Education in Honduras

We always hear jokes about public education and we all know how bad Georgia test scores have been over the years. But after realizing how bad the education program is here, I'm happy to say I graduated from a Georgia public school. I would rather go to a Clayton County school than down here... by the way, can anyone tell me if Clayton County got their accreditation back? Anyway... right now the public school teachers are on strike... AGAIN! Our school is private, so we don't have to worry about the nationwide strikes. But this is the fourth time since July they've been on strike.

Now let me tell you a little about the education here. The highest required grade for kids to complete is sixth grade. Yes, I said, "sixth grade." But get this, not even half of the kids in this country get that far. It's not rare to find a 9 yr old kid in first grade. After sixth grade, school is called "college." And that takes kids through our 12th grade. And when they graduate from "college," they receive a degree in a certain area. And the education in the college is no way near the education in our middle and high schools. And very rarely do find kids that graduate "on time", or as we think of it as around the ages of 17 and 18 yrs old. A lot of kids are in "college" into their twenties. And if you go to school at night, usually starting at 6 pm, you can forget about your teacher showing up. Maybe for the first couple classes of the night but not the whole time. Class is supposed to last until after 10 pm, most students are home by 8:30pm.

But the main reason for this blog is because of the strikes. While the teachers are on strike, because of money, like always, they're getting their full pay. They're supposed to be at the school while the strike is on, but we all know, they're not. And what about the kids, no one cares about them. The kids think it fun not being in school. But if the teachers strike long enough in a school year, the kids can all be held back and lose a year a school. The teachers don't care, they still get paid. I have heard of a story of teacher that got caught teaching her students during a strike, and she got her pay taken away. It's sounds ridiculous, but what doesn't sound ridiculous here in Honduras.

So I ask all of you, please keep these kids in your prayers. That they may be able to get some kind of education so the may have a some chance of leaving a life of poverty.

Take care and God Bless!!!

PS - There are universities here, but very few attend there.