“The Ministry of Education in Peru recognizes the Michigan English Test (MET) as proof of English language ability for public school students applying for scholarships.”

The Programa Nacional de Becas y Crédito Educativo (PRONABEC) was set up by the ministry to provide greater access to higher education and to help meet Peru’s goal of becoming a bilingual country by 2021, with a focus on the English language.

One PRONABEC scholarship was specifically aimed at students in public schools—Educación Básica Regular (EBR). High school EBR students were invited to apply for PRONABEC funding in 2016 as part of the “English, doors to the world” framework that the government created in order to raise the standards of English in the country. Students who were awarded the scholarship worked to certify their English levels with the ultimate goal of qualifying for further financial aid that could be applied toward university-level education. Across Peru, 5,000 scholarships were available. Students who earned a scholarship were sent to one of two language institutions that were responsible for administering exams that met PRONABEC requirements.

“The contest was organized, supervised, and executed by PRONABEC, the government organization that grants educational scholarships and financial aid for the training and specialization of the human talent in-country and abroad. The final objective was to certify their levels of English as part of the requirements for possible further scholarships awarded to study at the higher education level.”

2,500 of the students took Michigan Language Assessment’s Michigan English Test (MET) in July 2017. Assessing levels A2 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the MET allows language learners to prove English proficiency to universities, employers, and scholarship agencies. The MET certification satisfied the government’s requirement for the PRONABEC scholarship. Taking this Michigan Test allowed the students to achieve their language goals and supported the government’s strategic objective of raising English language standards throughout Peru.

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