Click on a student to learn more about them. While reading biographies, you might come across some unfamiliar terms having to do with the Guatemalan educational system. To go to a quick Glossary click on the highlighted word in the student bio, or to go to a more complete description of the Guatemalan educational system, click here.
A young girl named Sandra grew up in the village of El Estor, and had limited chances to go to school because one of her sisters started school but didn’t finish. Her parents were upset about it and thought that Sandra would do the same thing. Sandra begged and cried
My name is Urzula Yanira Milian Tiul. I was born in San Pablo Tamahu, Alta Verapaz in the year 1991, being the last of 5 brothers and sisters. My mother and father didn’t have steady jobs and were always looking for a way to get ahead. When I was 10
Hello! My name is Verónica Chocooj. I was born on July 3, 1996 in the village Copal AA la Esperanza, Cobán Alta Verapaz. My father´s name is José Chocooj and my mother´s name is Juana Quip. I have 4 brothers and 6 sisters including myself. During my first months of
Click on a student to learn more about them. While reading biographies, you might come across some unfamiliar terms having to do with the Guatemalan educational system. To go to a quick Glossary click on the highlighted word in the student bio, or to go to a more complete description of the Guatemalan educational system, click here.
The educational system in Guatemala has some similarities and some differences from the one here in the US. Like the American system, education is divided into primary (grades 1-6), middle (grades 7-9), and secondary (grades 10-12). Unlike the US, only primary school is mandatory, and is the only level of education supported by the government.
Despite being mandatory, in reality many Guatemalan children do not complete primary school, much less continue on to middle school. The reasons for this are several: First, despite being government-supported, primary school students must still pay for uniforms, books, school supplies, and transportation to and from school. This is beyond the reach of many Guatemalan families, especially rural, Indigenous families. Second, the primary language of almost 40% of Guatemalans is not Spanish, but rather one of more than 20 Mayan dialects. Despite a law passed in 1996 mandating that classes be taught in both Spanish and the local dialect, this has yet to occur in many schools, requiring Indigenous children to struggle with Spanish in addition to the usual first-year problems. Because of these and other factors, at present Indigenous children average only 2.5 years of education, compared to 5.7 years in non-Indigenous children.
Starting in middle school, families must pay for tuition as well as for the costs mentioned above, such as books, school supplies, etc. After successfully graduating from middle school, students are awarded a diploma called a “Basico”.
In high school, students have two options: they can attend a technical school for 2 years, choosing training in such fields as agriculture, surveying, or accounting, or they can choose a school with a more typical academic curriculum, which they attend for 3 years. At the end of technical school, they are awarded a certificate of competency in their chosen field, while at the end of academic school they are awarded a diploma called a “Diversicado” (I assume meaning a “diversified education”). The importance of the Diversicado is that it is required in order to sit for the college admission exams
Like high school, Guatemalan students accepted into post-secondary school education have several options. First, there are special teacher’s colleges that offer a 3-year degree in elementary education. This allows them to teach at the primary school level only. Second, there are more than a dozen Universities in Guatemala, and in general, they offer several routes to a diploma. The first of these is a 3-year degree in education that is more rigorous than the one offered by a teacher’s college. This allows the graduate to teach at both the primary and secondary levels, and entitles them to the title of “Profesor”. For fields of study other than education, students are given the option of taking classes for 2-3 years, and then graduating with what is called a “technico” degree in their chosen field. Alternatively, they can continue on to a “Licenciatura” degree. This is much more rigorous and prestigious, and requires at least four years of classes followed by another year for the student to research and write a thesis in the student’s major. This is the degree that GSSG student Nancy Ventura will be awarded in April of this year.
The mission of the Guatemalan Student Support Group is to partner with impoverished Guatemalan communities to provide greater educational opportunities for their children.
The Vision of the Guatemalan Student Support Group is that all children of Guatemala will have access to quality education regardless of their socioeconomic situation.
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