Children and school in Bolivia: a school year from February to December

Bolivia has compulsory education up to and including the bachillerato, the secondary school leaving diploma, and public education is free up to and including higher education (article 81 of the Constitution). The school year runs from February to December: in 2026 from 2 February to 2 December, with 200 school days in three terms. A child coming from abroad may always be enrolled, whatever the family's residence status.

What	2026	Source
Enrolment of new pupils	19 and 20 January	RM 0001/2026, art. 14
Enrolment when changing school	21 to 23 January	art. 14
First term	2 February to 8 May	art. 4
Second term, with 10 working days of school holiday	11 May to 31 August	art. 4 and 9
Third term	1 September to 2 December	art. 4
Age for the first year of primary school	6 on 31 March	art. 15
Age for the kindergarten years	4 and 5 on 31 March	art. 15

A new resolution with the dates appears every year. If you go during the year, ask the school about the rules for that school year.

Can your child go to school straight away?

Yes. The 2026 rules say so expressly: in no case is access to education restricted because of the residence status of the pupil or their family. For a foreign pupil you may show a Bolivian identity document, such as the cédula de extranjero, or a document from the country of origin: passport, identity card or birth certificate. If you have none, a parent signs a declaration and the school enrols the child anyway (article 15 and article 12, paragraph VII).

At first enrolment in kindergarten or the first year the school also asks for the vaccination record under the Bolivian schedule. If it is missing, your child is still enrolled, and the school works with you to complete the vaccinations before the end of the school year.

Which class does your child join?

The school places a pupil from abroad using the equivalence table of the Convenio Andrés Bello and MERCOSUR (article 33). If you have no papers showing the level, the child joins the class that fits their age. A pedagogical committee assesses them and draws up a plan to catch up on any gaps (article 18).

You apply for recognition of grades from abroad, the convalidación y homologación de notas, at the department's education directorate. At the Chuquisaca directorate, for example, you hand in a statement of the study abroad, the birth certificate with a copy, a copy of an identity document and a petition; it costs Bs 10 there. Other departments may have other requirements.

Bring the reports and statements from the Dutch school, with an apostille, and have them translated into Spanish. Without those documents the school places your child by age, and that can mean a class lower.