Education Sector Reform

In order to strengthen the education sector, USAID is supporting new education reform initiatives, expanding public/private partnerships, and encouraging the government’s commitment to reform. USAID is working with the government of Honduras to develop and implement academic standards in Spanish and mathematics that are aligned with international education standards.

USAID’s education program is helping Honduras create standardized tests and a national standardized testing system from elementary through high school. The testing systems will help ensure that more than two million students are learning basic skills, while holding the educational system more accountable and providing mechanisms to assess the effectiveness of new teaching strategies being implemented.

Plans to move more responsibility for education from the central Ministry of Education to the local level are being introduced. Establishing performance benchmarks for schools will help to increase local accountability and place more responsibility for education management at the local level, improving community ownership of schools.

USAID also supports civil society participation in education. In 2008, the USAID education program supported discussions around a proposed new Education Law. The law will introduce important educational reforms and increase accountability in this sector.

To create awareness and encourage increased involvement of parents, teachers, school and municipal authorities, and the population in general, USAID supports a private-sector-led communication campaign in newspapers, television, and radio. In 2008, the Honduran private sector donated over $400,000 worth of airtime and newspaper space for this campaign.