A Crisis Within a Crisis in Guatemala: How GLXi’s Literacy Program is Helping with the Pandemic Recovery
Normally, we fill this blog space with positive tales from the classroom or encouraging updates on our programming and teacher training. But there are times when we need to speak more seriously about the challenges we are preparing to tackle as an organization, and the backdrop that drives our urgency in bringing literacy and learning to the children of Guatemala.
Now is one of those times.
-Ana Schulz, U.S. Executive Director, Global Learning Exchange Initiative
A CRISIS WITHIN A CRISIS
Today, Guatemala is dealing with “a crisis within a crisis.”
The pandemic has devastated Latin America’s health, economy, and education. Children who were already confronted with so many educational disadvantages have found themselves even further behind when it comes to literacy and learning.
This heavy toll will be exacted on an entire generation of children if we do not step in.
A World Bank Report released earlier this year describes the challenges in stark terms. It should be a wake-up call for all of us involved in education, and education policy and funding in Latin America.
“We’re talking about a generation of people that we’re losing, especially when you consider that the end of the education requirement in Guatemala is sixth grade.”
“Some of our third-grade teachers are reporting that their students are presenting similarly to first graders at the beginning of the school year — in other words, two years behind. That is the reality we are facing and trying to address,” said Ana Schulz, U.S. Executive Director of Global Learning Exchange Initiative.
Fortunately, GLXi is uniquely poised to address these problems head on.
In fact, much of the work we were already doing during the pandemic — pivoting, responding, and adapting our program to the escalating educational crisis in Guatemala — has us well-equipped to help teachers and students through the recovery.
We’d like to fill you in on these efforts.
SUSTAINING LEARNING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC
At the heart of GLXi’s work in Guatemala is a belief that by giving teachers the tools and training they need to succeed in the classroom, they — not we — can change the educational frontier.
During this devastating educational crisis, teachers are the “first responders” and the ones most capable of changing the future for these children. We strongly believe this.
Teacher support and training are also among the four “commitments of education recovery” recommended in the World Bank report.
Our path forward has always seemed clear.
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, GLXi embarked on a fast but well-constructed shift in teacher training, transforming in-person teacher training into a virtual format.
Sustaining the program through the pandemic and beyond was paramount to ensure students didn’t miss critical years of literacy and learning.
“Students who are not proficient in reading by the end of third grade are unlikely to complete their education, which is why addressing literacy in Grades 1-3 is so extremely important,” Schulz said. “We knew that we couldn’t let these children slip through the cracks at such an essential time in their learning.”
The adapted program model, which allowed for teaching in both a virtual and a classroom environment, was piloted in 2021.
TEACHER TRAINING AND AT-HOME LEARNING
GLXi’s goal was to counter the devastating impact on children's learning outcomes without the schools’ stabilizing influence.
Our goal was to equip already under-resourced teachers with what they needed to continue teaching, even if by WhatsApp and packets of worksheets and printed books sent home in food bags.
In 2020, GLXI printed 7,750 books for at-home learning that teachers distributed to families of school children. We reached more than 1,000 students.
The new model added an assessment to measure teacher progress and a graduation project for teachers requiring them to produce and finalize a digital book for students.
Teachers also trained to instruct virtually and use educational tools and applications such as games and videos focusing on literacy.
These efforts squarely fall within the World Bank’s “commitments of education recovery”, particularly as it pertains to assessments and addressing the digital divide.
“Studies have shown us this is what works. We also now have a comprehensive, groundbreaking report that supports this notion. So our task seems clear: Keep doing what we are doing. We just need to double down our efforts,” Schulz said.
BRIGHTER FUTURES
At the end of the day, this is about the children. By empowering teachers and giving them the tools they need to navigate this crisis, we are giving thousands of kids a chance at a better future.
We are reminded of this every time we see a student smile as they are handed a brand new book to read. Or when we look back at the home videos that were shared during the pandemic, as entire families participated in GLXi’s curriculum as part of remote learning.
Students who returned to their classrooms this year exhibited the cost of the pandemic. Many showed an intense degree of shyness or had difficulty with fine and gross motor skills, such as cutting and pasting pieces of construction paper.
But they also demonstrated that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, if we work together to get them what they need. Their eagerness to learn, and their indefatigable love of literacy, are what will make them unstoppable.
Now, it is up to us to make sure that happens.
