Best Approach to Educating Children

Submitted by fyl on 9 May, 2008 - 09:11.

A discussion was started in this blog entry that has quickly heading into a general "best way to educate children" discussion. I feel it is worth continuing here to get it a bit more visibility.

Here is some generic background information about education here.

Nicaraguan schools tend to be half-day. That is, one group of students in the morning session, a different in the afternoon. This is not just true of public schools. There are lots of "religious" (primarily Catholic) schools that work pretty much the same. Public schools are free. Private tend to be very inexpensive—maybe $2 or $3/week.

The biggest problem I have seen in both public and private schools is lack of resources. They tend to have old books if any and teachers are poorly paid. My niece's school (a private one) asked the students to bring a roll of toilet paper to school. That's a pretty good indication they are short of money.

The question becomes one of what is best for your son or daughter? Public school, private school, "Gringo" private school. home schooling or some combination. I would also like to toss in the idea of helping out existing schools—possibly with donated time, an old computer or even offering to take a class on a field trip.

‹ Primary and Secondary School Alternatives Tola /Gigante area ›
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The school system in

Submitted by pcnren on 9 May, 2008 - 15:26.

The school system in Nicaragua is horrible. The Ministry (Sandanistas anyone?) need to buckle down and make some hard changes to the system so they can start catching up with the rest of the world.

Nicaragua is the second poorest country in this hemisphere, which means they should be working twice as hard as everyone else. This half-day thing needs to switch to full day. Besides, its a half day with a 30 minute recess and PE. There is almost always a teacher that just doesn't show up which means another free period. The teaching methods are atrocious. The kids are out of control, have no resources, most don't graduate, the directors aren't there, there are never consequences for bad behavior/not doing work/cheating, I could go on and on and on. The piece of paper stating you graduated high school doesn't even mean much these days because a lot of teachers will just give the kids the exam ahead of time to memorize. And cheating during exams is rampant. Plus most kids and families think, why should I graduate? Its an economic hardship to the family and there are no jobs. What difference will it make if there is still no employment?

But if someone is fortunate enough to get a job, what kind of a worker will they be? Without the ability to critically analyze? Or have skills for facilitation? During my time in the Peace Corps I taught health education in the schools. It drove me insane. It is just a total disaster. I also worked with the ministry of health in my small town of la dalia. The inefficiency and flat inability to do their jobs was astouding. One reason is definitely because there is not strong enough leadership at the SILAIS level, but also because people are just not prepared. I would support them putting on workshops to brigadistas and it was just amazing at their lack of planning or troubleshooting. Kids are just not taught in the schools how to be leaders, or how to fix problems.

Another PCV told me she observed a classroom where the teacher copied a paragraph out of her lesson book onto a blackboard. The kids then copied the paragraph into their notebooks. She then had all 44 kids individually walk up to the board and read the paragraph outloud. Then class was dismissed. That was the lecture on synonyms.

Poverty is obviously a huge obstacle. But Nicaragua is truly innundated with foreign aid. I personally have seen a LOT of it squandered. Its not just the poverty.

Also, the private schools in some of the more rural areas are not much better. A friend of mine is the director of a private school in El Tuma and he said the kids are definitely more well-behaved and the class sizes are smaller. But parents can't afford the C$ 100 it costs a month to send their kids there so the teachers don't get paid and eventually stop going to work. A few months back they had a fundraiser to auction off a cell phone, the money would be divided up to pay the teachers their salary.

Ridiculous, Nicaragua. There would be a lot of backlash for making some of these hard changes, but its your education. You educate your people, they will be better workers, healthier, and hopefully happier. Surely the Sandanistas should be treading on familiar territory...

what a depressing reality

Submitted by dirtbag on 9 May, 2008 - 21:12.

I'm not sure about the "Taught to be leaders" part, where are the leaders in education anyway? if there is, or was, an affinity of thinking with Cuba..at least there would be action taken at the school level. is there any hope for the future? is this even on the agenda for ANY Political Party? You made my night, I just turned the radio off listening to the latest fiasco with the Burmese Dictators murdering what's left of their own people disallowing Aid to be distributed to them after getting whacked.....I think I'll turn in. Tomorrow is another day. Jeez.

School

Submitted by hobo on 9 May, 2008 - 19:20.

MY son is putting his daughter in school next year in Masachapa. You make it sound horrible. His wife who is a Nica is adament that the schools are better in Nicaragua than they are in Florida. I do not know enough about this subject to coment other than the kids all look clean in there uniforms (who pays for that?)

Assisting Local Schools

Submitted by barrettjewel on 9 May, 2008 - 09:56.

fyl, Great idea. All over the world schools depend on the local community for support of all kinds. It's another example of becoming integrated and accepting of our chosen homes. Also, an education topic is a very good idea. I want to be first to say, "I'm a teacher with classroom experience in both North America and Italy. I enjoy one on one and small group experiences the most. I have taught ESL, EFL, high school English and special education." As I've mentioned, I'm headed to SJDS this June, I'd love to meet all of you out there on NicaLiving. Hey, how about we pick a place and we can all meet face to face on the 4th of July in SJDS? Let's have a NicaLiving independence party. Celebrate our global independence. Pelican Eyes on the 4th anyone?

I like this idea..

Submitted by snakeo2 on 9 May, 2008 - 11:26.

I like your idea fyl, of donating old computers to local schools. For years now I have thought about this idea. I've always wanted to go back to my school in Leon, El San Ramon (private school) and donate computers that run on linux. As you have mentioned several times on different posts, linux makes perfect sense in Nicaragua for many reasons,the main one being that it's free. I think that kids whether attending a private or public school would benefit tremendously by having a one hour computer class three times a week.

Viva Leon Jodido!

I wish we could still embedd

Submitted by marlies on 9 May, 2008 - 19:38.

I wish we could still embedd photos. Mine would show an electric line running up a mountain, stopping 20 feet away from the school at the top of the hill, because, as locals have told me, since "education is now free" there is no faith that the schools will pay the light bill... the governemnt surely won't.

There are several expats on Corn Island who are subsidising many local schools, or, at least, providing basic maintenance, school supplies, etc.

It is a very sad affair... I don't know what the solution is.