Photo: Group at special needs school
Today was yet another long and eventful day; today’s theme was on education. We were split up into two groups; one group attended a public school while the other attended a private school. We each shadowed a student and observed the differences in education systems between the U.S. and Nicaragua. One of the biggest differences in the education system was how their schedules worked. The students stayed in one class and the teachers would come to the classroom instead. The students also had a different set of class each day of the week. It was quite interesting to talk to the students that went there as well as learning and sharing stories with them. The students in general were very kind and welcoming of us. The little kids were extremely excited to meet us, coming up to us and greeting us with English phrases they had learned in class.
In the afternoon we were given an opportunity to visit a special needs school. We were able to meet Jader Castillo, the director of education at the school. He gave us a speech about his motives as to how and what he does to help his students. The organization is quite small but is slowly expanding and making changes to allow the disabled to be more easily assimilated into society. After Jader Castillo’s speech we were able to meet some of the students that attended the school. We were able to get to know the students on a more personal level. It was very heart-warming to be able to see them smile and laugh.
All in all, education day gave us a new prospective of how important education is to a developing country. Education in Nicaragua is highly valued but unfortunately not everyone is able to afford a higher quality of education. Coming from a first world country we often take our education for granted and don’t realize how important it is to us and to our future.