[8] According to the Constitution of Peru, education is compulsory and free in public schools for the initial, primary and secondary levels.

[12][13] The ineffectiveness of regulation, corruption and the government's lack of interest in improvements has contributed to the low quality of Peru's educational structure.

[11][14] Peru's lack of higher education accreditation and its reliance on extractivism – with mining not requiring much scientific support – has also been detrimental to universities and research facilities within the nation.

Such training and education could explain the metalwork, ceramics, and textiles that have survived to this day, which were produced with techniques which had been passed down and perfected, and have been lost with the conquering of many other cultures.

They began re-educating the native adults and providing instruction to the children and youth, indoctrinating and educating them in the rudiments of European social life to use them to benefit the State.

There also existed a "middle school," where they educated the Creoles, Mestizos, and some wealthy merchants; and "colegio de caciques" (or "college of chiefs"), which was established in 1536 and ran until it was abolished by Simón Bolívar.

[10] Through the 19th century, education in Peru was decentralized, with local governments overseeing the curricula, funds and teaching staff of schools.

In 1825, Simón Bolívar expanded on the Monitorial system; he ordered the creation of a university in Trujillo, the building normal schools in the capital cities of each Peruvian department and the separation of primary and secondary educations.

The 1828 Constitution of Peru promised the establishment of public education, though this was never immediately realized due to a lack of funding and political instability within the country.

The department instituted multiple changes that included the prohibition of collecting student fees, ending coeducation, excellence bonuses for teachers and school schedules.

Later in 1855, Castilla created the University Council, imported professors from France and made education for boys and girls identical at primary levels.

[20] In 1972, the National Policy for Bilingual Education came into effect; a monumental step considering the teaching of any indigenous language was previously prohibited.

[22] In negotiations with the World Bank, Fujimori forcefully advocated for funding to build new schools – which was already supposed to occur – in a strategic effort to establish more political support through tangible projects Peruvians could experience firsthand.

[22] The building of new schools occurred primarily in rural areas, where Fujimori built much of his support combatting Shining Path during internal conflict in Peru.

[11] A report review the agreement released in 2005 found that while enrollment of students increased in Peru, the quality of education remained low.

[11] In 2006, President Alan García decentralized Peru's education system, resulting with municipal governments overseeing their local schools.

[16] In 2009, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, exam placed Peru last out of nine participating Latin American countries.

[25] According to the OECD's 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Peru was ranked low, placing 64th of 77 countries listed.

In early education, the child controls his or her own learning with the assistance of internal and external agents which offer optimal conditions for realizing his or her capabilities.

Between 1980 and 1988, large reductions in funding towards education in Latin America caused enrollment in primary schools to heavily decline.

[28] Because accessibility and student performance in primary school has been historically low, the Ministry of Education has focused on addressing such issues in the last decade.

[31] Due to poor educational performance and inadequate learning, at-risk students are more prone to repeat grade levels.

By the time these children graduate primary school, they are already at an age where they can enter the job market, so they drop out to work instead of continuing their education.

[40] Rural students have a higher likelihood of temporarily or permanently dropping out of school to find work, usually in hazardous mining or construction sites, to provide for their families.

Indigenous parents tend to not want their children to learn their native language in school since Spanish is required for high paying jobs and career opportunities.

In the four PISA studies Peru has participated in to test learning outcomes in reading, mathematics, and science, ethnicity (as well as socioeconomic status) has been correlated with low academic achievement.

[45] Indigenous students are more likely to have to work while undergoing schooling, live in rural areas where quality education is lacking, and face language barriers which negatively impact learning outcomes.

[11] Teachers in Peru are unmotivated and distressed also by low wages – the lowest of any country in Latin America – lacking of government support,[11][47] they receiving poor education themselves without regulation[11] and are often overwhelmed by large class size.

[14][42] It has been recommended that Peru improve its funding of public education while also creating a system to evaluate the quality of teaching in schools.

[15] There has also been a lack of interest regarding research in Peru as the nation's economy primarily relies on mining resources – which does not require advanced scientific or technological capabilities – resulting in lower quality universities.