Nicaragua Children and School

By | June 17, 2021

How is school in Nicaragua?

In Nicaragua, primary school attendance is compulsory. Attending state primary schools is free. The primary school (Primaria) comprises six classes. The first four school years are combined into one cycle, as are the 5th and 6th grades.

Not everyone goes to school

However, 3 percent of the children do not go to school at all. 30 percent of children drop out of elementary school. There are several reasons for this. Sometimes the parents cannot pay for the school books or exercise books. There are not enough schools in rural areas, so the way to school is very long. Many children have to help their parents with work. Others live on the street.

Only 45 percent of boys and 53 percent of girls in a given year attend secondary school (Secundaria). After three years you receive the intermediate degree, with which you can begin a series of state-recognized training courses. Those who stay for five years can go to school with the Bachillerato, graduating from high school and going to university. Unlike ours, you have the Abitur after eleven years of school. Most of the high school graduates are also poorly prepared for their studies, and many do not pass the entrance exams at universities.

Grades are given in percent

In Nicaragua, grades are given in percent. The best grade is then 100 percent. You have to achieve 60 percent to survive. The lessons are in Spanish. On the Caribbean coast, however, the Miskito language is also taught. The school year starts in February and ends in November. School uniforms were officially abolished in 2007. Subjects in elementary school are Spanish, math, history, geography, science, and exercise.

Large classes, few teachers

Large classes with sometimes 40 to 50 students in the elementary school and up to 60 in the Secundaria are a big problem, because it is of course not very easy to learn. In addition, the quality of the teaching is often poor. Teachers are often poorly trained and paid very little. This in turn prevents young people from wanting to become teachers themselves. So there are not enough teachers again. Often there is also a lack of school materials. Those who can afford it send their children to a private school for which high fees are charged.

22 percent of adults in Nicaragua cannot read. That is a lot, also in comparison with the other Latin American countries. Among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, the number is anAt least 15 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls are illiterate. That too is still far too much. The distance to neighboring countries is particularly great here.

Children in Nicaragua

As a country located in Central America according to elaineqho, Nicaragua is a poor country. 25 percent are considered poor. 3 percent of the population even lives below the international poverty line. That means you have less than $ 1.90 a day to live on. Children particularly suffer from poverty.

Child labor

15 percent of the children in Nicaragua between the ages of 5 and 14 have to work. It affects 18 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls. Most of the children work in agriculture, for example on plantations for coffee, bananas, tobacco, palm oil, sugar cane and oranges. Many help out in their parents’ fields or tend the cattle. Often times they are not even paid for their work.

Other children help mine pumice stone or lime, haul stones around construction sites or work in gold mines. Or they sell goods on the street, act as messengers or collect rubbish. Girls work as domestic servants or are forced into prostitution.

There have been efforts by the state to reduce child labor in recent years to fight. Free school meals were distributed to children in need. The large garbage dump La Chureca in Managua has now been closed with aid from Spain. 3000 people looked for usable waste such as metal here every day, 258 families lived from collecting waste! They have now been provided with work, accommodation and a school. A modern recycling plant was built, which creates jobs. Officials were also trained to identify victims of child trafficking. 90 officers were busy in 2013 to detect child labor. All of these measures help, but are not yet sufficient – there are still far too many children working in Nicaragua.

Street children

There are also many street children, that is, children who live on the street. You also work, but you don’t even have a home. There are said to be 25,000 street children in Nicaragua, most of them in Managua. They ran away because they were beaten at home, or their parents died and they didn’t know where to go. You have had bad experiences. This is why they often take drugs, for example they sniff glue. So they try to escape from reality.

School in Nicaragua