Education

In Honduras there are three levels of education prior to the University: primary school (grades 1-6), colegio, which is comparable to our middle school (grades 7-9), and secondary school (grades 10-12). When students graduate from secondary school, they are prepared for a career in bookkeeping, secretarial work, or teaching. Students can attend the University to pursue other professions.

ClassroomFewer than 20% of the youngsters attend a secondary school and not even 1% go on to the University. Children living in remote areas often must move to another town to attend even a middle school. Poverty makes getting an education prohibitive for the majority of children living in rural Honduras. Room and board costs between $500 and $600 a year, depending on the city. This sum is impossible for families with an income of $600 to $700 a year.

One year while visiting rural schools and conducting a dental hygiene program we noticed a very poor little girl with sorrowful eyes looking into the window of the classroom. We asked the teacher why she was not in school. He responded that her parents could not afford the notebooks and supplies to send all three of their children to school. The little girl would have to wait her turn. Before we left, sufficient money was given to Srs. Knoche and Zimmer for the girl’s education.

LACA has provided school supplies for many needy primary school children and funded sixteen children through their colegio education. LACA has also provided monies for educational seminars on ecological and environmental issues for youth in Minas De Oro, and sponsored a two-day youth symposium which focused on the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse for the youth from the areas of Minas de Oro, Esquias, San Jose de Potrero, and San Luis.

Blind school girlsLACA also provides yearly funding for the education of six to eight blind students at the School for the Blind in Tegucigalpa. “There are many blind children in Honduras who should be attending the School for the Blind in the capital city, but their parents cannot afford the monthly fee. They often hide these children because they are ashamed of their physical defect.” (From “The Blind in Honduras”, a Fall 1997 LACA newsletter article by Sister Barbara Zimmer, IHM.)