Nicaragua
	Economically ruined by the civil war which has been holding sway for several decades, Nicaragua is presently one of the poorest countries of Latin America (GDP per capita inferior to 500 US$). The present government established in 1999 is striving to relaunch the economic and administrative reforms as well as the fight against corruption. The government is also striving to make the country more attractive to foreign investments but its manoever room is still rather small.

 

Like many other Latin America countries Nicaragua is in process of the educational reform. The 1990s were characterized by two important reforms : the first one concerns the curriculum (content modification, unpolitization of the education) and the other one deals with management of educational system (decentralization, school autonomy). Total population (1999) : 4.9 million Illiteracy rate (2000): 33.5% Total expenditures for education (in % of GNP) : 3.9 % (1997) Pupil/teacher ratio : 36 (1996)