Knowledge is Power

With all this talk about our scholarship program, this week I decided to take you all into a dive about how school in El Salvador works through the eyes of some of our scholarship students.

In El Salvador, public education is free only through the ninth grade, and continuing past that year is considered to be higher education. Unfortunately, many families are unable to afford the costs of uniforms, school supplies, transportation, and even shoes. Through our program, we have seen 20 students graduate from high school and 7 continue on to University since 2015. Education is extremely crucial in El Salvador as it is a means to escape from crushing poverty, but standards in rural areas, such as Los Tehuistes, are much lower as compared to urban areas. Kindergarten is optional, and children enroll in primary school at the age of 7. The nine years of following school is divided into 3 cycles of 3 years each, with the third being a transition to a middle school education.

Education School/Level Grades Age Years Notes

Primary Primary 1-9 7-15 9

Primary 1st Cycle 1-3 3

Primary 2nd Cycle 4-6 3

Primary 3rd Cycle 7-9 3

Secondary Secondary 10-12 16-18 3 Bachillerato (High School Diploma)

Secondary Middle Edu. 10-11 2 General H.S. Degree

Vocation Tech 10-12 3 Optional: Technical H.S. Degree

Tertiary 2

Tertiary Undergraduate 5 Min. 5 years

Tertiary Masters 2 Min. 2 years

Tertiary Doctorate 3 Min. 3 years

Primary Education

Primary education, as most education in El Salvador, is split between public and private schools. As education is an incredibly high priority in El Salvador, many parents take advantage of this program, despite the lesser standards they experience in rural areas.

Secondary Education

For 2 more years, students graduating receive a general bachelors degree equivalent to a high school diploma, while those who stay for another year stay to prepare for University. If the students remain for an 3rd year, they are also able to finish their education with a technical bachelor’s degree which assists them in obtaining a job as an accountant, in computer science, or secretarial services.

Vocational Education

Vocational training is only provided by private colleges, which means it costs money and there is no assistance with uniforms or school supplies. The overall goal of these programs is to grow the country’s “knowledge base while improving the living standards of workers and their families”.

Tertiary Education

There are both private and public higher education facilities in El Salvador, together they equate to 23 Universities some with religious affiliations and others secular. Generally, in order to obtain a Bachelor’s degree one must study for 4-5 years, depending on the career, and in order to obtain a Masters or Doctorate degree they must complete more classes.

For this blog post, Manuel recorded Gabriela Sarai Cruz Santos, a high school student, speaking about her experiences and connected me with Juan Carlos Flores, a University student studying Medicine.

Gabriela Sarai Cruz Santos

In El Salvador, the school year lasts 10 months beginning in the last weeks of January and ending in the first weeks of November. Gabriela, a high school (secondary) student continues on to explain how school there functions in four periods. During the period, they take notes for exams, turn in homework, do activities, and finally are evaluated. At the end of the term, the school posts grads dictating whether the students have passed the grade or not.

Living in such a remote area creates many difficulties for our students. Gabriela describes how she has to wake up at 5am to get ready for the day and arrive at class at 7am. Usually, she is incredibly hungry and is forced to go through the day with inadequate nutrition, little food, and sitting at a desk all day, but despite these hardships, she is extremely passionate about learning. Students will take between 13 and 14 classes such as: tax law, social studies, science classes, language arts, English, mathematics, orientation for life, and art classes among others, and finish off their day at 4pm.

Gabriela is currently taking 14 subjects (yes, you read that right!), and really enjoys teachers that go above and beyond in order to make learning fun and creative. Unfortunately, she has been unable to really enjoy her teachers or other class mates due to COVID. Expenses to go to school has increased and online classes are much more difficult to learn as opposed to in-person classes.

Juan Carlos Flores Hernandez

Juan Carlos is a University Student at the University in El Salvador, and currently studying to earn a Medical Degree. We are also fortunate enough for Juan Carlos to serve on the board of our Scholarship Program. University in El Salvador is separated into two semesters with the first beginning in the middle of January and lasting till the middle of June while the second begins in the middle of July and lasts till the middle of December. As with primary and secondary school, universities are separated as either public or private where public universities require an exam minimum of 50 points to attend.

Currently, Juan Carlos biggest concern are the economic factors as his university is quite expensive, and he also relates to Gabriela as the majority of his classes have transitioned to online while few remain in-person. Contrary to secondary school, university students are only allowed to take 5 subjects. A Bachelor’s Degree requires about 40-45 different classes depending on the career while a Doctorate requires 60 to 70 classes.

Even though he is facing so many difficulties, he ends his letter explaining how, “we are still here fighting with the belief that we will achieve success with the help of God and the help provided by CdA…because it really is a blessing”