| Since the signing of the Peace Accords in December of 1996, Guatemala
has made significant advances in providing schooling for children at the
primary level (grades 1-6). The Guatemalan Ministry of Education
reports that the percentage of children completing their primary
education has increased from 39% in the early 90’s to 72.5% in 2006.
However,
a closer look at the data reveals a deep and ongoing disparity between
the educational achievement and opportunities available for urban
children of ladino descent as compared to children of Mayan descent
living in the rural areas. In addition, that disparity is amplified
when comparing the education of boys and girls across all ethnic and
socioeconomic factors. (See the document Assessing the multiple
disadvantages of Mayan Girls: The effects of gender, ethnicity, poverty
and residence in Guatemala.)
|
| The question, "Is education
universal, equally accessible to all and of the same quality for all
the children in Guatemala?" must be answered in the negative!
In
a recent study done by the Center for Economic and Social Rights in collaboration with the Insituto
Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales entitled “Rights or Privileges;
Fiscal Accountability for Health, Education and Nutrition in Guatemala," it was found that among the
countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region, Guatemala ranked
lowest in the ratio between female to male graduation rates from sixth
grade. It also found over a 20% difference between literacy rates for
urban non-indigenous young adults (96%) and rural, indigenous young
adults (76%) with the literacy rate for young adult rural indigenous
women (aged 15-24) reaching only 68%.
|
| In our own analysis of the
data provided by the Guatemalan Ministry of Education, we estimate that
while registration of children in the primary grades is reported as
reaching levels in the mid-90th percentile, the number of children
actually attending school on a regular basis and completing their
primary education is significantly lower. In addition to the percentage
of children leaving school increasing significantly as they approach
the ages of 12-14, a 2004 study of academic achievement found that
Guatemalan students scored consistently in the lowest quartile on basic
language and math skills when compared to other students in Central and
Latin America.
The current state of education in Guatemala, while improving, still remains significantly underfunded and it is estimated that less than 15% of all classrooms nationwide meet minimum standards for classroom space, teaching materials, classroom equipment and furniture, and water/sanitation. In the rural villages of Guatemala, that percentage drops to 0%.
|
Funding for Education in Guatemala
It
is difficult to find an independent organization or author that is not
critical of Guatemala's continuing failure to adequately fund its public
education system. In its Guatemalan Fact Sheet, Visualizing Rights,
the Center for Economic and Social Rights states, "Guatemala has among
the lowest levels of health and education spending relative to GDP in
Latin America. The Committee (on the Rights of the Child)
continues to be deeply concerned that the uneven distribution of wealth
and land and the high level of social exclusion, in particular among
indigenous and rural populations, hinder the full enjoyment of economic,
social and cultural rights."
In
his testimony to the U.S. Senate in March of 2004, Adolfo Franco, USAID
Assistant Administrator for Latin America stated in regards to
education in Guatemala, "The majority of students attend weak and
underfunded schools." (Increasing Education Access, Quality and Equity in Guatemala, USAID.)
| |
From
2000 to 2004, $33,000,000 was loaned by the World Bank to improve
access to and the quality of primary schooling in the rural areas of
Guatemala. This infusion of money helped to account for some of the
improvement in attendance in the primary grades from 1996 to 2006.
However, the World Bank evaluation of this project (which we have not
included on our website because of distribution restrictions which say
that it may be officially used only by the grant
recipients) showed significant levels of corruption in the awarding of
contracts and a generally low level of quality in the construction of
many of the buildings. In addition, many of the rural communities have
not had the resources to maintain these facilities over time, with many
of the building now in various states of disrepair. The project also
impacted only around 1,000 of the nearly 12,500 schools in Guatemala in
the early 2000’s.
| |
In 2008, another $62,160,000 from
the World Bank
was earmarked for improving secondary (junior high)
schooling in rural areas. Unfortunately, much of this money has been
earmarked for project administration and only a small percentage
actually makes it to the schools. This has coincided with significant
cuts
in the education budget, thus resulting in a reduction of teachers,
equipment and materials. For many villages this may translate into a
new
school building, but with no teachers or materials, and the main
benefits
going primarily to the construction firms that have been awarded the
contracts to build the new classrooms.
Most recently, the
Guatemalan government released its 2010 budget, which because of
cutbacks due to the economic recession (and the blocking of significant
tax reform by the Guatemalan Congress), calls for a reduction of 32,000
jobs in the areas of health, education and the national police. This
situation has led to major demonstrations throughout the country,
including a shutting down of several major highways by protesting
teachers.
| |
Educational Quality in Guatemalan Schools
In his study on Achievement of indigenous students in Guatemala primary schools, P.J. McEwan found that the most salient factor affecting student learning was school quality and more specifically the quality of instruction; even more so than socioeconomic status, parent level of education, and ethnic background (even though these are important factors in predicting student achievement as well.)
Because of their remote locations, rural villages
in Guatemala have a difficult time recruiting and retaining quality teachers. In
addition to receiving low pay (only around 40% of the cost of providing
a family of five its minimum daily food requirements), most teachers
working in the rural areas are not from the villages where they teach,
but most often come from the larger towns where they have been able to
receive a high school education, which is the requirement for a primary
teaching certificate in Guatemala. This means that many of the rural
teachers will face a daily commute of 1-2 hours each way, often times
using buses and walking as their primary means of transportation. It is
for these reasons that many teachers will first seek employment in the
larger towns rather than the smaller, rural villages.
Another
factor contributing to the low quality of teaching is the lack of
resources to teach a unified curriculum. The Guatemalan Ministry of
Education has developed a K-12 curriculum (in Spanish) which can be downloaded (but not easily since it is in many sections) from
their website. However, in our conversations with teachers in the rural
schools, they had no access to that curriculum, nor had they been
provided with curriculum guides or teaching materials to actually teach
the curriculum in their classrooms.
We have also observed that
many teachers in Guatemala “teach the way they were taught” with the
primary methods of instruction being lecture or having students copy
information from a blackboard. There is little evidence of
research-based educational methodologies or of any understanding of the
recent research on how the brain learns most effectively.
When
describing “what works” in helping students achieve academic success,
the following nine school characteristics have been identified in
educational research as having a significant and positive impact on
student learning. In the section below we compare “the ideal” of
these characteristics with “the reality” that we have observed over the
last three years of working in the schools here in Guatemala.
1. A Clear and Common Focus
The
Ideal: Administrators, teachers, students, and parents share and commit
to clearly articulated and understood common goals based on the
fundamental belief that all students can learn and improve their
performance.
The Reality: In many of the villages we work with
there is agreement that the students are expected to learn to be
virtuous and moral, but emphasis on academic learning is clearly
secondary. In addition, there is the widespread belief that some
students are just “slow” and will never be successful academically.
2. High Standards and Expectations
The
Ideal: Schools show evidence that each teacher believes “all students
can learn and I can teach them.” Staff members are dedicated to
helping every student achieve challenging state and local standards.
All students are engaged in an appropriately ambitious and rigorous
course of study in which the high standards of performance are clear
and consistent and the conditions for learning are modified and
differentiated. This results in all students being prepared for success
in the workplace, postsecondary education, and civic responsibilities.
The
Reality: Nearly 1/3 of all first graders “flunk” first grade and the
blame is generally placed on the student, or the student’s family,
rarely on the quality of the teaching. Teaching methods are generally
“by rote” with no differentiation of instructions for classes ranging
up to 45-60 students in a classroom.
3. Strong Leadership
The
Ideal: School leadership is focused on enhancing the skills, knowledge,
and motivation of the people in the organization and creating a common
culture of high expectations based on the use of skills and knowledge
to improve the performance of all students. Leadership fosters a
collaborative atmosphere between the school and the community while
establishing positive systems to improve leadership, teaching, and
student performance.
The Reality: Being the director of a school is
not a highly sought after position in Guatemala. Often the pay is the
same or only slightly higher than for being a teacher, but with
additional responsibilities, usually in the areas of bookkeeping,
paying teacher salaries, and dealing with the government bureaucracy.
In some schools the job of director is rotated because it is seen as
onerous rather than as a leadership position. Since one of our criteria for offering a grant to a school is the quality of its leadership, we have had the opportunity to work with a number of qualified administrators who have a vision for their school. Unfortunately, that quality of leadership is not always the norm in Guatemala.
4. Supportive, Personalized, and Relevant Learning
The
Ideal: Supportive learning environments provide positive personalized
relationships for all students while engaging them in rigorous and
relevant learning.
The Reality: As mentioned earlier, most teaching
is done to the whole group with methodologies being limited to lecture
or having students copy information off the blackboard. Engaging
students in critical thinking, problem-solving or real-life
applications is only rarely seen in Guatemalan schools.
5. Parent/Community Involvement
The
Ideal: Parents and community members help develop, understand, and
support a clear and common focus on core academic, social, and personal
goals contributing to improved student performance and have a
meaningful and authentic role in achieving these goals. The school
community works together to actively solve problems and create win-win
solutions. Mentoring and outreach programs provide for two-way
learning between students and community/business members.
The
Reality: Most parents in the rural villages are either illiterate or
with extremely limited education. They do want the schools to provide
instruction in “moral” behavior and understand the value of having some
math and reading skills. However, because of their marginal economic
situation, they also begin to have their children work with them in the
fields or in the markets as soon as the children are capable of making
a contribution in those areas. There also continues to be a bias in
many of the rural communities against girls continuing their education
to higher levels. However, some teachers are reporting that they are seeing generational shift in parent attitudes towards school, with younger parents taking a more active role in their child's education.
6. Monitoring, Accountability, and Assessment
The
Ideal: Teaching and learning are continually adjusted on the basis of
data collected through a variety of valid and reliable methods that
indicate student progress and needs. The assessment results are
interpreted and applied appropriately to improve individual student
performance and the instructional program.
The Reality: There is no generally utilized standardized methods for evaluating student learning in Guatemala. In our observations we have seen that evaluation of student performance is done on a teacher-by-teacher basis
with only some connection to the national curriculum standards or academic benchmarks.
Grading is more often based on comportment, attendance, and work completion
rather than demonstrated understanding of academic concepts.
7. Curriculum and Instruction
The
Ideal: Schools have aligned curriculum with core learning expectations
to improve the performance of all students. Students achieve high
standards through rigorous, challenging learning. Staff delivers an
aligned curriculum and implements research-based teaching and learning
strategies. Students are actively involved in their learning through
inquiry, in-depth learning, and performance assessments.
The
Reality: We have yet to see evidence of any teachers working
collaboratively from an agreed upon standardized/aligned curriculum. In
general, we have observed each teacher presenting what they know
(sometimes correctly, but also sometimes incorrectly) to the students
and simply having the students copy that information into their
cuadernos (notebooks). We only rarely see evidence of inquiry learning,
in-depth learning for understanding, or well-developed performance
assessments.
8. Professional Development
The Ideal:
Professional development offerings are focused and informed by research
and school/classroom-based assessments. Appropriate instructional
support and resources are provided to implement approaches and
techniques learned through professional development.
The Reality:
Many teachers we work with report to us that at the beginning of each school year, local representatives of
the Ministry of Education will offer a teacher in-service in one of the
larger towns. These in-services are frequently characterized by the
presentation of new government regulations, not on improving teaching methodologies, and are also given in a lecture
format with no modeling of effective teaching practices. They are
generally not well attended.
9. Time and Structure
The Ideal:
Schools are flexibly structured to maximize the use of time and
accommodate the varied lives of their students, staff, and community in
order to improve the performance of all students. The structure of
programs extends beyond the traditional school day and year as well as
beyond the school building. The program draws on the entire
community’s resources to foster student achievement.
The Reality:
Guatemalan schools are indeed flexibly structured, but rarely to
maximize academic learning. Community events, festivals and sports
events often take precedence over academic schedules. Teachers will
sometimes not show up and school will simply be canceled for that day.
High levels of rainfall during the rainy season will also lead to the
early closure of school. Attendance by students is frequently affected
by family economic needs or child-care for younger siblings.
We do
recognize that our observational evaluations have a cultural bias, as
does the educational research that established these nine
characteristics. However, many Guatemalan educators would agree with
our conclusion that there is much work to be done to improve the
quality of education throughout the rural areas of Guatemala. In our
work, we collaborate with the teachers, directors and students and work from their strengths to help
them take the next steps in improving the quality of education in their schools.
|
Additional Resources
For those interested in more in-depth research and analysis of education and its impact on social and economic development in Guatemala we have provided access to a number of original research studies, case studies, and governmental and non-governmental agency reports. These documents are all in PDF format and unless otherwise noted are in English.
Achievement of indigenous students in Guatemalan primary schools, P.J. McEwan, Wellesley College, 2006.
Assessing the multiple disadvantages of Mayan girls: The effects of gender, ethnicity, poverty and residence on education in Guatemala, K. Hallman, et al, The Population Council, 2007.
Benefits and costs of alternative strategies to improve educational outcomes (in developing countries), P.F. Orazem, et al, Report prepared for the Copenhagen Consensus, 2008.
Complementary uses of information systems in decision making, planning and democracy: An example in the education sector (Guatemala), Alvarado, F. Journal of Education for International Development, Dec. 2009.
Educational assessment systems in Latin America: Current practices and future challenges, G. Ferrer, Partnership for Educational Revitalization in the Americas, 2006.
Educational policy formulation in loosely coupled systems: Some salient features of Guatemala’s public and private school sectors, C.R. Ruano, et al, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11, 2003.
Effects of primary, secondary and tertiary education on economic growth: Evidence from Guatemala, J. Loening, A World Bank Working Paper, 2005.
Guatemala PRONADE: A USAID Case Study, 2007. (PRONADE is the acronym for Guatemala’s National Program for Educational Development.)
How the world's most improved school systems keep getting better, 2010, McKinsey & Company. (Not specifically related to Guatemala, but the findings and conclusions of this study would be important to understand when undertaking educational reform in Guatemala.)
Implementation completion and results report on a loan of US $ 62.16 million to the Republic of Guatemala for a universalization of basic education project, The World Bank, 2009. (Primarily for financial analysts, but interesting reading if you want to see where the money actually went.)
Inclusión Educativa: El Camino del Futuro, Informe Nacional, Republica de Guatemala, Ministerio de Educacion, 2008. (In Spanish)
Increasing education access, quality and equity in Guatemala, USAID, 1999-2004.
Influencing education policy in Guatemala, International Development Research Centre.
Informe de progreso educativo: Guatemala, Promocion de la Reforma Educativo en America Latina, 2008. (in Spanish)
Public investment in basic education and economic growth, V. Teles, University of Brasilia, 2004.
Quality of schooling and quality of schools for indigenous students in Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, M. Hernandez-Zavala, et al, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 2006.
Raising student learning in Latin America: The challenge facing the 21st century (an executive summary), E. Vegas & J. Petrow, World Bank, 2008.
Role of education quality in economic growth, E.A. Hanushek, Stanford University, World Bank Working Paper, 2007.
Visualizing Rights: Guatemala fact sheet, Center for Economic and Social Rights, 2009.
|
|
