Struggle and Success: Being Indigenous in Guatemala's Education System (2008)

Undergraduate: Joanne McVerry

Faculty Advisor: Jane Brown
Department: Journalism & Mass Communication

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The outlook for education in Guatemala is great for people who can afford private schools for their children. Unfortunately, access to these schools is difficult for families that make less than $5 USD a day. In a 2000 Labor Code, the minimum wage for agricultural workers was to be raised to $3.52 a day and in the industrial sector the rate was raised to $3.85; however, these laws are not readily enforced. A U.S. report on Human Rights in Guatemala found that there is a “marked disparity in income distribution and poverty is pervasive, particularly in the large indigenous community.” According to the report, the poverty rate is 83% for the entire population, and 90% of indigenous people live in poverty (US Department of State).

After the 6th grade students and their families are on their own in terms of finding money for education. With most families having between four and six children, one or two children in each family might be able to receive a high school education. Fertility rates for the country are 4.4% overall, and 6.2% for indigenous mothers (UNICEF). Given the ethic of machismo, families who do have the opportunity to send a child to school will more than likely send their boys rather than girls, because girls are not seen as needing education. The literacy rate for Guatemalan men is 75%, whereas only 63% of women are literate.

I created a multimedia Web site about four groups about students, teachers, and activists involved in the education system.