NICARAGUA: EDUCATION FOR ALL !
At the heart of NSC's Education Campaign is
solidarity with the Nicaraguan government and non-governmental organisations in
their efforts to meet the
Millennium Development Goal of a complete primary education for all by 2015.
This goal was set by the United
Nations in 1999 yet for many years in Nicaragua that goal has been receding, as
successive governments have been forced by the IMF and the World Bank to cut
public spending. Although there have been encouraging steps forward there is
still an immense way to go to achieve this goal.
If you are interested in becoming part of our Education Campaign Working
Group please contact us >>
RECENT ACTIONS
Teacher Training and the AMICUS Foundation
At the start of 2008 NSC was awarded a grant from the AMICUS Foundation for
our education work. Some of the money was spent on promotion of our work in
the UK, some was given to the Foro Educativo (see later on this page) to
fund a series of newsletters and to set up a website but the main
project was a series of workshops to train teachers of children with various
special needs. The project was carried out through two organisations
affiliated to NSC: NECAT (Nicaragua Education, Culture and Arts) and BLINC
(Bristol Link with Nicaragua) and has been highly successful. One of the
participants, Maria Elena, made this comment:
"Estuve en un taller, que es el mejor que he recibido en
vida...."
" I took part in a workshop which was the best I've ever been involved
in, in my whole life. ....."
The project took place from January to
May, 2008:
* Three days of intensive workshops in Leon for teachers from
Puerto Morazán (twinned with Bristol) and Leon (twinned with
Oxford).
* Two days of workshops for parents on how to recognise problems
of children in their care.
* Two follow-up workshops for the teachers in Leon.
Workshops included the following topics: Recognising problems
such as dyslexia, How to counsel and advise, Self-control and
group pressures, Management and prevention of bullying, How to
support your children and Building up self-esteem.
You can read the project summary (in Spanish) on the
pdf here
>> and we have one copy of a DVD. In the future we hope to
put clips from this onto the website.
MANY THANKS TO THE AMICUS FOUNDATION FOR SUPPORTING THIS
PROJECT.
For more details of their work follow
this link
www.amicusfoundation.org >>
NSC and the Foro Educativo (FEDH)
The Education and
Human Development Forum brings together a wide range of
organisations and networks including the teachers’ union ANDEN, several
universities, social movements such as the Nicaraguan Community Movement and
about 20 NGOs working with children, women, education and disabled people.
Together they agreed a New Agenda for Education and got it endorsed by all
parties before the November 2006 elections. Now FEDH’s former head is
Minister of Education in the FSLN government which has been in
power since Jan 2007 and the Agenda is part of
education policy.
NSC has been networking with the FEDH since 2006. 20% of the funds raised in the
Education appeal last year (2007) was given to the FEDH to
publish a series of newsletters and part of the AMICUS
Foundation grant was also put to this project. The newsletters
will make it much easier for the various organisations in FEDH
to keep in touch and to share their expertise.
More recently a website has been set up for the FEDH by one
of NSC's two part-time workers in Nicaragua, again funded by the
AMICUS Foundation. The website address is
http://www.fedh-ipn.org
The Maureen Courtney School and Hurricane Felix
Following Hurricane Felix which devastated parts of Nicaragua's Atlantic
Coast in September 2007, NSC mounted an appeal. Many schools were destroyed
or damaged and one of these was the only special needs school in the region,
the Maureen Courtney school. With our help the school has now been rebuilt
and is greatly improved, as you can see from the before and after photos
below.
A recent message from the Maureen Courtney School reads:
‘Thank you so much
to everyone in NSC for helping us in this very difficult time in the life of
the school and its 309 pupils.’
May 2008
The work of NSC Local Groups, Wales NSC and other
affiliated projects
Many of the above are extremely active in education projects. If you would
like to find out more, or get involved in your area, go to our
Contacts page >>
For background information and previous NSC actions (eg. lobbying the IMF)
follow this link >>
Other Links
* print off a copy of our
Education Campaign leaflet
( see illustration) >>
We can also post you copies of the leaflet to take
to meetings, pass to contacts in education, or use to
join NSC or make a donation.
Contact us on 020 7561 4836 or by
email >>
* read the background to our Education Campaign and
earlier activities >>
* read our Urgent Action letter >>
to the IMF and Gordon Brown
* make
a donation >>
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