Covid-19 and education
According to a report and figures in the local newspaper La Prensa, more than 700’000 students dropped out of school in 2020. Since 13 March 2020, school lessons in Honduras have taken place exclusively virtually. Teachers had to look for alternatives and therefore offered lessons in the form of WhatsApp, Zoom, TV and radio. According to the evaluations of the Pedagogical University of Applied Sciences, about 44% of all children aged 3 to 17, i.e. 700’000 children, discontinued the past school year.
The main reason was that students could not maintain contact with teachers because they did not have access to the internet and thus could not access the teaching platforms. 46% cited lack of financial resources as the main reason. 35% of the students said they did not have an internet connection and the remaining 19% could not go to school for various other reasons.
In Honduras, school education is at a dramatically low level and equal opportunities for education are a disaster. The primary challenge for the 2021 school year is to establish connectivity technologies among the masses and to improve didactic school materials. Teachers have not received new didactic school materials for 12 years. This should massively reduce the rising number of school dropouts.
The big question is not only when our children will finally be able to return to conventional schooling, but when they will have the opportunity to learn normally again. Because every day that is lost from an educational point of view can no longer be made up for. In Honduras, a complete year has been lost in the meantime....
In the current pandemic situation, the country has no clear strategy for health measures at education centers. The lack of a vaccine in the country prevents students from being officially allowed to go to school. School lessons will therefore continue in virtual form in 2021.
It is also worth mentioning that many schools damaged in hurricanes Eta and Iota are still full of mud now, four months after the event. The state has not made any effort to have these buildings cleared quickly so that school classes could resume
At the beginning of February, the new school year also started for us at the children’s home, of course online. Our friends from Grupo Karim gave all the children their own tablet so that they can take part in their daily lessons via Zoom. In addition, we have also had to upgrade our internet connection. For our 30 students to be able to participate in class via Zoom at the same time, we had to switch to fiberglass internet and hire a second teacher to support and monitor. This investment lead to additional costs in order to be able to participate in class at all. Of course, we must continue paying the monthly school fees as usual. Our education budget has therefore increased significantly.
All in all, however, we can be thankful that our children at least have the opportunity to participate in lessons via Zoom. But, to be honest, this is unfortunately no comparison to the normal presence lessons.
Therefore, I very much hope that they will be allowed to go to school "normally" again as soon as possible.
IT rooms for "poor" schools in Santa Rosa de Copán
The "Yo Quiero Ser..." Foundation, in coordination with the authorities of the Ministry of Education of Santa Rosa de Copán, selected three schools where IT rooms were equipped.
In the "Juan Pablo II" school in the village of El Rosario, in the municipality of Santa Rosa de Copán, one room was equipped with 15 computers and the corresponding furniture. In this school, 310 students can now attend IT classes. 15 computers were installed at the Jesús Vanegas Membreño school. This school has 1'018 students who can benefit from the IT room. We also donated 15 computers and furniture to the school in Veracruz, a very poor community about 20 minutes from Santa Rosa de Copán. This year, 203 students are enrolled there.
Last year in Santa Rosa we copied the school material and distributed it to the students. This year, we have been able to take another step with this project and with the donation of 45 computers, we can support a total of 1,531 students.
Formations and studies
Yulissa, our eldest, would have completed her university studies as a laboratory assistant last year. Due to the pandemic, she had to interrupt her internship indefinitely. It was only this year that she was able to resume her six-month internship. This profession gives her great pleasure, enthusiasm and satisfaction. That is why she would like to continue her studies as a microbiologist. However, this further education is only offered by the public university UNAH in the capital Tegucigalpa.
The other three girls, who had completed their high school diploma, have all started their studies.
Jessica is studying human resources because she wants to help her fellow human beings and because it will enable her to make a living as an independent professional. She would like to work here at the home afterwards. As a thank you for this unique opportunity she has received here. Gloribel is studying law so that she can later help the home as a lawyer, but above all help disadvantaged people. She wants to work for justice in this country. Luz Marina has been preparing for the entrance exam to become a dentist for the past year. The exam was to be held on 22 March 2020. Since 13 March 2020, the university takes place only online and no entrance exams have taken place so far. Therefore, she enrolled for a one-year vocational training as a cook at the Hernando Moreno Gastronomy School, the best school in this field in Honduras. She chose this bridging solution because she likes to cook and would like to learn more about techniques and nutrition in general. Furthermore, she can get to know the food cultures of other countries and bring new ideas and menus to the children's home.