Bukele announces increased education investment, equivalent to 8% of El Salvador's GDP

President Nayib Bukele announced that El Salvador will invest over $3 billion annually in education, a move he stated triples the investment of previous governments and represents more than 8% of the nation's GDP. Addressing approximately 30,000 public school students at the Estadio Nacional Jorge 'Mágico' González in San Salvador, Bukele declared this would position El Salvador as the leading investor in education within Latin America based on state budget allocation.

“

We are going to move to an investment of more than 3 billion dollars a year, which is three times what previous governments invested, equivalent to more than 8% of GDP.

The president also revealed a new program to provide university scholarships to around 50,000 students, facilitated by a $100 million agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Bukele stressed that this funding aims to ensure educational opportunities are not dependent on any single government or budget cycle. He committed to continuing these scholarships annually until all Salvadoran youth have the chance to pursue higher education, provided they maintain good grades, complete their studies, and engage in community work.

Bukele contrasted his administration's approach, highlighting a "soft hand" for the "good" citizens alongside the "tough hand" known internationally for its crackdown on crime, gangs, and drug trafficking. He stated, "Internationally, this government is known for having a tough hand against crime, against delinquency, against gangs, against drug trafficking, but we really do have a tough hand against the bad guys, but we must have a soft and friendly and good hand with the good guys."

“

These 50,000 scholarships are only for this year; next year there will be more and more and so on until all Salvadoran youth have the opportunity to study.

El Salvador has been under a state of exception since March 2022, following a surge in gang-related homicides. This security policy has led to over 92,000 arrests, though Bukele himself has acknowledged that around 8,000 of those detained were innocent. Human rights advocates report over 6,400 complaints of abuses under this policy and at least 554 deaths in state custody, many showing signs of physical violence. Despite these concerns, the security strategy contributed to Bukele's re-election in 2024.

“

Internationally, this government is known for having a tough hand against crime, against delinquency, against gangs, against drug trafficking, but we really do have a tough hand against the bad guys, but we must have a soft and friendly and good hand with the good guys.