Uruguay Demographics

What is the population of Uruguay?

What is school like in Uruguay?

Classroom

Schools are beginning to deal with an unusual problem for Latin America—overcrowding. Schools in both rural and urban settings have insufficient supplies and teachers. Children from higher income families are more likely to get past these challenges and graduate to university studies.

School lunch in Uruguay is usually a very well-balanced, nutritional meal, often consisting of some sort of vegetable soup, fish or chicken with rice or potatoes, a salad, cooked vegetables, and dessert (such as ice cream or fruit).

The typical school day used to be in four-hour shifts to accommodate the number of students in limited schooling facilities. But a few years ago, especially in the lower-income areas, schools have begun switching from four hours per day to eight hours per day in an attempt to raise test scores, especially in language and literacy. It also helps to keep at-risk kids off the streets longer each day.

Because Uruguay is the most technologically savvy country in Latin America, a small number of elementary schools in the country have been chosen to begin piloting the ambitious “One Laptop per Child” project begun by Nicholas Negroponte, former director of the media lab at the Massachesetts Institute of Technology. The goal is to create and distribute highly functional yet inexpensive ($100 each) laptops for students throughout the world. Needless to say, the children in the schools testing the new computers are very excited.

Education Culture

The school year begins in the first or second week of March and goes until mid-December. There are often three holiday vacations also: a week before Easter, a midwinter holiday of two weeks in the middle of July, and another spring break for a week in September.

The university in Monevideo was for many years the only university in Uruguay. In recent years, a number of private universities and institutions have been founded to supplement this traditional university, founded almost 200 years ago. Furthermore, there is a nationwide system of vocational schools. Other institutes of higher learning include facilities for training teachers. Currently, one out of every three workers in Uruguay has completed vocational or university studies. Because of this, Uruguay is known for its technological advances in Latin America, and for the way it easily adapts to the changing technologies of the world.

It is worth noting that before World War II, Uruguay had perhaps the strongest economy in all of Latin America. However, since that time, and especially during the past 20 years, the economy has been declining, which means that social programs that depend on tax dollars, such as education, has also been declining. So while the tradition and basic infrastructure is solid, the educational system is gradually becoming more brittle, especially for lower income families whose children must hit the streets to market some small trinkets or food in an effort to not only improve their situation but more often just to eat.

Learning

The courses of study are established by a national organization, which means for students that they cannot choose any elective courses but can study only the subjects outlined for each school year by that organization.

The average student to teacher ratio is 21 to 1. Some of the poorer schools approach ratios of 40 to 1.

To School

What are the health conditions in Uruguay?

How long do people live in Uruguay?

What are the health conditions in Uruguay?

Medical Facilities and Health Information

Health Expenditures - percent of GDP

Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population

Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population

What is school like in Uruguay?

Can people in Uruguay read?

Is Uruguay a safe place to visit?

Crime Information

Criminal Penalties