Ecuador

Original Re.ViCa entry by Paul Bacsich assisted by Gertjan and with desk research by Iris Velasquez Noguera

For entities in Ecuador see Category:Ecuador

Partners and experts situated in Ecuador

None.

Ecuador in a nutshell

Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador), literally, "Republic of the equator" is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America (with Chile) that does not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 965 kilometres (600 mi) west of the mainland. Ecuador straddles the equator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 256,371 square kilometres (98,985 sq mi). Its capital city is Quito; its largest city is Guayaquil.

Its population is around 14 million.

Ecuador is divided into 24 provinces (provincias), each with its own administrative capital. It has three main geographic regions, plus an insular region in the Pacific Ocean:

• La Costa, or the coast, comprises the low-lying land in the western part of the country, including the Pacific coastline.
• La Sierra ("the highlands") is the high-altitude belt running north-south along the center of the country, its mountainous terrain dominated by the Andes mountain range.
• La Amazonía, also known as El Oriente ("the east"), comprises the Amazon rainforest areas in the eastern part of the country, accounting for just under half of the country's total surface area, though populated by less than 5% of the population.
• Región Insular, the region comprising the Galápagos Islands, some 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) west of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean.

Ecuador's population is ethnically diverse. The largest ethnic group (as of 2007) is the Mestizos, who are the mixed descendants of Spanish colonists and indigenous Indians and who constitute less than 55% of the population. Amerindians account for around 25% of the current population. Whites, mainly criollos, the unmixed descendants of early Spanish colonists, as well as immigrants from other European countries, account for about 15% of the population. The small Afro-Ecuadorian minority, including Mulattos and zambos, largely based in Esmeraldas and Imbabura provinces, make up 5% of the population.

Education in Ecuador

The public education system is free at the point of delivery, and attendance is mandatory from ages five to 14.

Provision of public schools falls far below the levels needed, and class sizes are often very large, and families of limited means often find it necessary to pay for education. In rural areas, only 10% of the children go on to high school. The Ministry of Education states that the mean number of year completed as 6.7.

Ecuador has 61 universities, many of which offer graduate degrees, although only 87% of the faculty in public universities possess graduate degrees. About 300 higher institutes offer two to three years of post-secondary vocational or technical training.

Further and Higher education in Ecuador

Universities

There are said to be 61 universities. A listing of some of them is below: (source: http://www.4icu.org/ec/universities-ecuador.htm)

1. Universidad de Cuenca, Cuenca
2. Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca
3. Universidad Politécnica Salesiana del Ecuador: Cuenca, Guayaquil, Quito
4. Universidad Estatal de Bolívar, Guaranda
5. Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral: Guayaquil, Quito, Samborondon, Daule
6. Universidad Agraria del Ecuador: Guayaquil, Milagro
7. Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil: Guayaquil
8. Universidad de Guayaquil, Guayaquil
9. Universidad Laica Vicente Rocafuerte de Guayaquil, Guayaquil
10. Universidad Santa María, Guayaquil
11. Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra
12. Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Latacunga
13. Universidad Nacional de Loja, Loja
14. Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja, Loja
15. Universidad Laca Eloy Alfaro de Manabi, Manabí
16. Universidad Técnica de Manabí, Manabí
17. Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo: Quevedo, La Mana, Balzar, Salcedo, Puyo, Patate
18. Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito
19. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito
20. Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar: Quito, La Paz
21. Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito
22. Universidad de Especialidades Turísticas Quito
23. Universidad del Pacifico Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca
24. Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito
25. Universidad Internacional SEK-Ecuador, Quito
26. Universidad San Francisco de Quito Quito, Cumbaya
27. Universidad Tecnológica América, Quito
28. Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, Quito
29. Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Quito
30. Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo, Riobamba
31. Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo Riobamba, Guano
32. Universidad de Especialidades del Espíritu Santo, Samborondón
33. Escuela Politécnica del Ejercito, Sangolquí
34. Universidad Técnica de Ambato, Tungurahua

Polytechnics in Ecuador

There are about 300 higher institutes offer two to three years of post-secondary vocational or technical training.

ICT in education initiatives

Virtual initiatives in post-secondary education

Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja

The Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL) is presently an autonomous organisation in Loja, Ecuador. UTPL provides both on-campus and distance education.

UTPL was created by presidential decree in 1971 and administered by the government until October 1997. Originally (until 1987) it was called the Open University of Loja. Today, it is run by missionaries and views itself as 'an educational institution with a social purpose'. A non-profit organisation financed by the Ecuadorian State, it was a pioneer of distance learning in Latin America, with distance learning provision available since 1976.

Its web site is at http://www.utpl.edu.ec/ingles/

References

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For OER policies and projects in Ecuador see Ecuador/OER

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