Nicaragua

Partners situated in Nicaragua

None.

Nicaragua in a nutshell

Nicaragua - officially the Republic of Nicaragua (Spanish: República de Nicaragua?) - is a representative democratic republic. It is the largest state in Central America with an area of 130,000 sq km, about the size of the state of New York. The country is bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the country, the Caribbean Sea to the east. Falling within the tropics, Nicaragua sits 11 degrees north of the Equator, in the Northern Hemisphere. Nicaragua's capital city is Managua.

The origin of the name Nicaragua is unclear; one theory is that it was coined by Spanish colonists based upon the name of the local chief at that time, Nicarao; another is that it may have meant "surrounded by water" in an indigenous language (this could either be a reference to its two large freshwater lakes, Lake Nicaragua and Lake Managua, or to the fact that it bounded on the east and the west by oceans).

The population of Nicaragua is 5,785,846 (source: http://www.exportnicaragua.com)

Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Currently, Nicaragua's major political parties have been discussing the possibility of going from a presidential system to a parliamentary system. This way, there would be a clear differentiation between the head of government (Prime Minister) and the head of state (President).

For administrative purposes Nicaragua is divided into 15 departments (departamentos) and two self-governing regions (autonomous communities) based on the Spanish model. The departments are then subdivided into 153 municipios (municipalities). The two autonomous regions are 'Región Autónoma Atlántico Norte' and 'Región Autónoma Atlántico Sur', often referred to as RAAN and RAAS, respectively.

Nicaragua's population has a comprises mainly 69% mestizo, 17% white, 9% black and 5% amerindian; this fluctuates with changes in migration patterns. The population is 54% urban.

The most populous city in Nicaragua is the capital, Managua, with a population of 1.2 million (2005). As of 2005, over 4.4 million inhabitants live in the Pacific, Central and North regions, 2.7 in the Pacific region alone, while inhabitants in the Caribbean region reached an estimated 700,000.[81]

There is a growing expatriate community, the majority of whom move for business, investment or retirement from United States, Canada, Europe, Taiwan, and other countries; the majority have settled in Managua, Granada and San Juan del Sur.

Spanish is spoken by about 90% of the country's population. In Nicaragua the Voseo form is common, as also in Argentina, Uruguay and coastal Colombia. In the Caribbean coast many Afro-Nicaraguans and creoles speak English and creole English as their first language. Also in the Caribbean coast, many Indigenous people speak their native languages, such as the Miskito, Sumo, Rama and Garifuna language. In addition, many ethnic groups in Nicaragua have maintained their ancestral languages, while also speaking Spanish or English; these include Chinese, Arabic, German, and Italian.

Religion is a significant part of the culture of Nicaragua and is referred to in the constitution. Religious freedom, which has been guaranteed since 1939 and religious tolerance are promoted by both the Nicaraguan government and the constitution. Nicaragua has no official religion. However, Catholic Bishops are expected to lend their authority to important state occasions, and their pronouncements on national issues are closely followed. They can also be called upon to mediate between contending parties at moments of political crisis.

The largest denomination, and traditionally the religion of the majority, is Roman Catholic. However, the numbers of practicing Roman Catholics have been declining, while members of evangelical Protestant groups and Mormons have been rapidly growing in numbers since the 1990s. There are also strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast.

Nicaragua education policy

Education is free for all Nicaraguans. Elementary education is free and compulsory, however, many children in rural areas are unable to attend due to lack of schools and other reasons. Communities located on the Caribbean coast have access to education in their native languages.

As of 1979, the educational system was one of the poorest in Latin America. Under the Somoza dictatorships, limited spending on education and generalized poverty, which forced many adolescents into the labor market, constricted educational opportunities for Nicaraguans. One of the first acts of the newly elected Sandinista government in 1980 was an extensive and successful literacy campaign, using secondary school students, university students and teachers as volunteer teachers: it reduced the overall illiteracy rate from 50.3% to 12.9% within only five months. This was one of a number of large scale programs which received international recognition for their gains in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions, and land reform.[ In September 1980, UNESCO awarded Nicaragua the “Nadezhda K. Krupskaya” award for the literacy campaign. This was followed by the literacy campaigns of 1982, 1986, 1987, 1995 and 2000, all of which were also awarded by UNESCO.

The majority of higher education institutions are located in Managua.

Higher education has financial, organic and administrative autonomy, according to the law. Also, freedom of subjects is recognized.

Higher education

Nicaragua's higher education system consists of 48 universities, and 113 colleges and technical institutes in the areas of electronics, computer systems and sciences, agroforestry, construction and trade-related services.[96] The educational system includes 1 U.S. accredited English-language university, 3 Bilingual university programs, 5 Bilingual secondary schools and dozens of English Language Institutes. In 2005, almost 400,000 (7%) of Nicaraguans held a university degree. 18% of Nicaragua's total budget is invested in primary, secondary and higher education. University level institutions account for 6% of 18%.

Universities in Nicaragua

There are two principal universities in Nicaragua:

• Central American University (Universidad Centroaméricana - UCA)
• National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua - UNAN)

During the transition period of the outgoing Sandinista regime, the country's four state and two private universities were granted academic, financial, and administrative autonomy through the University Autonomy Law. The universities were also given the right to elect their own rectors, faculty council, and other governing bodies.

As for other universities, there are two main lists, from the government and from the IAU. The IAU list is likely to be more reliable - it is given below.

1. Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University
2. Escuela Internacional de Agricultura y Ganadería
3. Escuela Politécnica de Comercio
4. Universidad Adventista de Nicaragua
5. Universidad Americana
6. Universidad Autónoma de Chinandega
7. Universidad Católica 'Redemptoris Mater'
8. Universidad Católica Agropecuaria del Trópico Seco
9. Universidad Central de Nicaragua
10. Universidad Centroamericana de Ciencias Empresariales
11. Universidad Centroamericana, Managua - a member of IAU
12. Universidad Cristiana Autónoma de Nicaragua
13. Universidad de Ciencias Comerciales
14. Universidad de las Américas
15. Universidad de las Regiones Autónomas de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense
16. Universidad de Managua
17. Universidad de Occidente-León
18. Universidad del Norte de Nicaragua
19. Universidad del Valle de Nicaragua
20. Universidad Evangélica Nicaragüense, Martin Luther King
21. Universidad Hispanoamericana
22. Universidad Iberoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología
23. Universidad Internacional de la Integración de América Latina
24. Universidad Jean-Jacques Rousseau
25. Universidad Juan Pablo II de Ciencias Sociales Aplicadas
26. Universidad La Anunciata
27. Universidad Martín Lutero "Un Ministerio de las Asambleas de Dios
28. Universidad Metropolitana
29. Universidad Nacional Agraria
30. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-Managua
31. Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
32. Universidad Nicaragüense de Ciencia y Tecnología
33. Universidad Paulo Freire
34. Universidad Politécnica de Nicaragua
35. Universidad Popular de Nicaragua
36. Universidad Santo Tomás de Oriente y Medio Día
37. Universidad Tecnológica Nicaragüense
38. Universidad Thomas More

For further reading see Nicaragua: New Private versus Old Private and Public - http://www.wes.org/ewenr/07may/nicaragua.htm

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

Not very relevant.

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

(another very important section)

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

Lessons learnt

None.

References

(try to add one or two)

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