Education Reform: Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace

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Education Reform: Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace

Implementations

Education Reform – 1997

The Government submitted the National Civic Education Program for Democracy and Peace, which incorporates commitments to education reform in the Agreement on Social and Economic Aspects and the Agrarian Situation, and is to be implemented by the Ministry of Education.1

The Government also established the Advisory Commission on Educational Reform, which included representatives from indigenous communities. Nearly 50,000 scholarships and study grants were provided to needy students. The civic education program moved from the planning phase to the implementation phase.2

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/51/936), June 30, 1997.
  2. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/52/757), February 4, 1998.

Education Reform – 1998

The National Program for Educational Self-Management (PRONADE) raised primary education coverage to 60% of the target set by the Agreements for the year 2000. The programs included little bilingual or intercultural education, even though the areas covered were mostly indigenous communities. The Department of Bilingual Education (DIGEBI) works with PRONADE, but only covers 15% of schools, and even those schools are only partially covered.1 Illiteracy was reduced from 37% in 1995 to 31.7% in 1998.2

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/53/421), September 28, 1998.
  2. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/54/526), November 11, 1999.

Education Reform – 1999

The Advisory Commission on Educational Reform facilitated discussion and worked toward consensus on broad educational reform. Whatever actual improvements occurred were relatively small and too slow to meet the benchmarks stipulated in the Agreements. The education system was not growing fast enough to meet the goal of access to at least three years of schooling for all children between the ages of 7 and 12, and there was a shortage of teachers. PRONADE did not improve bilingual coverage. The civic education program was poorly resourced and waning. All deficiencies in the Government’s responsibilities for education were worst in rural areas and among indigenous populations.1

  1. Ibid.

Education Reform – 2000

Budget cuts eliminated funding for the out-of-school education program and training for school faculty and staff. No progress was made on the civic education program, which remained unfunded, and primary education coverage was too limited to meet the target set for it. On the other hand, the Ministry of Education announced new plans for 2000-2004, which included initiatives to reduce the illiteracy rate by 15% and experimental programs to teach Mayan languages and Spanish simultaneously.1

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/55/175), July 26, 2000; “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/55/973), June 1, 2001.

Education Reform – 2001

A curriculum was approved for pre-primary education, but no such curriculum was completed for other levels. The benchmark of full access to at least three years education for children between 7 and 12 years of age was not met. The education budget was cut further for 2001 and 2002, failing to live up to the expectations set forth in the Agreements.1

As of September 2001, the Ministry of Education had so far failed to implement comprehensive intercultural and bilingual education programs or improve indigenous communities’ access to education at the levels stipulated by the agreements.2

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/55/1003), July 10, 2002.
  2. “The Indigenous Peoples of Guatemala: Overcoming Discrimination in the Framework of the Peace Agreements, Verification Report,” United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), September 2001.

Education Reform – 2002

While there was an increase in the budget for the Ministry of Education, actual spending on education was insufficient to increase coverage, improve infrastructure and implement all the reforms stipulated by the Agreements. One notable improvement was the opening of training institutes for bilingual teachers.1

Legislative Degree No. 81-2002 established the Education against Discrimination Act.2 Government Agreement No. 526-2003 established the Vice-Ministry for Bilingual Intercultural Education.

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/58/267), August 11, 2003.
  2. “Information Received from Governments: Guatemala,” United Nations Economic and Social Council, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (E/C.19/2010/12/Add.8), March 3, 2010.

Education Reform – 2003

The teachers went on strike in early 2003. No proposals for long-term solutions were given.1

The rate of illiteracy was lowered to 30% as stipulated by the Peace Agreements. Bilingual and multicultural education programs, however, fell short of the goals set in the Agreements.2 Government Agreement No. 526-2003 established the Vice-Ministry for Bilingual Intercultural Education, and Ministerial Agreement No. 930-2003 of the Ministry of Education set out to respect indigenous dress in official and private establishments.3

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/58/267), August 11, 2003.
  2. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/59/307), August 30, 2004.
  3. “Information Received from Governments: Guatemala,” United Nations Economic and Social Council, Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (E/C.19/2010/12/Add.8), March 3, 2010.

Education Reform – 2004

Government Agreement No. 22-2004 expanded bilingual education and multiculturalism in the education system.1

  1. Ibid.

Education Reform – 2005

No developments observed this year.

Education Reform – 2006

No new developments reported in 2006. Nevertheless, the government continued its effort to bring down illiteracy rate. This led to the establishment of institutional mechanisms to promote and expand bilingual education and multiculturalism suggest that the provisions related to education were implemented to some extent. However, according to the State Department Human Rights Report, more than 50 percent of indigenous women were illiterate and a disproportionate number of indigenous girls did not attend school. The report, quoting the Guatemalan Ministry of Education, states that 78,692 preschool- and kindergarten-age indigenous children were enrolled in Spanish-indigenous language bilingual education programs.1

  1. “2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Guatemala,” State Department, 2007, accessed May 29, 2012, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100641.htm.