 2014, 14 students were able to achieve this while in 2015 20 students were able to go to one of these schools created following the success of the Colegio Mayor Secundario Presidente de la República that served as a model.
These results are due to a combination of work of the people of Espinar, as well as joint efforts of the government and private business. Espinar is a province with substantial mining investment and mining has invested more S/ 36 million in education since 2003 in Peru.
With this and other accomplishment, Espinar hopes to celebrate grandly next year on the hundred-year anniversary of its foundation.
Reference:
Evaluación Censal de Estudiantes, 2015: ¿Cuánto aprenden nuestros estudiantes en las competencias evaluadas? Ministerio de Educación.
