History of Education and Educational Reforms in Peru in the 20th Century

History of education and educational reforms in Peru in the 20th century

In the twentieth century Peru had three main educational reform processes:

- The civil educative reform;

- The educative reform during the government of Juan Velasco Alvarado;

- Neoliberal educative reform during the government of Fujimori.

The civil educative reform.

This reform represents the civilian victory on the area of education in 1920. It was preceded by a debate between Alexander Deustua and Manuel Vicente Vallerán.

Villarán argued that the economic development of a country must be prioritized: the increase of the level of instruction would depend on it. He proposed a reformation of the primary school. Deustua, on the other hand, less interested in economics and more in politics and leadership, proposed a reformation in the structure of universities. Because the university is the source of national leadership.

In 1920 a new law (la Ley Organica de Ensenanza) was introduced by the committee that was headed by Deustua. The law contained a universal primary instruction and introduced new organizational strategies. Under supervising of specialists from the United States, Peru was divided in three regional departments of primary education. The secondary education continued to be in a poor state. The eventual results of la Ley Organica de Ensenanza was a disappointment. The gap between the written law and the outcomes were "a persistent characteristic of Peruvian educational policy" .

Director of the national school of folklore Emilio Morillo Miranda stated that the changes made in 1920 even made the current situation worse.

Educative reform Velasco's government

After the coup of Juan Velasco Alvarado in 1968 on October 3th the new government focused on changing the great inequalities in the system. Velasco wanted to restructure the economy to end the traditional oligarchic structure of power. Augusto Salazar Bondy argued that "it was necessary to radically change the educational system, parallel to the economic and socials reformations, to overcome chronical underdevelopment" .

Guided by the following purposes, a new educational structure was created:

- The work appropriate to the integral development of the country;

- The structural change and the improvement of Peruvian society;

- The self-assertion and the independence of Peru within the international community.

The structure of the new education implicated an initial education, regular and work basic education and higher education: ESEP (Escuela Superior de Educación Profesional) en la I ciclo, las universidades en el II ciclio y el