Weaknesses

• • Access to upper secondary education is barely 37 %. Drop out and absentee rates are high in regions where school aged children are in the workforce.
• • There are many teachers with official certification, but such certification does not necessarily mean that they are indeed qualified. Many teachers are prepared by the system, but there is often a lack of commitment to the system once they are prepared.

• • The majority of teachers work two shifts so there is little time for planning and design of teaching-learning strategies. Nor does such a situation facilitate the professional development of in-service teachers. Contracting teachers is sometimes the result of political party affiliations rather than professional competence.
• • Special programs do not reach all regions.

Threats

• • Preparation programs do not last long given the institutional weakness of the system.
• • Teacher compensation policies do not permit the attraction of the strongest talents to the teaching profession.
• • There are limited resources for teacher preparation and purchase of adequate materials.
• • Some teacher preparation institutions do not have human resources with backgrounds adequate for carrying out their programs nor the resources and infrastructure required to offer good quality programs.
• • There is little integration of Information and Communication Technologies into the teaching-learning process. Thus the technological gap between rich and poor is deepening.