Bolivia has over the past decade seen some improvements to the education system, as school attendance rates has increased, and the national budget for education has reached 10 pct. However, when a process to update the basic curricula of Bolivian schools was discussed in 2022 it was met with disputes, and eventually a voluntary and gradual application of the curricula was decreed. Among the main changes proposed, was a reinforcement of depatriarchialisation and initiatives to prevent violence against women, and the incorporation of learning indigenous languages at the primary level.  

The proposals for educational improvement, such as the effective implementation of relevant regionalised curricula and the teaching of indigenous languages and topics in primary school, promoted by civil society organisations, have been put on hold. 

The project by Fundación Privada de Fieles Centro De Multiservicios Educativos (CEMSE) and Fundación Acción Cultural Loyola (ACLO) is a continuation of the previous project phase implemented between July 2021 – December 2023. During the current phase, the project will focus on progressive advances in the fulfilment of the right to a quality education for children and adolescents with cultural and linguistic relevance and the right to a life free of violence, until the implementation of basic curricula, regionalised curricula, and the principles of curricular harmonisation and harmonious coexistence is put into force in educational policies. 

The project will focus its efforts on the following main objectives to meet its overall target of fulfilling the right to quality education for all children in Bolivia and the right to a life free of violence: 

• Improve the quality educational management with the participation of students, female adolescent leaders, parents, teachers, and empowered community authorities.

• Complement the national educational policies for a better application of regionalised curricula and indigenous languages in regular education. 

• Enrich and deepen the national debate on inclusion, equity, and quality of regular education with the participation of civil society organisations. 

The project is mainly targeting educational units, municipalities and departments of the Aymara, Quechua and Guarani regions, and will continue to work with socio-educational actors and indigenous peoples' organisations. 

The project strategy is structured around three interrelated components aimed at: 

• Improving administrative and community management of regular education centres, employing the principles and approaches of inclusion, interculturality, gender equality, and harmonious school coexistence.  

• Enhancing contextualised curriculum management by applying regionalised curricula and indigenous Aymara, Quechua, and Guarani languages, and validated educational resources.  

• Deepening the national debate on inclusion, equity, and educational quality, with the participation of students, adolescent women leaders, parents, teachers, community authorities, and empowered Educational Councils of Indigenous Peoples (CEPOS).  

A previous phase of the project was implemented between July 2021 – December 2023. The current project is part of the EOL extension phase of 2024-2026. Read more about the first phase of the project here.