Education reforms learning assessment and activates alerts for low performance

The Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture issued the new Regulations to regulate learning evaluation processes, qualitative description of student behavior, and organizational processes in educational institutions of all funding types within the National Education System, contained in Ministerial Agreement MINEDEC-MINEDEC-2026-00082-A. The instrument was signed on October 4, 2026, by Minister Gilda Natalia Alcívar García and published in the Official Registry, Third Supplement No. 394, on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, starting on page 3.

Repeal and scope of the new regulation

The agreement repeals Ministerial Agreement No. MINEDUC-MINEDUC-2024-00031-A, dated May 22, 2024, and replaces its articles with a regulation consisting of 39 articles, 13 chapters, five general provisions, seven transitory provisions, and one single repealing provision. Its application is mandatory for all educational institutions of all funding types, levels, modalities, and types of education, as well as for the decentralized level and the central office of the ministry.

The decision was based on Technical Report No. MINEDEC-DNEE-IT-2026-017, dated August 14, 2026, prepared by the Undersecretariat of Educational Foundations and the Undersecretariat of Specialized and Inclusive Education (E), which recommended repealing the previous regulation to address the “critical bottlenecks” detected during its implementation. The process included memorandums MINEDEC-SFE-2026-00312-M, MINEDEC-SFE-2026-00325-M, MINEDEC-DNJ-2026-00199-M, and the legal pronouncement MINEDEC-CGAJ-2026-00606-M, dated August 21, 2026.

Scales, weightings, and grade improvement

The regulation establishes three types of evaluation—diagnostic, formative, and summative—and sets differentiated scales according to the level. In Initial Education, Preparatory, and Elementary, a qualitative scale is applied; in the Middle and Superior sublevels and in Baccalaureate, the final assessment is quantitative, from 1.00 to 10.00 points, with two truncated decimals.

• Mandatory weighting in public institutions: 70% formative evaluation and 30% summative evaluation per academic period.
• Minimum contributions per subject: 3 for subjects with 1 to 3 weekly pedagogical periods, 5 for 4 to 5 periods, and 9 for 6 or more.
• Direct grade improvement: for grades lower than 9.00 and higher than 7.00 points, with a result of up to 9.00; maximum one evaluation per subject and three in total per school year.
• Improvement with pedagogical reinforcement: for grades from 0.01 to 6.99 points, with a result of up to 7.00; maximum two evaluations per subject and six in total.
• Direct promotion with 7.00 points or more; supplementary evaluation between 4.01 and 6.99; direct repetition with 4.00 or less in Superior Basic and Baccalaureate.

Early warning and student support

Chapter III establishes the early detection procedure for low performance. In Middle, Upper, and High School, the alert is triggered by grades between 0.01 and 6.99 out of 10; in Preschool and Elementary, when the student achieves between E- and C+, meaning “skill or learning initiated” or “in the process of development.” The teacher must inform the mother, father, legal representative, adult caregiver, or self-represented student and activate pedagogical reinforcement, the weighted average of which can reach 7.00 points.

If there is no progress after applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies, the appropriateness of a psychopedagogical evaluation will be notified, which may lead to an Individualized Student Attention Program (PIAE). Cases linked to psychosocial risks or alleged violations of rights must be brought to the attention of the DECE professional.

In parallel, Article 30 stipulates that the qualitative description of behavior is formative in nature and “in no case may it violate” the educational rights of the students; its sole application may not be a requirement for promotion. The diagnostic socio-emotional evaluation will be mandatory in the first month of the school year, and its results will be confidential.

Implementation deadlines and Costa-Galápagos regime

The transitional provisions require the Undersecretariat of Educational Foundations to update the early detection guidelines and the student evaluation instructions within 60 days, while the General Coordination of Information and Communication Technologies must update the software applications within 45 days and the grade registration system within 60 days. Each institution must develop an Institutional Model of Educational Evaluation with a validity of four school years and annual feedback.

The Eighth Transitional Provision establishes a differentiated regime: institutions in the Costa-Galápagos regime will continue to apply the 2024 agreement until the close of the 2026-2027 school year, scheduled for March 1, 2027, while the provisions of the new instrument take effect from September 1, 2026, for the Sierra-Amazonía regime.

The change affects all public, private, municipal, and semi-public educational institutions in the country and redefines the rules by which students are graded, promoted, and supported, in addition to establishing for the first time an explicit early warning procedure aimed at preventing school dropout.

Source: Official Registry, Third Supplement No. 394, Wednesday, October 21, 2026, p. 3 (official reference: MINEDEC-MINEDEC-2026-00082-A).