CRC/C/PER/CO/3
page 12
6. Education, leisure and cultural activities
(arts. 28, 29 and 31 of the Convention)
60.
The Committee welcomes the active role of school councils as well as the programmes
developed by the State party especially in the field of pre-primary education, such as PRONEI
and WAWA WASI. Likewise, the Committee also welcomes the increase in the completion rate
of primary education. However, it is still concerned about:
(a)
The low level of budget allocations for education and the minimal increases
planned by the Government;
(b)
The discrepancies - both in quality and infrastructure - between urban and rural
schools and public and private schools. In particular, the Committee is concerned about the
deplorable conditions of schools in remote areas and the low quality of education there;
(c)
The lack of adequate training of teachers, including skills for intercultural
bilingual education to indigenous communities;
(d)
The fact that neither at primary nor at the secondary level all children attend
school regularly, that drop-out and repetition rates are very high and that almost every fourth
adolescent (age 12 to 17) has left school, inter alia because of lack of schools;
(e)
The even higher non-attendance and earlier drop-out of girls because of
traditional views and partly due to early pregnancies and maternity;
(f)
The limited access to vocational training;
(g)
Hidden costs associated with schooling;
(h)
The results of the Programme for International Study Assessment (PISA study)
undertaken in 2002, according to which State party’s students were ranked in the last positions of
the survey.
61.
The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Emphasize the quality of education and accelerate the increase of better
targeted resources to education in the national budget;
(b)
Increase efforts to improve conditions of schools in remote and rural areas
and eliminate discrepancies in access to quality education between urban and rural areas;
(c)
Strengthen measures aimed at increasing enrolment and completion rates as
well as reducing dropout rates;
(d)
Strengthen efforts at teacher training and improve their working conditions,
including salaries;
(e)
Improve intercultural bilingual education;