Education in Suriname

Education in Suriname is divided into primary education, secondary education, and tertiary education, and consists of public and private schools. Public schools are managed and governed by the government.

Primary education is the General Primary Education (G.L.O.) or basic school.

VOJ and VOS belong to secondary education, which stands for Junior Secondary Education (Voortgezet Onderwijs voor Junioren) and Senior Secondary Education (Voortgezet Onderwijs voor Senioren).

Tertiary education is higher education, which includes all post-secondary level courses for which a minimum VOS level diploma or equivalent is required for admission.

Source: gov.sr

Education Reform

An education reform is currently underway in Suriname.

As part of this, two additional school years (year 9 and 10) are being introduced at primary schools, and a continuous progression approach will be implemented.

Currently, many school leaders and teachers are busy familiarizing themselves with the new school years, promotion approach and progression policy, new curriculum topics such as critical thinking, and the new textbooks.

This website provides information about the education reform, various curriculum documents, and teaching materials: minowc.sr

Current Situation in Primary Education

Suriname has more than 350 primary schools (Source: ABS)

Many primary schools in Suriname are currently struggling with backlogs and shortages.

Backlogs in maintenance and shortages in resources, personnel, and materials.

Often, these backlogs and shortages originated in the 1980s.

Here is a link to a UNICEF report from 2019

Here is a link to an article on stateuniversity.com about education in Suriname: Suriname-SUMMARY.html

In Suriname, life has become very expensive for the average citizen.

This makes it difficult for many parents and children to afford school supplies.