Every year, from November to February Ana Martinez, starts an educational campaign, visiting homes where preschool-aged children live.
She has been a teacher at Edilberto Salinas, for 15 years, since then she invites preschool-aged children’s parents to enroll them, sometimes parents refuse it because has not enough resources.
“If the parents have two children and one of them is at Básica, they prefer to buy educational materials just for one of them. The preschool-aged is not prioritized”, she said.
In Honduras there are two levels for students from 3 to 15 ages. Prébasica for 3-5 years old children (preschool) and Básica 6-15 years old children (from first to ninth grade) and the educational year is from February to November.
Teacher Martinez also said, teachers at primary school notice when a student attended preschool because they are developed in language, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional areas and, punctuality and responsibility, among other values.
In Santa Cruz, in 2020 approximately 60 children were attended by the three teachers that work at Edilberto Salinas preschool center, established in 1986.
Education in Honduras
The conditions of Honduras education had been stalled; one heavy factor of this is lack of educational materials. According to UNICEF, 77% of Honduran children and teenagers live in homes that suffer poverty.
Ana described scholar year in 2020 as different, but they could teach online, “we taught from February to March. Later we sent homework via WhatsApp, and those who has not smartphones, my workmates and I visited their homes, giving them homework and directions”.
Socioeconomic levels mark a difference in the children’s adequacy to learn. And the accessibility of educational materials has been identified as an important factor in learning.
“I visited a little girl in January and February (2021), at this time, she is living with her grandmother because her parents are working at coffee plantations. I am trying to convince the old lady, but it is hard, usually, they say, kids go to preschool just for playing. And they do not realize that children who attend preschool develop their potential also through games”, she explained.
Also, a little neighbor of Ana named Carlitos dreams to be in the preschool classroom and learn and play and enjoys call her “teacher”, but the three years boy´s sister is at school, and their mother is not working. His entrance to preschool will be delayed.
World Bank informed that “the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the learning crisis, and the impact on the human capital of this generation of learners is likely to be long-lasting”.
In FORBETTERCOMMUNITY‘s Santa Cruz Project one of the objectives is to raise the level of literacy, and little ones are a great start where the transformation of the community begins.
Concerned about children’s situation, mostly preschool candidates that are not included in educational budgets and are out of the educational system. Affecting their growth and possibly, in the future, to be an important part of the poverty solution in their community.
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