Uruguay - Education



Adult illiteracy for the year 2000 was estimated at 2.2% (males, 2.6% and females, 1.8%), among the lowest in Latin America. Education in elementary, secondary, and technical schools and at the University of the Republic in Montevideo is free. Elementary education, which lasts six years, is compulsory. Secondary education is in two stages of three years. As of 1999, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.5% of GDP.

In 1996 there were 2,415 primary schools, with 16,868 teachers and 345,573 students. Student-to-teacher ratio stood at 20 to 1, where it remained as of 1999. There were 269,826 students in secondary schools in 1996. As of 1999, 94% of primary-school-age children were enrolled in school, while 77% of those eligible attended secondary school.

There are two major universities, one of which is state run, the University of the Republic, and one is private, the Catholic University. The institutions of higher learning had a total of 9,907 teachers and 79,691 students in 1996.

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