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Uruguay Educational Reforms under Military Rule, 1973-85
In 1973, the year in which Uruguay descended into
authoritarian rule, major changes were decreed in the
education
system. The National Council for Education (Consejo
Nacional de
Educación--Conae) was set up to oversee all three branches
of
education under the supervision of the executive branch of
government. At the same time, the compulsory length of
schooling
was raised from six to nine years. The secondary
curriculum was
completely reorganized, as was the pattern of teacher
training.
Finally, the INET saw its status and budget upgraded.
However,
overall spending on education fell from 12.2 percent of
the
central government budget in 1974 to 7.3 percent in 1982.
Enrollments in primary education (both state and
private)
fell 6 percent from 1968 to 1981. From 1968 to 1982,
secondary
school enrollments grew 6 percent; however, about half the
secondary school students in Montevideo (and 70 percent in
the
interior) dropped out before receiving any certification.
Over
the same period, there was a boom in technical schools;
enrollments increased 66 percent in the interior and 27
percent
in Montevideo. The major cause of this increase was the
new
ciclo básico (basic cycle), which added three years
of
compulsory secondary education to the six years of
compulsory
primary schooling. However, the dropout rate remained
about 50
percent. Enrollments in the University of the Republic
doubled
from 1968 to 1982, but the proportion of students
graduating fell
to just 8 percent.
In 1984, as something of a parting shot, Uruguay's
military
government formally granted university status to a
Catholic
college that had been expanding over the previous decade.
This
ended the University of the Republic's monopoly, which had
lasted
since its foundation in 1849. The new Catholic University
of
Uruguay remained extremely small, however, compared with
its
rival.
Data as of December 1990
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