In Honduras, 65% of the school-aged population does not have the opportunity to continue studying beyond the sixth grade. Over half a million young people do not have access to complete basic educa-tion. Addressing this situation has been an enormous challenge for education authorities. Traditionally, basic education has been delivered in a conventional manner, in the classroom. This coupled with a limited education budget where approximately 98% goes toward paying teachers' salaries, makes it virtually impossible for the state to meet the educa-tional demands of the population. However, working under the assumption that all members of a society are responsible for education, strategic alliances can be formed in order to pool resources and work together towards advancing education.

Keeping this assumption in mind, along with technical and financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Honduran Ministry of Education initiated the activi-ties of the Education for All Program (Programa de Educación para Todos -EDUCATODOS). This program provides young people and adults, who are excluded from the traditional school system, the opportunity to begin and/or finish primary education (first to sixth grades). In 1999, with the support of the Improving Educational Quality Project (IEQ Honduras), EDUCATODOS began developing a curriculum package that has enabled it to extend its coverage to seventh, eighth and ninth grades.

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