School Dropout

Honduras's dropout rate fell to 1.31% in 2026 from 2.42% a year earlier, Education Minister Ivette Argueta said, while about 24,000 students have left their home municipalities—partly due to drought—posing a challenge for keeping them enrolled.

More than 24,000 students enrolled in Honduras's public schools have abandoned their studies this year, many after their families were forced to migrate internally due to a severe drought that devastated subsistence farming livelihoods.

A study by the International Organization for Migration found that 74% of returned adolescent migrants are not studying, even though 85% live within 30 minutes of a school; barriers including documentation issues, poverty, and adaptation difficulties prevent enrollment and persistence.

Education officials in Cortés say migrant caravans heading to the United States are driving school dropouts, with students departing alongside parents seeking better work and living conditions; through September 2026, more than 21,000 students had left school in Honduras.

Honduras's Education Ministry reported that 21,420 students have dropped out or canceled enrollment so far this year, with two months remaining in the school term; male students account for 55.6% of those who left.

The director of the Association for a Just Society reports that more than one million school-age children and youth in Honduras remain outside the education system.

Honduras has recorded 2,711 student dropouts in the first half of the 2026 school year, with 75% from primary grades and poverty, violence, and poor school conditions cited as main causes.