Alcázar, L. y Guerrero Ortíz, L. (2011). Para la mejora efectiva de la educación básica en las zonas rurales del Perú: revisión de los principales programas educativos. Lima: IPAE; USAID; Agencia Canadiense de Desarrollo Internacional.

The different models of intervention in rural schools analyzed in this mimeo: AprenDes, PROMEB, Building Successful Schools, Fe y Alegría, have given rise to experiences considered successful not only because they have fully complied with the most substantive of their main objectives, but also because of a fact of great political relevance: in four years of systematic intervention, rural school boys and girls who achieved basic or satisfactory performance in reading comprehension reached in general the following percentages: first grade: 52%, third grade: 55%, sixth grade: 65%. If we take into account that the historical average of satisfactory performance in reading comprehension for rural schools is around one child out of every 10 who goes on to third grade and even completes primary school, we can understand its enormous relevance for public policies.

These four experiences are based on six common certainties: rural schools need to be organized differently from urban schools; overcoming their low levels of quality is a challenge that must be faced without avoiding its complexity; rural children have the right to receive a good education and offering it is an obligation of the State; poverty is not a barrier for students to learn successfully; schools require reasonable margins of autonomy to be able to respond to reality; and there are transformations that must be undertaken both in the school and in the public sector.