Legal literacy in secondary school students: a comparative study between rural and urban areas of Pasco

Abstract

The study aimed to determine whether there is a significant difference in legal literacy levels between students from rural and urban secondary schools in the department of Pasco. It was conducted using a quantitative approach, with a non-experimental, cross-sectional, and descriptive-comparative design. Two distinct populations were considered: students from rural schools and students from urban schools. Samples were selected proportionally to the size of each population, comprising 141 rural students and 241 urban students. A legal literacy performance test was applied, specifically designed for the research and consisting of 30 multiple-choice items. Construct validity and reliability were established through a pilot application. The instrument achieved a reliability coefficient of α = .89, ensuring internal consistency. The results, obtained through the Student’s t-test for independent samples, revealed statistically significant differences between both groups (p < .001). The average score was higher among urban school students (x̅ = 23.24) compared to rural school students (x̅ = 17.88). Furthermore, in the urban group, the “good” level of legal literacy predominated (43.33%), while in the rural group, the “poor” level was more frequent (33.33%). It is concluded that rural students show significantly lower levels of legal literacy than their urban peers, highlighting the need to implement differentiated educational strategies for legal reinforcement in rural areas of the department of Pasco.