Guatemala Government Services

The MINEDUC (Ministry of Education) is the ministry behind the procedures on this page: foreign studies equiparación, teacher catalogación and oposición, the national curriculum (CNB), the school calendar and the authorisation of private-school fees.

Quick summary: Children studied in the USA and you need to homologate to the GT system? → equiparación de estudios (MINEDUC’s BPM platform, worked by the DIDEDUC, Q 0). Looking for a scholarship for your child? → MIDES Beca Social Educación Media (ages 11-24). Want to teach in public schools? → catalogación (Junta Calificadora de Personal, Q 0) + oposición. Going to open a private school? → DIDEDUC.

MINEDUC directorates and units

Educational levels in Guatemala

MINEDUC’s 2026 public-sector calendar (Acuerdo Ministerial 4817-2025) refers to the levels Preprimaria, Primaria and Medio, with Medio split into Ciclo Básico and Ciclo Diversificado. For a child arriving from abroad, the DIDEDUC assigns the grade. DIGEACE currently links Circular 59.25, “Tabla de equiparación de estudios”, Versión 2 (checked 16 October 2026) — see equiparacion de estudios for the grade-by-grade detail.

Most-searched MINEDUC procedures

For students and families

For teachers

Scholarships

The Beca Social Educación Media is run by MIDES (formerly Mi Beca Segura), not MINEDUC: Guatemalans aged 11-24 in poverty or extreme poverty, studying educación media at a public or private school endorsed by MINEDUC. MIDES’s FAQ for its Becas de Educación y Empleo programme (the Mi Beca Segura FAQ) says the amount is variable. See the scholarship page.

Before equivalent studies — checklist

Updated 16 October 2026: MINEDUC replaced instructivo version 5 with version 6 (May 2026); this checklist and the deadlines and apostille rule in the FAQ above now follow version 6. A foreign curriculum plan is not on version 6’s list, and the instructivo bars adding requirements.

Diaspora — Guatemalans in the USA with kids or as teachers

If you return to Guatemala with kids who studied at US schools

• Get the record of the last approved or current grade from the US school before you leave.
• Apostille it in the state where the school is located (the US is a Hague party).
• Sworn translation is done by a sworn translator authorised by MINEDUC; MINEDUC’s register of sworn translators is at certificados.mineduc.gob.gt. Ask the translator for a quote.
• File the equiparacion on BPM with the code of the school you are enrolling at; it costs Q 0, and if identity paperwork is missing the school admits the child and enrols them provisionally while it is completed. See US studies equiparacion.

If you are a US-trained teacher and want to teach in Guatemala

• Catalogación: the Junta Calificadora de Personal registers Maestro(a) and Profesor(a) titles and issues the cédula docente; its official entry lists no requirements for foreign titles (checked 30 September 2026). See teacher registration.
• Foreign university degrees: Decree 72-2001 (Art. 1) points to USAC title recognition; see university degree equivalency.
• College membership: mandatory for university graduates holding at least a licenciatura (Decree 72-2001, Art. 1).
• For public schools: oposición (Acuerdo Ministerial 1685-2024); see teacher posts by oposición.

Correction (30 September 2026): this section said every teacher must join the Colegio de Humanidades (Q600-1,200/year) and that public-school teachers register in the Eligibility Bank. Decree 72-2001 makes membership mandatory for university graduates with at least a licenciatura; teacher registration is catalogación before the Junta Calificadora de Personal, and posts are won by oposición.

Correction (16 October 2026): the quick-reference line, the sub-portals table and the portals FAQ still sent teachers to the Eligibility Bank and foreign-study families to DIGEACE, and called SIGE mandatory with DIDEDUC credentials; they now match the page: equiparación through the BPM platform and the DIDEDUC, catalogación plus oposición for teachers. The SIGE claims had no source and were removed.

National Base Curriculum (CNB) — primary level

DIGECUR publishes the CNB by grade. The primary-level document (the 4th-grade file, which sits in DIGECUR’s /2026/08/ uploads folder; first edition 2007, reprinted 2016) is organised into competencias, contenidos and indicadores de logro, and develops these curricular areas:

2026 school calendar

Dates from Acuerdo Ministerial 4817-2025 (public sector) and 4818-2025 (private, cooperative and municipal). See the 2026 school calendar.

Contact MINEDUC

More Guatemalan State resources

• MINTRAB Guatemala — labour matters
• MINGOB Guatemala — Ministry of the Interior procedures
• RENAP Guatemala — DPI and birth certificates
• IGSS Guatemala — social security
• MCD Guatemala — Ministry of Culture and Sports
• SAT Guatemala — NIT and taxes
• Guatemala Tramites — full directory of state procedures