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Index of Educational Freedom in Latin America

A comparative diagnostic to drive better educational policies in the region.
In partnership with Templeton World Charity Foundation
Coordinated by Martín Krause

How free is education in Latin America?

The Libertad y Progreso Foundation presents the 2025 Educational Freedom Index, a unique tool that measures the extent to which families can choose how to educate their children and the degree of freedom citizens have to create alternative educational projects.
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Freedom to learn

That is, the ability of families to choose their children's education.

Freedom to teach

Reflects the capacity of private individuals and organizations to create their own educational projects.
In its 2025 edition, Chile leads the regional ranking, followed by Mexico and Peru, while Cuba and Venezuela rank at the bottom of the index.

The Problem

In Latin America, millions of families are unable to choose the education they desire for their children. Educational systems are often highly centralized, with little diversity in projects, lack of transparency, and strong state control over content, methods, financing, and the opening of new schools. This limits innovation, quality, and, above all, the freedom to learn and teach.

The Index Proposal

The Educational Freedom Index (EFI) evaluates the actual room for maneuver in:
  • School choice (state-run, private, or homeschooling)
  • Access to transparent information regarding educational performance
  • Funding that follows the families (rather than just state providers)
  • Opening private schools without excessive barriers
  • Managing teaching staff with autonomy
  • Defining methods and content without ideological impositions
The result is an indicator ranging from 0 to 1, where 1 represents maximum educational freedom.

Methodology

The EFI analyzes 20 Latin American countries and measures educational freedom based on two major dimensions:

Freedom to Learn

How free families are to decide how and where to educate their children. It includes:

School choice (private vs. state-run)

Homeschooling legal status and feasibility

Transparency of educational results

Demand-side financing (funding that follows the student)

Freedom to Teach

How easy it is for civil society to create and sustain schools with their own distinct projects. It includes:

Teacher autonomy (freedom in teaching practices)

Opening of independent schools

Freedom of methods and curricula

Main Results 2025

Key Findings

  • The region shows greater "Freedom to Teach" (0.48) than "Freedom to Learn" (0.33).
  • The weakest area is demand-side financing (funding geared toward family choice).
  • Teacher management is another critical point, due to the lack of school autonomy to hire, compensate, and evaluate teachers.
  • Chile stands out for the consolidated role of public-private collaboration.
  • Cuba represents the opposite extreme: a completely state-run education system with no educational freedom.

Countries with the highest educational freedom

  • Chile – 0,669
  • México – 0,576
  • Paraguay – 0,500

Countries with the lowest educational freedom

  • Cuba – 0,001
  • Venezuela – 0,239
  • Nicaragua – 0,300
ACTIVIDADES

Why does this index matter?

Because it allows us to:

Identify opportunities for improvement in each country

Compare educational policies across the region

Evaluate progress in educational freedom year over year

Promote models that are more diverse, transparent, and family-centered

Explore the diagnosis, country-by-country data, and recommendations to improve educational freedom in Latin America.

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