More than a decade of neoliberalism led to a critical state of the educational system in Honduras, a situation that since her arrival to the presidency in January 2022 Xiomara Castro proposed to reverse.
By María Josefina Arce
More than a decade of neoliberalism led to a critical state of the educational system in Honduras, a situation that since her arrival to the presidency in January 2022 Xiomara Castro proposed to reverse.
The task is not easy because the lack of funding in this area by previous governments led to the destruction of infrastructure and equipment, in addition to a high school dropout rate, among other causes due to lack of resources of families.
According to official data, by 2022 more than one million school-age children and adolescents were out of the education system, following the COVID 19 pandemic that exposed the existing gaps. It is estimated that in seven years school exclusion grew to 22%.
But the president has taken firm steps to ensure that education reaches everyone. Recently, the government approved the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of 12,000 schools located in the 298 municipalities of the Central American country.
This action is of utmost importance for rural areas, where there is a deficit of educational institutions and many of the existing ones do not have the required conditions.
In his first 100 days in office, the budget allocated to the Ministry of Education was increased and the School Feeding and Free Tuition Programs were reinstated, which contribute to stop children and young people from dropping out of school.
In addition, more than 10 thousand students and teachers have benefited from tablets and computers, acquired by the Secretariat of Education to guarantee a higher quality in learning.
Among the actions developed by Xiomara Castro's government is also the granting of scholarships to favor the continuity of studies, including university and postgraduate studies.
A priority objective is to reduce illiteracy, the rate of which soared to 12% during the years of neoliberalism. Hence, the Cuban literacy method "Yes, I can", which benefited vulnerable sectors during the mandate of Manuel Zelaya, deposed by a coup d'état in June 2009, has been implemented once again.
To this end, educators from the largest of the Antilles work in several departments as advisors for the implementation of the program, recognized for its efficiency and economy.
The government presided over by Xiomara Castro is working for inclusive, quality education, to provide Hondurans with better life prospects and advance the economic and social development of the Central American country.
