Educational information
Healthcare in three parts
Healthcare in Paraguay is easiest to understand as three parts that work side by side:
- The public network of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (MSPBS).
- Social security through the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS), designed for employees.
- The private sector: hospitals, clinics and prepaid medical plan companies (medicina prepaga), which operate under a Ministry license and are overseen by the Superintendencia de Salud.
Many families use more than one. Before you move, it helps to know which one you will rely on, and which one your children will.
The Ministry of Health's public network
The Ministry organizes its network into 18 health regions: one for each department and one for the Capital. It includes health posts and centers, district, regional and general hospitals, and specialized and maternal-child hospitals.
The entry point is the Family Health Unit (Unidad de Salud de la Familia, USF). According to the Ministry, these are local units in the community that provide medical care and medicines free of charge. Each USF serves the population of its assigned area.
On the Ministry's website, the «¿Dónde puedo consultar?» page lists facilities by region and district. It is a quick way to see what is near an address.
IPS, the social security system
IPS runs the Social Security insurance. The Constitution (Article 95) sets up a compulsory and comprehensive social security system for employees and their families, and IPS describes its insurance as compulsory for every employee, covering health and retirement.
The risks it covers include common illness and accidents, maternity, work-related illness and accidents, and disability, old age and death.
If you are going to work in Paraguay, ask how your employment will be set up. Your access to IPS, and your family's, depends on your employment and immigration situation: IPS or a licensed professional needs to look at that.
Prepaid medical plans and who oversees them
Law 2319/2006 sets out the duties of the Superintendencia de Salud, created by Law 1032/1996 on the National Health System. The law covers public, private and mixed health service providers, including hospitals, private clinics, diagnostic centers and prepaid medical plan companies.
Under the law, these providers must be registered and licensed by the Ministry of Health. The Superintendencia checks that they are, monitors the financial position of prepaid plans and also reviews the contracts between providers and their members.
Before you sign up: read what the plan covers, its waiting periods and which hospitals it works with. If you have insurance from another country, ask in writing whether it covers Paraguay and how.
Emergencies
- 141, medical emergencies and ambulances (SEME), run by the Ministry of Health.
- 911, National Police.
How education is organized
The Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) is the governing body of the national education system, under its organic law (Law 5749/2017).
The General Education Law (Law 1264/1998) arranges formal education in three levels:
| Level | What it includes |
|---|---|
| First level | Early childhood education and basic school education. Basic school education has nine grades in three cycles, is compulsory and is free in public schools, including preschool. |
| Second level | Secondary education: the bachillerato or vocational training, over three years. |
| Third level | Higher education, at universities and higher institutes. |
Schools are public, private, or private with state subsidy. The law provides for teaching both official languages, Spanish and Guarani, from the start of school.
The school calendar
The school year runs from February to November. For 2026, MEC approved on 17 December 2025 a single calendar for public, private and subsidized private schools nationwide:
- classes start: Monday 23 February;
- winter break: 13 to 24 July;
- classes end: 30 November;
- school year closes: Friday 11 December.
When we reviewed this guide, the 2027 calendar had not been published yet. MEC usually approves it in December of the previous year.
Studies completed abroad
If your children studied in another country, recognition or validation of those studies is handled by MEC: Law 1264 gives it the task of regulating the recognition, approval and validation of qualifications. Through Law 3868/2009, Paraguay also approved an agreement between Mercosur and the Andrés Bello Convention on recognizing primary and non-technical secondary studies.
MEC sets the requirements and steps, and they can change. Check with MEC, or with the school, before you travel.
What to check before choosing a neighborhood
- School: drive from home to school at drop-off and pick-up time, not on a Sunday.
- Health: find the nearest USF, public hospital and private hospital in your plan, and time the trip at real hours.
- Coverage: confirm which hospitals accept your prepaid plan or insurance, and whether your foreign insurance covers Paraguay.
- Enrollment: ask the school when enrollment opens and which documents they will need for your children.
- Paperwork: anything that depends on your immigration status, such as access to IPS, check with a professional before you sign a lease.
What we checked and what we didn't
- We do not recommend hospitals, prepaid plans or schools, or compare their quality: there is no official source for that.
- We could not confirm official data on international schools or schools bilingual in other languages, so they are not included.
- Access to IPS, residency and validation of studies depend on each case. The competent agency or a licensed professional handles the requirements.
- The school calendar changes every year. Confirm the dates with MEC and with the school.
Official sources
Information checked in October 2026
- Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, «¿Dónde puedo consultar?» (health regions, USF and hospitals) and note on Family Health Units (09/03/2025). SEME number 141: mspbs.gov.py.
- Instituto de Previsión Social, Social Security.
- Law 2319/2006, duties of the Superintendencia de Salud (BACN).
- Law 1264/1998, General Education Law (BACN).
- Law 5749/2017, organic law of MEC (BACN).
- Law 3868/2009, Mercosur and Andrés Bello Convention agreement on recognition of studies (BACN).
- Agencia de Información Paraguaya (IP), 2026 school calendar approved by MEC (18/12/2025).
- Ministry of Education and Science, mec.gov.py.
Educational information, not legal, tax or immigration advice.