Creating Educational Opportunity for Maya Children

This July, our Primary Education Scholarships team began a new pilot project called Charlas con padres (Chats with Parents). In rural communities surrounding Lake Atitlan, many parents are illiterate and find it difficult to help their children with their studies. To address this issue, the project includes a series of workshops focused on helping parents find creative ways to support their child in school.

The first workshops took place at Chukmuk and Panabaj Elementary Schools. According to Johanny Quieju, Pueblo a Pueblo’s Primary Education Scholarships Manager, “Many parents came to participate, and feedback from the workshop was very positive.” Illiteracy is common here, so there is not a lot of emphasis on education. With this project, “I think more parents are understanding that their role is to motivate their children to succeed in school,” added Quieju.

Some ideas to support children at home with their studies is to keep regular communication with the teacher, designate a specific homework hour, and limit distractions during that time. Other ideas include having children write down recipes as their parents cook -- this not only records family meals, but it helps students with their reading and writing!

These ideas may seem small, but the purpose is to help parents have an active role in their child’s education. “With these steps, we can increase parent’s participation,” remarked Johanny Quieju. “We are very excited to expand this pilot project to other schools in our beneficiary communities!”