2006

In the early 1990s, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Honduras's Secretary of Education (SE) began looking at alternative mechanisms to reach out-of-school youth and ensure that both youth and adults complete a sixth grade education as part of the push to meet Education for All (EFA) goals. USAID created the Educatodos programme through a complementary service delivery model in 1996 to offer youth and adults the opportunity to complete grades 1-6 in 3 years; in 2000, the programme expanded to include grades 7-9. Educatodos is designed to cost-effectively respond to the demand for basic education in a significantly shorter time frame than the traditional education system. It uses existing country and community infrastructure and an integrated curriculum utilising audio and printed materials, as well as volunteer facilitators from the community with diverse academic backgrounds who implement the programme from learning centres situated in factories, businesses, schools, and community centres throughout the country.

According to the USAID's Evaluation to Support Learning: The Evaluation Process of the 7-9th Grade of Educatodos, an estimated 75% of Hondurans had not completed the seventh grade and approximately 1.6 million youth and adults of age had not completed the sixth grade in 2001. The government's commitment to meeting EFA has enabled more students to enroll in basic education, with gross enrollment rates increasing from 1,094,792 in 2000 to 1,227,368 in 2003. However, net enrollment dropped considerably after sixth grade, with only 29% of 13 to 18 year-olds enrolled in grades seven through 12 in 2003. Dropout rates are significantly higher in rural regions compared to urban areas.

Examining the completion rates for Educatodos reveals that the programme is as efficient as the public system, with an average completion rate of 61% from 1996 to 2003. Completion rates held steady at 71% from 2000 to 2003. Completion rates for the grades 7-9 programme, where students are closer in age to their peer population in the public system, are higher at 54%, compared to 35% in the public education system; 7,188 students have completed seventh, eighth, or ninth grade since 2001.

• Students from Educatodos demonstrated similar and, in some cases, better performance on measures of Spanish and mathematics than students in the regular public school system.
• The performance of students in the Educatodos pilot centres was significantly better that the performance of participants in the expansion centres and the students in traditional schools.
• An analysis between the pre- and post-tests given to students in the Educatodos pilot centres indicated that their performance improved significantly in each of the Spanish and mathematics tests at the grade 4, 6, and 7 levels.

The Improving Educational Quality (IEQ) Project conducted a study that examined the impact of Educatodos on women. Results from the study suggest that the model assists both facilitators and students obtain control over everyday factors that impact their lives, including social, political, biological, physical, and sexual. Results also indicate that Educatodos helped increase women participants' self-esteem and is providing new opportunities for women to enter the workforce, although no statistical data were provided.

The Improving Educational Quality (IEQ) Project conducted a study that examined the impact of Educatodos on women. Results from the study suggest that the model assists both facilitators and students obtain control over everyday factors that impact their lives, including social, political, biological, physical, and sexual. Results also indicate that Educatodos helped increase women participants' self-esteem and is providing new opportunities for women to enter the workforce, although no statistical data were provided.

Enrollment rates in Educatodos have risen consistently over the programme's life. In 2003, Educatodos enrolled 117,656 students with approximately 80% participating in the grade 1-6 programme and the remaining 20% in the grade 7-9 programme. Since its inception in 1996, Educatodos has enrolled over 500,000 students in its primary school programme, producing over 350,000 person years of education from grades 1-7. The grade 7-9 programme is newer, initiated in the year 2000. Even so, seventh grade enrollment rose from 2,728 in 2000 to 8,824 in 2003. Enrollments in grade 8 rose from 2,187 in 2002 to 2,957 in 2003. In 2003, 1,436 students completed grade 9, giving the programme an efficiency rate of approximately 54%, compared to 35% in the public schools. Reduction of the average age of participation is particularly important to Honduras's achievement of its EFA and Poverty Reduction goals. For example, the Poverty Reduction goals are to provide 70% coverage in grades 7-9 for children ages 13 to 15. Data show that 2 of every 3 participants in seventh and eighth grades are under 18 years of age and that 36% are under 16 years of age.

Completion of the Educatodos programme relates to the number of students who complete both the individual 2-year grade cycles and the full primary cycle of grades 1-6. Examining the completion rates for Educatodos reveals that the programme is as efficient as the public system, with an average completion rate of 61% from 1996 to 2003. Completion rates held steady at 71% from 2000 to 2003. Completion rates for the grades 7-9 programme, where students are closer in age to their peer population in the public system, are higher at 54%, compared to 35% in the public education system; 7,188 students have completed seventh, eighth, or ninth grade since 2001.

A study conducted in October and November 2001 by researchers from Universidad Pedagogica Nacional Fransisco Morozan (UMCE) and published in Logros Academicos del Septimo Grado de Educatodos: Estudio Comparativo External de los Centrosde Educatodos e los Centros Regulares by Unidad Externa de Medición de Calidad Educación measured student learning in the Educatodos pilot centres and expansion centres and in the traditional school system. A pre-test was conducted for students in the seventh grade pilot centres at the beginning of the year, and post tests were conducted for students in the pilot centres, expansion centres, and government schools.

• Students from Educatodos demonstrated similar and, in some cases, better performance on measures of Spanish and mathematics than students in the regular public school system. These results were achieved in spite of having fewer resources, less school time, and volunteer facilitators instead of teachers.
• The performance of students in the Educatodos pilot centres was significantly better that the performance of participants in the expansion centres and the students in traditional schools. The result was statistically significant.
• An analysis between the pre- and post-tests given to students in the Educatodos pilot centres indicated that their performance improved significantly in each of the Spanish and mathematics tests at the grade 4, 6, and 7 levels.
• In Spanish, 67% of seventh grade participants achieved full mastery of the competencies corresponding to fourth grade competencies, 46% achieved mastery of sixth grade competencies, and 22% achieved full mastery of the skills associated with seventh grade.
• Mathematics results were slightly lower: 53% of students in the pilot centres achieved full mastery of the fourth grade competencies. Of the seventh grade participants, 76% began at the non-mastery level and only 2% achieved mastery by the end.

The Improving Educational Quality (IEQ) Project conducted a study that examined the impact of Educatodos on women. Results from the study suggest that the model assists both facilitators and students obtain control over everyday factors that impact their lives, including social, political, biological, physical, and sexual. Results also indicate that Educatodos helped increase women participants' self-esteem and is providing new opportunities for women to enter the workforce, although no statistical data were provided.