A small boy looks on from his uneven toothed fence as children laugh and sing on their way to school. They walk through the lush Nicaraguan valley with the mountain range to the west and the volcanic rock to the east, anticipating what their few, overworked teachers have in store for them. Clad in white collared shirts and blue pleated skirts and slacks they race to their rundown school house. Their matching black school shoes clack on the dirty wooden floors as they take their seats ready to learn.
He will not be joining them.
Some 40 percent of children in Nicaragua remain out side of the educational system. Nicaragua is the second poorest nation in the world next to Haiti. With a birthrate of 2.2 percent and 40 percent of the population under the age of 15 the Sandinistas government has a trying task ahead of them.
In 1979 the Sandinistas gained political power and came face to face with the insufficient and all together neglected educational system. 50 -90 percent of the population was illiterate and living in poverty. 65 percent of the primary school children (U.S. elementary equivalence) leave much of the six year course unfinished. As a result, very few students enrolled in secondary school since they were mainly private and too expensive for the average family to afford. That means by the late 1970s only about 8 percent of the population was attending Universities.
Despite the discouraging numbers, the Sandinistas were able to more than double the literacy rate by 1984. In 1985 the enrollment in higher education jumped from 11,000 students to 38,000 students.
In 1979 the Sandinistas gained political power and came face to face with the insufficient and all together neglected educational system. 50 -90 percent of the population was illiterate and living in poverty. 65 percent of the primary school children (U.S. elementary equivalence) leave much of the six year course unfinished. As a result, very few students enrolled in secondary school since they were mainly private and too expensive for the average family to afford. That means by the late 1970s only about 8 percent of the population was attending Universities.
Despite the discouraging numbers, the Sandinistas were able to more than double the literacy rate by 1984. In 1985 the enrollment in higher education jumped from 11,000 students to 38,000 students.
The forme
r programs were shut down and replaced with subjects that would directly benefit the nation, such as agriculture, medicine, teaching, and social sciences.
The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, launched in 1980, established night schools for adults. With the self-teaching curriculum that the Ministry of Education provided adults and children alike were able to come and learn how to read, write and do basic mathematics. The campaign succeeded in bring the illiterancy rate down to 23 percent by the 1980s. In addition, the Sandinistas included the National Literacy Crusade from March-August of 1980 to educate the people in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions and land reforms. http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/26.htmaragua/26.htm
In 1993 Nicaragua was still concitered an uneducated country. The every growing classroom aged children made it increasingly hard for the government and vulenteers to keep up. In addition, almost half of the children of the villages and towns remained out of the system which made it almost impossible to educate them.
The Nicaraguan constitution state, “Access to education is free and equal to all Nicaraguans,” and yet this is far from being true.
Today, even once the schools are established, many factors still prevent the students from benefiting from the system. Such things as: not enough funds for books and supplies, 25 percent of the children between the ages of 3-18 are not in the system, therefore cannot attend; not having sufficient curriculum, cultural content, and teaching materials; no running water or heating in the school houses; and teachers that are simply unprepared to teach the growing classrooms.
According to the USAID, most students finish only about five years of schooling, and nearly 500,000 students remain outside the formal educational system. In 1999, 1,400,000 students enrolled for classes, 816,000 of which primary students, 300,000 in secondary school and about 16,000 in higher educations such as teachers in training, adult education and special education programs. These numbers are staggering if put next to that of the U.S. Over one-fourth, or 79 Million, of the U.S. population is currently enrolled in school. Preschool is at 8 million, elementry and middle school at 33 million, high school at 16 million and 15 million in higher education. http://www.usaid.gov/
Due to natural disasters such as Hurricane Felix and political corruption, the educational system of Nicaragua is virtually unchanged since the Literacy Crusade of 1980. The average Nicaraguan family lives on about $2 a day while the country has an unemployment rate of 50 percent.
USAID has made many efforts to help improve the state of the nation. In 2008 USAID helped farmers sell their products at a national total of $34.4 million and created over 15,000 new jobs. Over 1,500 coffee farms and 2,000 hectares of cocoa farms were certified and another 1,500 people were trained in natural disaster response and first aid.
USAID has also established child-centered model school networks in more hen 2,700 schools improving the lives and education of more than 480,000 students in primary and secondary school systems.
r programs were shut down and replaced with subjects that would directly benefit the nation, such as agriculture, medicine, teaching, and social sciences.The Nicaraguan Literacy Campaign, launched in 1980, established night schools for adults. With the self-teaching curriculum that the Ministry of Education provided adults and children alike were able to come and learn how to read, write and do basic mathematics. The campaign succeeded in bring the illiterancy rate down to 23 percent by the 1980s. In addition, the Sandinistas included the National Literacy Crusade from March-August of 1980 to educate the people in literacy, health care, education, childcare, unions and land reforms. http://countrystudies.us/nicaragua/26.htmaragua/26.htm
In 1993 Nicaragua was still concitered an uneducated country. The every growing classroom aged children made it increasingly hard for the government and vulenteers to keep up. In addition, almost half of the children of the villages and towns remained out of the system which made it almost impossible to educate them.
The Nicaraguan constitution state, “Access to education is free and equal to all Nicaraguans,” and yet this is far from being true.
Today, even once the schools are established, many factors still prevent the students from benefiting from the system. Such things as: not enough funds for books and supplies, 25 percent of the children between the ages of 3-18 are not in the system, therefore cannot attend; not having sufficient curriculum, cultural content, and teaching materials; no running water or heating in the school houses; and teachers that are simply unprepared to teach the growing classrooms.
According to the USAID, most students finish only about five years of schooling, and nearly 500,000 students remain outside the formal educational system. In 1999, 1,400,000 students enrolled for classes, 816,000 of which primary students, 300,000 in secondary school and about 16,000 in higher educations such as teachers in training, adult education and special education programs. These numbers are staggering if put next to that of the U.S. Over one-fourth, or 79 Million, of the U.S. population is currently enrolled in school. Preschool is at 8 million, elementry and middle school at 33 million, high school at 16 million and 15 million in higher education. http://www.usaid.gov/
Due to natural disasters such as Hurricane Felix and political corruption, the educational system of Nicaragua is virtually unchanged since the Literacy Crusade of 1980. The average Nicaraguan family lives on about $2 a day while the country has an unemployment rate of 50 percent.
USAID has made many efforts to help improve the state of the nation. In 2008 USAID helped farmers sell their products at a national total of $34.4 million and created over 15,000 new jobs. Over 1,500 coffee farms and 2,000 hectares of cocoa farms were certified and another 1,500 people were trained in natural disaster response and first aid.
USAID has also established child-centered model school networks in more hen 2,700 schools improving the lives and education of more than 480,000 students in primary and secondary school systems.
Monasteries and other independent organizations are at work in trying to improve the educational system in Nicaragua. Predominantly a Catholic society, it’s increasingly hard for the government to function as a republic when it comes to its schools. Many of the schools are run by Christian missionaries from the US and other countries and the Christian values greatly influence the curriculum. And yet, they are taught the basic fundimentals of education along side the Christian curriculum.
At this point, it seems that Nicaragua needs all the help it can get.
