Loreto

The municipality of Loreto is mostly urban, and education services are mainly located in the city of Loreto where the population density is the highest.  Residents in Loreto recognize that the greatest educational disparities are found in rural areas where just 15% of the rural population has access to schools and lack the financial ability to pay for transportation into the city.  The small quantity of schools is not sufficient, but the authorities do not have enough financial resources to build additional schools.  With assistance from civil society groups, however, a dormitory has been built for students pursuing higher education courses in the city.  More facilities such as this one, or a series of home stays, would be an important addition to the educational infrastructure of Loreto.

Civic leaders in Loreto recognize that the four preschools available are not sufficient for the number of children who need to attend.  They also say that the two secundarias and preparatorias are insufficient both in quantity and quality because students who finish secundaria are not well-trained and find it very difficult to enroll in preparatoria because they are unable to pass the entrance exams. The result is that many students receive only a basic education.  Clearly, teachers must be better trained, and more secondary schools must be built because student groups are very large, resulting in less individual attention for each student.

Working mothers are in need of additional preschool and daycare services, wherein daycare centers adopt more flexible hours as many women work doing service jobs for hotels.  Their working hours are subject to change according to the seasonality of the tourism sector, and hence many women have problems finding a daycare center that is able to accommodate.