A YEAR IN
EL SALVADOR SUMMARY REPORT
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• A quarter of children in El Salvador’s poorest areas never make it to primary school
Children have their faces painted before a Plan seminar.
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50% of those who leave primary school will go on to secondary education
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Our priorities in El Salvador
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• Working to keep children safe from violence and exploitation
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EL SALVADOR FACTS Capital: San Salvador Population: 14.2 million Language: Spanish Climate: El Salvador has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary primarily with elevation and show little seasonal change. The Pacific lowlands are uniformly hot; the central plateau and mountain areas are more moderate.
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• Helping children and communities to play Bluefields an active part in social progress Nueva Guinea Bluefields Nueva Guinea San J Lago de A student helps with a manual on Rivas uan making schools more student-friendly. Nicaragua
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Golfo de Golfo de Papagayo The rainy season extends Hurricanes occasionally formCOSTA RICA country is among the Los Mosquitos from May to October. in the Pacific and threaten 10 poorest countries in Almost all the annual rainfall the country. Latin America. Most of occurs during this time, and El Salvador’s economy yearly totals, particularly onGolfo Economy: According to has been hampered by southern-facing mountainde Nicoya the IMF, El Salvador has natural disasters such as the third largest economy slopes, can be as high as earthquakes and hurricanes. in the region (behind Costa Golfo The service sector is the 270mm. Protected areas and Rica and Panama) when Golfo de largest component of GDP Golfo de the central plateau receive comparing nominal Gross de Nicoya less, although still significant, at 60.7%, followed by the Los Mosquitos Domestic Product andChiriqui industrial sector at 29.6%. amounts. Rainfall during this purchasing power GDP. season generally comes from Agriculture represents only El Salvador’s GDP per low pressure over the Pacific 7.6% of GDP. capita stands at US$5,800, and usually falls in heavy however, this developing afternoon thunderstorms.
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GOOD C a r i b b e a n REASONS why Plan works in El Salvador
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A YEAR IN
EL SALVADOR SUMMARY REPORT
09
FOCUS ON: RAISING THE STANDARD OF EDUCATION Plan is working with El Salvador’s Ministry of Education to give children the education they deserve. We’re improving childcare centres and school infrastructure with equipment and books, and supporting teacher training. We’ve produced the Step By Step manual to help schools improve their environments, reduce violence and promote respect. We support literacy programmes for adults and vocational training. We’re also helping families develop small businesses, so they have the financial means to send their children to school.
ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN STEP BY STEP
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Children create a risk map during a Plan workshop.
The Bigger Picture
Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that El Salvador faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Helped build or upgrade 2,252 toilets to protect children from disease • Supported teacher-training to raise the quality of language and mathematics teaching • Trained 853 farmers in better agricultural techniques, to help them improve their yields and household income • Worked to improve the quality of life for 796 children working in the markets and on the streets of La Libertad. Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!
l Salvador is one of the most violent countries in the world. On average, ten murders a day are reported to the police, and violence is routinely used as a way of resolving disputes. This puts children’s safety at risk. Violence in the home is common. At school, it’s not unusual for teachers to commit physical abuse, and students get into violent fights on the streets. Inclusion Part of Plan’s work in El Salvador is to combat the culture of violence by teaching children and young people about peaceful ways of sorting out problems and resolving their differences. Hand in hand with this, we try and promote children’s participation in decision-making at schools, to make sure the education they receive mirrors their needs and interests. In 2006, Plan began collaborating with El Salvador’s Ministry of Education on a project to reduce violent behaviour in the country’s schools and promote children’s involvement in school governance. The result is entitled The Step by Step Manual towards School Coexistence and Student Participation. The Step by Step manual may have a complex title, but it’s based on a simple premise: schools work better when they include everyone – including their students – in deciding how they are run, and how to tackle the issues they face. Plan has experience of working with children and families on how to prevent violence, so it was natural that we would work with schools on the manual, which contains steps and strategies schools can use to promote co-operation, respect and peace among students and teachers.
“The manual is helping us to live better, to want to be better.” To learn more about Plan’s work in Cambodia visit plan.org.au/ourwork/southernamerica/elsalvador
Produced for El Salavador by the Australian National Office.
“Schools work better when they include everyone – including their students – in deciding how they are run, and how to tackle the issues they face.”
Fifty schools from around El Salvador participated in the project, including the Fray Bartolomé de las Casas school in the small town of El Paraiso. For six months, 12 representatives from the school, including children, mothers, teachers and school administrative staff examined the school’s problems, devised solutions and considered how these could be used in the manual to help other schools. In 2007, the fifty schools were ready to put the finished manual to the test, using it to help them draw up individual Coexistence Plans, which set out ways of promoting a harmonious school life for each school. New respect Students at Fray Bartolomé have formed committees to help them put their Coexistence Plan into action. The committees cover serious issues, like discipline, or student interests, like a marching band. Inclusion and respect is breeding a new sense of responsibility among students. Mario, 13, feels more involved in school life now. He says: “I feel free to express what I think using the suggestion box we have in class.” In November 2007, the Ministry of Education launched the manual as a mandatory tool in the country’s 5,000 schools, and in the last year it has been used with pupils as an essential part of their education. It’s a success for Plan, but more importantly for young people too. Pupil Jose feels his school has a new focus on the potential of students to reject the violence that blights their futures. “The purpose is to help the students, to help us have stability in our life, not to make us feel like bad people. The manual is helping us to live better, to want to be better.” Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.
plan.org.au