Education in Suriname

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Suriname has an extensive educational system with free schooling compulsory until age 12. The Government and the Roman Catholic and Moravian Churches provide education for kindergarten through secondary school. As a rule, all instruction is in Dutch. The three exceptions to this rule are the International School of Suriname, administered by representatives of various American Protestant missions in Suriname, the Christian Liberty Academy, administered by the Caribbean Christian Ministries, and the AlphaMax Academy, a private nonsectarian school administered by the AlphaMax Foundation.

The adult literacy rate is approximately 95%. Teacher training institutes, secondary schools, and technical schools provide terminal degrees. Nurses and dental technicians are trained in conjunction with the medical faculty, but standards do not equal those found in more developed countries. The Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo has faculties of medicine, law, natural resources, and social and technical sciences. However, transfer of individual course credits to and from the U.S. is difficult, if not unlikely. Enrollment is very difficult for non-Dutch speaking persons as well. Many students still attend high schools and universities in the Netherlands. A growing number study in U.S. universities.