Primary Education for 11,000+ Nicaraguan Youth

Historically, students from rural and poor communities in Nicaragua have the lowest national performance in reading and writing. However, a small school in the Southern Caribbean Coast Region (RACCS) has become the big exception. Pascual Solano works at the Maria Teresa Sanchez School, located in the San Pedro de Buena Vista community, 43 miles (70km) southeast from Nueva Guinea in RACCS. Pascual is a 31-year-old teacher who led his students to win second place at Nicaragua’s National Reading Competition. 

The students come from rural schools and families with few economic resources. They have to travel long distances to go to school with poor infrastructure. Many of the children did not attend early childhood education, as the access to preschool in RACCS is non-existent. 

For first grade students, the school’s social disadvantage has not been a debilitating obstacle to learn. This achievement is due in largely to teachers, including Pascual who are committed and passionate about their work. Pascual has attended Fabretto training workshops, where he has learned about the importance of engaging parents in their children's education. He also promotes student attendance and punctuality. Thanks to funding from USAID, Fabretto, along with the Vicariate of Bluefields and the Ministry of Education, have hosted teacher training workshops throughout the region.  

Pascual interact and maintains good communication with his students, celebrating every small achievement. His personalized interaction in classroom transcends to the family, who appreciate and value Pascual’s hard work. 

Pascual’s classroom won second place in the subsidized classroom category at the National Reading Competition, where 302 primary schools participated nation-wide in three categories: regular, multi-grade level, and subsidized for first, second, or third place. In order to participate in the competition, Pascual had to demonstrate student retention rate increase, over 90% attendance rate, and having lead at least 22 hours of class per week. Pascual’s students excelled in the international Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), testing reading comprehension and fluency. 

“Motivation plays a very important role. That's why I encourage the willingness to learn, the value of reading, and the importance of education.  I motivate students individually, as well as their parents.” comments Pascual.  

Nicaragua needs more teachers like Pascual. Fabretto teacher training helps teachers to become the best they can be and improves education quality for thousands of children in underserved communities in Nicaragua. Thank you for supporting education and teacher training in Nicaragua. 

Links:

• Student Paddles Upstream for Education