WHIP MAINTANENCE

The need for quality education in Bolivia as a result of the fraught public education system has attracted a great entry of religious and non-profit organizations, local and foreign business men, and foreign government cooperation funds to put up and operate many privately owned institutions in the region. Most of the privately owned universities have reciprocal accreditation and foreign exchange agreements with institutions in other countries. Additionally, Bolivia has a significantly high number of vocational and private institutes per capita.

Private institutions, referred to as ‘colegios particulares’ or ‘colegios privados’ in Bolivia, even though they offer higher quality of education than their public counterparts, and even though they may run according to foreign accreditation systems and foreign standards, and at times on a completely different year as is the case with American-operated schools, private schools, universities, and institutes have to strictly adhere to the Bolivian Education Reform Law that governs public education. What this means is that the institutes have to comply with the government-set minimum education standards and cover a core set of subjects that the Bolivian education system needs for study.

Admission requirements to a Bolivian private school are quite strict no wonder there is always a very long waiting list in the schools. Some private institutions ask for a one-off non-refundable membership fee which is then followed by the monthly costs. Some institutions will not admit new students into their elementary or high school system unless they graduated at the institute’s pre-school level. Some schools extend exclusive admission preference to learners whose parents took their studies at the school, and only admit new students if there are additional spaces to fill. Note however that exceptions are always there for foreign students. You need to travel to Bolivia to sign up.

With that said, be advised that many private institutions in Bolivia have included the words English, Bilingual, or American in their names. Note however that some of these schools aren’t American, nor is their level of education considered bilingual – and some that only teach in English only may not have qualified teachers whose English background conform to the American or English schools. Such schools don’t operate on the U.S calendar year either, and therefore means they are not fully accredited by the U.S.

When selecting an institution in Bolivia, or plan to send your kids there for college, enquire about the accreditation of private schools and make sure that the curriculum conforms to the Bolivian standards of Education before finalizing on yours or your kids admission.