Deficiency in education in Guatemala

As a Guatemalan, I can’t say that my country is the best and that living in Guatemala is a dream, as many other countries Guatemala has a lot of issues with the society and government. One of the biggest issues is the education because there are thousands of children that don’t receive the education; and thousands of teachers that are unemployed. Guatemala is considered one of the poorest countries in Central America, and it is reflected in the quality of the education and life of their residents. El Ministerio De Educación (Mineduc), is an organization that is in charge of the organization of the education in Guatemala including teachers. The government gives always a certain amount of money to Mineduc but it is not enough to give a quality education and and pay all the teacher. There also are a thousand of teachers that not have the qualification the requisites a teacher. The government in Guatemala has different priorities, and they have neglected the education. The government must have to make the education as their principal priority, and Mineduc should supervise the quality of the teachers and schools.

According to Andrea Orozco, a reporter for La Prensa Libre, she shows a quantitative date of how much money the government of Guatemala is giving to Mineduc. According to her research the government gives in 2016 Q 12,892.30 and in 2017 Q13,862.320. For many Guatemalan, it is a lot of money and even though we don’t see any change in the education. I agree that there is not enough money to cover all the expenses that require thousands of public school, and with it affecting all the children how are in the school. I can’t say how Mineduc manages the money, but for sure they are not doing a good job manage it because there are many children who don’t receive education; by of the shortage of teachers and a specific space to study. Mineduc must give each school the same money, and teachers because when I was in Guatemala I noticed that not all the rural schools have the same amount of classrooms, teachers, and supplies. I used to live in an urban area and the school there was not the bad and we used to receive snack and books from the government, but I notice that the help that we received other children’s didn’t get it. The most important part of a school is their teachers because without them we can’t develop our skills and get a good education.

As we know now the world is moving around the money because everything that you want to do is based on how much they will pay you for it, nothing is free. My country is not the difference because being a teacher in Guatemala there are a lot of good benefits. Mineduc is in charge to pay all the teacher, there are thousands of money that are spending for their salary. According to Andrea Orozco, she said that the total amount of money to pay all the teacher in 2004 and 2009 is about Q 8,000,478.9 and Q 10,000,798.1. As we can see it is a lot of money and it is understanding because there also are a thousand of teachers in Guatemala but there is no-considerable how much money is sending to pay teacher when we know that not all of them deserve the money. I had experience with the teacher who does not love their work, and I don’t know why they are there without knowing how they end there with a big responsibility. Being a teacher requires a lot responsible because on you depend on the next generation, and it will make the difference on how you teach them what is right and wrong. As I said many students choose the career of being a teacher because as you know they get a good salary and to become a teacher does not require a lot of education and to be honest it is the most affordable career that you can find in Guatemala, that’s why many students choose this career because they know that it will give them more than they give back. Most of these students forget that to get their license they must pass a test to prove that they are ready and able to assume this big responsibility as being a teacher. For sure most of us think that the minimum they should pass the math and reading test because it does not require a lot. That’s not true because most of those students who could not pass the test, it makes them lose the opportunity to get their license.

The problem of Mineduc is that they are not giving a strong system where every single school of Guatemala can have a strong education. According to Juan Manuel Castillo, a reported of La Prensa Libre, he says that “Mientras, en el sector educativo privado el 20.78% obtuvo resultados satisfactorios y excelentes en las pruebas de Lectura, y el 4.51%, en las de Matemática, según el informe”. This information basically says that the private school is more effective because there has a good score on math and reading test than the public ones. I strongly believe that it is true because the private school has a better system of education, and they don’t depend on the Minedu and it means a lot already. Being in a private school has good and bad sides because in Guatemala you have to pay for your education and it is expensive, if you are in a public school it is not so expensive but if you are in a private school it is too expensive. The reality is that many parents prefer a public school because most of them can’t afford a private school, but some of them are also sending their child to a private school because they know that it is much better. These parents who send their child to a private school face a lot of thing as finding the money to pay the school and still having something for their home. The government should implement and give the same opportunities of learning to everyone and Mineduc as a Minister of education it must include the same system of education as the private school to give a quality education.

In Guatemala, those students who decide to be a teacher don’t know the responsibility that it requires. As I said before the new teachers couldn’t pass the math and reading test because of they a lower score on each one. It is unbelieve because we supposed that they will teach our children and they are the next generation in Guatemala so they must have to be prepared for it. If we teach our children how to make good decisions and teach the necessary to survive, they will change the future and they are not going to make the same error that our generation is going now. Teachers should be the role model, just by being the role model it makes a lot of difference because now your students are copying what you are doing and how you behave. As a teacher, you can’t ask you, students, to do something or change their behavior if you are not suitable to say it because you are not a good role model.

In conclusion, Mineduc as the Minister of education should put more interest in investigate how does not qualify as a teacher. Mineduc must integrate a new system as the private school to have a better results and make the education much better. I know that it some people will said that going to the school doesn’t have a benefit is just to waste our time, but I think it is our obligation to improve the education and make it free. There are many children who do not have the opportunity to study because one it is expensive and is like a wasting of money and time because they don’t receive the education that they supposed to get in a school. The government should make the education free in order that many childrens can go to the school and don’t work the whole day to survive and help their family. The best way to improve the education in Guatemala is to implement the same system as the private school and get the same results because now there is a lot of difference between a private and public school. Also, the government should make the education their principal priority and give more help to Mineduc to improve the education in Guatemala.