Education in Times of Covid-19

Socially speaking, El Salvador was already deteriorating before COVID-19 hit, owing to rising rates of poverty and extreme poverty, the persistence of inequalities and growing social discontent. In this context, the pandemic was to inevitably have a profoundly negative impact on various social sectors, particularly public health and education.

Even before the pandemic, VOICES has been working with rural schools and families in an attempt to radically improve the culture of learning throughout these regions, by identifying and addressing major gaps in educational outcomes. Since the pandemic began, we’ve been supporting initiatives that deploy distance learning modalities through a variety of formats and platforms (both on and off-line), while also supporting the mobilization of education personnel and students and helping these institutions stay equipped with the necessary biomedical resources to ensure the overall well-being of students and their families.
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Building a Dignified Learning Environment
Isla de Monte Cristo, Bahia del Jiquilisco

In 1992, the Island of Monte Cristo was resettled by local farmers taking advantage of the postwar land transfer program. Today, the remote community contains acres of fruit trees, a handful of farming families, and hundreds of nesting birds.

Due to years of abandonment by both local and the national government, organizations like VOICES have been approached by local leaders to help them tackle specific issues like their lack of vital resources such as potable water and access to education.

Thanks in part to the generosity of South Bay Sanctuary Covenant, and the efforts of the islanders themselves in managing the logistics, the transportation of materials and the labor, their small school is in the middle of a complete makeover.

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Rural Mobile Technology Lab
Centro Escolar Amando Lopez, Bajo Lempa, Usulután

The Mobile Tech Lab began in 2020, in response to the official closure of all Salvadoran educational institutions. Luckily for the kids, the Amando Lopez School staff have always been at the forefront of developing creative initiatives to entice students and keep communities learning.

The Lab is helping bridge the digital divide in the Bajo Lempa, by offering direct technology to students and computer skills to teachers. 112 students are currently taking part in the Lab, by attending in-person or virtual classes in communities Amando Lopez, La Canoa and 14th de Abril. The teaching staff continue to say that their goals are being accomplished through this program, goals such as keeping students and teachers connected, providing students the critical technological tools they need to succeed and strengthening the technical capabilities of the teachers.

It is also important to note that because of the school’s stringent biohealth approach, Amando Lopez has become a model for other institutions who wish to teach kids, during a global pandemic.

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Early Childhood Education Improvement
Bajo Lempa Preschools, Usulután

Preschool teachers are critical agents of children’s social and emotional development, which in turn is a key predictor of their current and future academic and social success. Rural pre-schoools in El Salvador however are notorious for being left of the equation when it comes to government funding around paying dignified salaries, operational budgets, building infrastructures, etc.

For VOICES, it is important to support these institutions in their educational proceses by helping to supplement these shortcomings and offering them quality continuing education workshops with pedagogical professionals.

Recently, we worked with five different preschools in the Bajo Lempa to facilitate a series of highly interactive age and developmentally appropriate activities aimed at improving the methodological foundations of their curriculum and internal organizations.

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We want to reiterate our gratitude for our dear friends from South Bay Sanctuary Covenant of Northern California, St.John of God Church of San Francisco, the Carlos Rosario International school family in Washington D.C. and generous individuals and families who continue to understand the need for providing quality education in the middle of a pandemic. If it weren’t for each and everyone of you and the dedication and perseverance of our Salvadoran patterns, who knows how many bright young futures would be stifled and lost.

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Moving with Purpose: Using Technology to Keep Kids in School

THE ORIENTATION

COVID-19 Prevention Protocol in English

El Salvador’s public school students, both rural and urban, are facing an uncertain academic future due to COVID-19. As institutional disorganization at a national level leads to essential services, like education, becoming too complicated for communities to maneuver, at the same time, the Ministry of Education expects teachers, who have had very little experience with technology, to learn said technology on their own and teach via digital platforms to students who themselves often times cannot afford internet to access these platforms.

The Centro Escolar Amando Lopez Technology Lab is an inter-institutional initiative to connect teachers and students with the technology they need to advance in their academic goals. While we are confident that MINED will eventually achieve coherent policies and practices, we also recognize the current threat of mass retention and desertion looming over the country’s schools located in more marginalized regions.

This week we concluded our program and staff development as well as community orientations. Next Tuesday (7/28) the program begins!

In the end, we hope that this project can be an example of how to run a rural mobile technology lab, both during and after a pandemic.

CLICK HERE to learn more

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Protocolo de la Prevención de COVID-19 en Español 

Moviéndose con Propósito: El Uso de la Tecnología para Mantener el Alumnado en la Escuela

Lxs estudiantes de escuelas públicas de El Salvador, tanto rurales como urbanos, enfrentan un futuro académico incierto debido a COVID-19. Por la desorganización institucional a nivel nacional, los servicios esenciales, como la educación, se vuelven demasiado complicados para que las comunidades puedan gestionar y, al mismo tiempo, el Ministerio de Educación espera que la facultad de la escuelas, que tienen muy poca experiencia con la tecnología, aprendan dicha tecnología por su cuenta y enseñar a través de plataformas digitales a estudiantes, pero ellxs mismxs muchas veces no pueden pagar por internet para acceder a estas plataformas.

El Laboratorio Tecnológico del Centro Escolar Amando López es una iniciativa interinstitucional para conectar a maestrxs y estudiantes con la tecnología que necesitan para avanzar en sus objetivos académicos. Si bien confiamos en que MINED finalmente logrará políticas y prácticas coherentes, también reconocemos la amenaza actual de retención y deserción masiva, que se cierne sobre las escuelas del país ubicadas en regiones más marginadas.

Esta semana, concluimos nuestras reuniones de desarrollo del programa y de personal, así como las orientaciones de la comunidad. ¡El próximo martes (28/7) comienza el programa!

A fin de cuentas, esperamos que este proyecto pueda ser un ejemplo de cómo ejecutar un laboratorio educativo rural, tanto durante como después de una pandemia.

HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para aprender mas

 

 

An Educational Adventure

This past summer was full of really exciting visits. The El Salvador staff traveled to the U.S. to take part in the annual board meeting in Maryland, and two delegations visited us here in El Salvador. The first was an awesome group of young chess coaches and the second was a wonderfully dedicated group of staff from the renowned Carlos Rosario International adult charter school in Washington, D.C.

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This marks the fourth year the group has come to explore, learn and exchange with the people of El Salvador. Recently, they have focused on creating an intentional partnership with the Amando Lopez community school in the Bajo Lempa. The reason the delegates come is not only to increase the cultural awareness they possess for Salvadorans, a population that makes up the majority of their students back home; but also to be able to exchange knowledge with the educators and leaders of the communities that they visit.

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They held meetings with inspiring groups working on youth development, women’s empowerment, LGBTQ rights, and environmental justice. They traveled to Morazán and learned about the history while listening to hopeful opinions about a peaceful future.

In the Bajo Lempa, they facilitated various workshops with the educators and community members on topics such as Self-care in the classroom, reading techniques, the risks of social media, among others. They themselves received workshops in turn from the community’s school staff which you can see more of below in the video.

 

We want to extend our gratitude to the people behind the scenes who made this an unforgettable delegation, and to those who made donations to rural education throughout the various campaigns. With this money, the Amando Lopez school will improve infrastructure, purchase necessary teaching material, musical instruments and fix school computers.

Until Next Year!

Evaluating the ECHO Model in the Bajo Lempa

The training portion of Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) came to an end last month with the second and final session of Bajo Lempa participants being certified as Sexual and Reproductive Health educators by a group of medical professionals from the University of New Mexico. In total, 41 teachers and 17 community health promoters participated in the program.

Over the last two weeks we had the pleasure of hosting Nutritionist, Grace Palm and Gynecologist, Hannah Palm; the two health education consultants from UNM. Since the beginning, these two young doctors have showed nothing but dedication and proved vital in the development of ECHO materials and as facilitators during the video trainings. They came to visit the communities, conduct in-person focus studies and sit in on some of the classes being replicated during their stay.

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Two groups of teachers, one group of health promoters and one group of school administrators participated in the focus studies where conversations were constructive, collaborative and full of ideas for the future. The classes they observed were well prepared and well taught and most teachers adapted ECHO’s methodology to fit their own group dynamics.

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Jose Acosta, VOICES’ director expressed during the final evaluation with school administrators, “If this proves a successful method to adequately capacitate those who’s role it is to impart such programs, the goal to ultimately implement the ECHO model into the education curriculum can be realized.

The two with their host family and VOICES’ executive director.

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Photos of classes being reproduced in schools and communities:

 

First Workshop with Bajo Lempa leaders

WATCH The beginning of a ten month training course called the “School of Political and Ecological Formation” for Bajo Lempa community leaders in ACUDESBAL. Throughout the year, VOICES will facilitate these types of trainings to ensure our Salvadoran partner communities have the ability to advocate for important changes and get the results they deserve.

Stay connected this year via Facebook and YouTube!

The Salvadoran Cyber Situation- Internet Use Fails to Keep Up with that of Peers

Internet service in El Salvador has progressed and developed significantly since its introduction to the Salvadoran public in 1995.  Initially, the government was in control of the Internet, which had the express purpose of being a military and scientific network.  In addition, Salvadorans were only able to send and receive emails once per day and at a steep price until privatization and free market competition emerged in 2000 and made Internet services more accessible.

Currently, over a million Salvadorans have Facebook accounts and the country ranks 74 in total number of accounts out of the 213 countries with access to the social networking site.  Facebook is among the most visited websites in El Salvador, along with Google and Youtube.

Members of Voices on the Border partner communities in Morazán and the Lower Lempa region of Usulután are typical examples of Internet users in rural Salvadoran Communities. Due to the cost, any individuals do not own personal computers, but instead access the Internet from cyber-cafés, where computers are provided and a small Internet access fee is paid per hour of usage.  Those using the services of cyber-cafés tend to be under the age of 30 and are mostly young university students, as the Internet is a relatively new technology that has not been adopted by many members of the adult community.  The youth tend to go to cyber-cafés if they have a few spare quarters to spend, primarily to access Facebook, which serves as a cheap, simple way to chat with friends.

In addition, community members in the Lower Lempa and in Morazán alike tend to prioritize mobile phones over computers.  They rely heavily on their mobile phones for calls, texts, music, and even for use as flashlights.  Although some individuals do not have a lot of money to spend on luxury items, it is not unheard of for them to own a smart phone from which they can access the Internet and their email accounts.  However many smart phone owners are among the wealthy, which is the same demographic that represents the main users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

The Global Information Technology Report of the 2010-2011 year provided a comparative insight into the progress of El Salvador’s technological development.  The rankings provided are out of 139 countries and El Salvador ranked 82^nd in the category of Global Competitive Index, 69^th in the Accessibility of Digital Content and 87^th in the use of Virtual Social Networks.  The report also estimates that 12.1 out 100 Salvadorans are Internet users.

One of the most significant indicators included in the report is the “Network Readiness Index” (NRI).  The NRI assesses the degree to which countries across the world leverage information and communication technologies for enhanced competitiveness.  The NRI framework consists of assessments of a country’s market, political and regulatory infrastructure, as well as individual, business and government usage of these technologies.

Interestingly, El Salvador is ranked 92nd out of 139 countries according to the 2010-11 Network Readiness Index.  It is citied as an example of a country that has failed to “keep up with its peers.”  El Salvador is among the six countries that have declined significantly in rank since the 2006-7 report (where it ranked 61/122) and at which time it belonged to the same decile as China (ranked 59^th).

As the influence and usage of the Internet continues to spread throughout El Salvador, through the increased prevalence of cyber-cafés, and the diminishing costs of basic technology, it will likely become easier for El Salvador to harness the power of the Internet and use it to enhance its competitiveness in the global market.