Promoting education for life and work

Context

Guatemalan school students do not learn much about democracy and human rights at the lower and upper secondary level. Moreover, their lessons do not prepare them sufficiently for the world of work. Only a quarter of all young people complete their formal education. Indigenous young people in rural areas are particularly disadvantaged in this regard. This leads to young people lacking prospects, and it contributes to migration.

Secondary school teachers are often insufficiently trained. To teach at lower secondary level, it suffices to have studied at university for three years, even if you do not graduate. Upper secondary school teachers often lack the technical knowledge to offer their students a good standard of vocational training.

The Guatemalan Ministry for Education wants to modernise secondary education and adapt it to reflect the needs of the labour market, but it requires additional expertise to achieve this.

Objective

School students learn more skills which are important for the world of work and for active civic participation.

Approach

The project promotes school networks and advises them on raising the quality of vocational training and civic education. It also supports young people participating in pupil parliaments with regard to getting involved in public-benefit projects.

New approaches to internships are being piloted. To this end, corporate networks are being developed, which work with schools to agree on vocational training profiles and needs. This ensures that young people are better prepared for the labour market or for a self-employed career.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is training teachers to use digital media. It is also adapting textbooks for virtual teaching and holding psychological and emotional training sessions for over 1,000 teachers.

In partnership with the University of San Carlos, it is developing digitally enabled postgraduate courses. These enhance the skills of the university lecturers who train the teachers. In addition, the staff of the Ministry for Education are receiving courses on innovations in education policy.

Last update: May 2022