Education System

Tim and Donna wanted to know how different a Central American education is from the education I received.  First let’s start with the classroom:

One of my nicer classrooms

As you can probably notice, there are no projectors, smart boards, overheads, or air conditioning.  In the course of a standard class (45 minutes scheduled but it’s always less) it can go from 90+ degrees to deafeningly loud from rain.  Only 2 of my 5 schools has internet and only one has a computer lab of 12 computers running Window XP.  My smallest class has 10 students and my largest is 42.

Class room materials are stark.  There are no textbooks for the students and in fact some teachers don’t have text books either.  Anytime anything needs to be photocopied, students or teachers need to pay.  Most recently, I witnessed students have to pay to take an exam.

Importance placed on education is low.  This stems from several sources.  First, many adults didn’t attend high school so they don’t care if their children do.  In fact, before the start of every school year it’s the teachers’ responsibility to visit every family in the city and register students for classes.  Additionally, teachers are poorly compensated.  Nicaraguan educators are the lowest paid in Latin America earning around $200/month.  Not to mention, the teachers lack the education and resources that American teachers have.  Only about half of my counterparts hold a college degree.  To make matters even more difficult, the Ministry of Education has decreed that we are not allowed to expel students.  This lack of consequences for misbehavior compounded with the shortage of opportunities for high school graduates creates a sense of complacency among both students and teachers.

Higher education is also quite different from my college experience.  With only the few public universities holding admission tests, college is available to anyone willing to pay.  Unfortunately, this is not always a wise investment since finding a career in one’s field of study is below 60%.

While all of these revelations are disheartening, don’t lose hope!  There are simple changes that can be implemented, such as classroom management, which I hope to do next year.  Also, all of these issues place more importance on the entrepreneurship course that I’m teaching.  If even a few of my hundreds of students can learn some business skills, it will provide an alternative to a life in the status quo.