Education in Peru

Peruvian Education
Average years of schooling of adults 7.6 years

GDP per capita Peru $7,600 (2007 estimate) GDP per capita USA $45,800 (2007 estimate)

Education
“The typical school year runs from April through December. There are private and public schools. Although grades one through 12 are free, public education is not available for many of the poor and those in remote, rural areas.

According to law, all Peruvians have the right to attend school. Therefore, the government has created public schools to ensure it to those who are not able to pay high amounts to get an education. But in reality, many families live on US$1.00 a day, and even public schools require some payments such as registration fees (that are cheap), uniforms, books, school supplies, bus fares, etc., which make it impossible for many children to attend.

In the Amazon jungle and the high Andean towns, there are very few schools and a tremendous lack of teachers. Additionally, many people who are farmers in rural areas do not send their children to school because they are needed to help at the farm or to help their mothers with household chores.

A middle-class family may send their children to attend school and finish a career, but in Peru it is not easy to find jobs. Therefore, many professionals perform simple jobs, such as driving taxis, and the majority of professionals emigrate out of the country.”
Source: http://www.compassion.com/about/where/peru.htm