Andina

U.S., Peru celebrate over 70 years of education cooperation

00:03 | Lima, Sep. 27.

U.S. Ambassador to Peru Krishna R. Urs and Peru's Education Minister Daniel Alfaro marked more than 70 years of education cooperation in favor of the Inca country.

The event saw the participation of the private sector, diplomatic community members, and Peru's government officials.

The U.S. Government's support started with the establishment and construction of rural schools under the Peruvian-North American Cooperative Education Service in 1944 and continued with the establishment of the first graduate business school in Latin America, ESAN, in 1963.

Since the 1980s, the Andean Peace Scholarship Program and others related under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have provided training opportunities in the United States for more than 5,000 Peruvians, including prosecutors, judges, journalists, among others.

The USAID completed its last education project in the country called "Amazonia Lee" on July 21, 2018. This project was part of the successful USAID education legacy, in close cooperation with the Peruvian Government, which resulted in significant progress in the sector since its inception.

Over the past decades, with USAID's support, Peru has adopted important educational policies to increase funds for schools and implemented new models to improve the quality of universal basic education and to expand girls' access to education, mainly in rural areas.

Also with USAID's support, Peru facilitated decentralized education management. More recently, the Andean nation spurred improvements in reading skills among boys and girls throughout the country's Amazon regions with the lack of a conducive reading environment.
 
"Education is key to the development of a country and its people. We are satisfied with this partnership of more than 70 years and we expect this collaboration to continue," the U.S. Ambassador noted. 

(END) NDP/RMB/MVB

Published: 9/27/2018