Every statistic is outdated. Every single one. 

The last statistic, in terms of population and poverty lines is from the late 90s. It has been almost ten years, and the country can not update this. This shows how much little value the Honduran government puts into education.

  There is some decent information in there, but most of it is not put into use.

  What saddens me the most if that in the 1990s, under President Rafael Callejas, the government tried to implement a program to improve education and modify the curriculum, and from what I have read, this was the last time the country tried to do this, and the program wasn’t fully implemented.

  Honduran leaders know that the education system in the country is below par, it is considered one of the worst in the Western Hemisphere, yet they have not do anything to change this.

  According to the plan suggested under Callejas government, Honduran education would have improved by 2005… it didn’t. It got worst.

 Children in public schools received only 100 days of classes, each of the past three years. most of this was because teachers went out and protested  or political reasons. this is less than half of what the kids should have received. But yet kids moved on to the next grade.

My family and I make a trip every year, during Christmas time, to different rural schools in Honduras. During these visits we take toys to the children and school supplies to the teachers. The joy in the children’s face to see coloring books and crayons is beyond anyone’s imagination. They are so appreciative of everything they can get.

(** this video is not from one of our trips)

When we visit these schools, we learn first hand, not only about the conditions these kids are in, but also about the quality of education they receive. Some of the “teachers” have not even finished 5th grade, but they are the only ones in the town that can somewhat read and write, so they are made into teachers.

The schools are usually made up of one building, which really is a small room. Children from 4 yrs – 10 yrs old attend the school at one time. After 10 yrs they are usually taken out of school by their parents to work in the fields.

It is hard for them to get supplies, since the towns are usually up in a mountain somewhere no one but them knows about. The children usually travel miles by foot(some times with bare feet) to attend school, because they love it, they are eager to learn. Sometime because while they are at school might be the only time they get to eat that day, as most schools provide lunch for the children, and because they get to escape from having to work.

As it stands right now, the public education system in Honduras is nothing but a joke.

According to a report released by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the education system in Honduras is 100 years behind, compared to other Central American countries, like Panama and Costa Rica.

The United Nations called the Honduran education system the worst in Central American.  This is because only 32 out of 100 students finish elementary school, without being held back a grade. And there are 900,000 illiterates in the country, half of which are between 15-24 years old. In the rural areas illiteracy surpasses 90 percent of the population

Retention rates in areas like math and science is only of 46.7 and according to a study by the Iberoamerican Federation of Ombusdman in the last three years the children in the country have only received 100 days of classes, half of what should have been taught.

Honduran Population-6,249,598

Literacy rate: 72.7 percent

Academic year- Februrary-November

Number of Primary schools-8,114

Public Expenditure on Education- 3.6 percent

Enrollment

                   Primary-1,008,181

                   Secondary-203,192

                   Higher-54,106

Teachers

                 Primary-28,888

                 Secondary-10,203

                 Higher- 4,078

***These numbers are according to http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/615/Honduras.html

 I will answer this question by focusing on the factors I believe contribute to the systems failure:

1. Who makes the decisions? A look at who the minister of education, Alejandro Ventura is. Is he qualified for the position?

2. Who are the teachers? What are their qualifications?

3. A look at the content and curriculum being taught.

4. Numbers- drop-outs, enrollment, iliteracy…etc

5.Accesability to education for the people of Honduras.

6.The role poverty plays in the education system of the country.

7. A look at the constant protesting by educators in the country. What are they protesting, how often…etc?

1goal.net- “1GOAL is a campaign seizing the power of football to ensure that education for all is a lasting impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  Raising our voices all over the world we believe that, together, we can make education a reality for the millions of boys and girls who remain out of school.”

This is a great organization because they are using something like soccer,which many children in Latin America love,to promote education

http://www.join1goal.org/

one.org- One is probably one of the most recognizables campaigns out there. They bring awareness to social issues like HIV/AIDs, maternal and child health, climate and education.

http://www.one.org/us/

Pies descalzos- is a foundation created by Colombian pop-star Shakira to help create opportunities for the children of Colombia.

http://www.fundacionpiesdescalzos.com/joomla/

Global Campaign for education- is a world wide movement to bring awareness and education for over 72 million children around the world.

http://www.campaignforeducation.org/

CEPROD- this is an organization in my native country of Honduras that works with the Federacion Espanola, to build schools in remote areas of the country. I’ve had the opportunity to be at some of these center and seen the work CEPROD is doing first hand. My aunt actually runs this organization and several of my family memebers work there. So this one is near and dear to my heart, and one of the reasons I am so passionate about education, as I grew up going to the many projects CEPROD was involved in.

According to a 1999 State of the World Children’s Report released by UNICEF almost an estimate billion people around the world are not able to read in 21^st century or write their name.

This isn’t hard to believe, in fact I actually thought this number would be higher, considering that about 80 percent of the world’s population is living in poverty.

And although several organizations around the world are trying to do something about this, why aren’t the local governments doing more?

The future of their country depends on it’s people’s education. If people can’t read or write, they can’t vote…that is a thought maybe that is why corrupt politicians aren’t doing anything about it. They like to be able to manipulate the people living in rural areas.

after all that is why they go for the support of the poor almost 80% of the time when they are trying to pass a legislation.

Someone needs to put an end to this.

Education is crucial to a countries prosperity, it should be a top proirty for politicans along with healthcare. It shouldn’t be pushed to the side. I find that the most prosperous and independent countries are those that have a good education system(not one that is perfect, in fact with several flaws) but are countries where public education is accesible to all.

In an interview with CNN Espanol, Shakira, a Colombian and world known singer/philanthropist said that $ 3 million dollars was the amount needed to give an education to the estimated 72 million children in Latin America that did not currently receive primary education by 2012.

Here is the link to that video, and following is one of the singer speaking to CNN (in English)

shakira speaking of the Global Campaign for Education in spanish.

This is Shakira also speaking of the same cause in English.

The legislation, Education for All Act was introduced in 2007 by then senators  Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) as well as Reps. Nita Lowry (D-N.Y.) and Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).

to learn more  on this act visit http://www.campaignforeducationusa.org/efa2007summary

According to govtrack.us the bill was never became a law.

despite this many advances have been made since 2008.

According to a April 2009 news release on one.org, Rep. Nita Lowry  said that U.S. funding for basic education, as well as President Barack Obama’s commitment of a $ 2billioncontribution to a Global Education Fund. http://www.one.org/blog/category/us-legislation/educational-for-all-act/

GCE and the One campaign havent given up on this bill.

“It is essential that urgent steps be taken to improve the protection of civilians, which, while it is the first priority of MONUC is first and foremost the primary responsibility of the Government of the DR Congo. With the support of the Mission and bilateral partners, the Government must take the measures necessary to transform FAR DC into a protector of the Congolese people.” -Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s report to the Security Council,  said on Dec. 4,2009

What is going on:

according to www.genocideintervention.net