Bolivia 1st in Education Investment in South America: Report

Bolivia holds the first place in public investment for education across South America, according to a new report.

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“Bolivia in South America is the first country with the best investment in education and in Latin America is the second, after Cuba," Education Director of Tarija Eudal Tejerina said.

According to Tejerina, the budget allocated to education is about nine percent of the Andean nation's GDP.

"Education is synonymous with liberation and transformation," Tejerina added.

Under the government of President Evo Morales, the country's first Indigenous president, illiteracy was reduced from 13.3 percent in 2001 to 2.9 percent in 2016, the lowest rate in Bolivia's history.

Bolivia was declared free from illiteracy in 2008 by the United Nations.

Since coming to power 11 years ago, Morales's government has made education a priority. During the last decade, it built more than 4,000 primary schools, 70 technical institutes and 27 high schools.

Before his presidency, investment in public education was US$434 million. That rate now stands at US$3.2 billion.