Union threatens to block nation's roads in protest of education funding gap

Translated by Brian Schwarz

Originally published Monday, December 14, 2009 in "La Hora" (lahora.com.gt) under the heading Magisterio anuncia bloqueos en todo el país en apoyo a la reforma fiscal by Luis Arevalo

GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA - In protest of a denied request for additional funds to bolster the Ministry of Education’s [Mineduc] budget, the agency’s workers' union has advised that tomorrow it will paralyze the country by blocking many of the nation’s roadways.

Spokesperson Joviel Acevdy said that unless congress approves at least 12 million Guatemalan quetzals [approx. $1.5 million] to shore up Mineduc’s budget, teachers would not finish out the 2010 school year and that blockages would continue until the funds are approved.

Acevedy said that government representatives had been warned of tomorrow’s anticipated actions and that their warnings were ignored. Now they are waiting for congress to arrive at a favorable agreement with them, and if not, he said, the union is prepared to continue its strike for several days.

The union has it may take other measures if a favorable agreement is not reached. These include include staging protests before congress that would continue until their demands are met.

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Study reveals fears of vulnerable schools as preferential subsidies compel municipalities to strengthen capacity

Translated by Brian Schwarz

Originally published Monday, December 7, 2009 in "El Mercurio" (elmercurio.com) under the heading Subvención preferencial obliga a fortalecer las capacidades de los municipios

SANTIAGO, CHILE - The law that allocates supplementary funds in the form of preferential school subsidies (SEP) to schools attended by socially vulnerable children has provoked concerns at public institutions that receive the benefit. This is according to a new study from the Center for Comparative Politics at the University of Diego Portales and UDP Extension.

Investigators Viola Espínola and María Ester Silva found that teachers worry about greater controls being placed on their schools and about the proposed heightened objectives for standardized tests that the SEP entails.

But the primary fear for schools is that the municipalities that support them may not have “the administrative, accounting and financial capacities to be able to manage the technical demands and resources required by the SEP”. For example, there is a fear that the additional monies will be lost in municipal bureaucracies and never make it to the institutions.

The analysis elevates the need for a restructuring within the supporting municipalities in order to be able to rise to this new challenge. In order for that to happen, the report proposes that funds play a role beyond the administrative to include the technical and pedagogical management of schools. It recommends the creation of a network of schools within a network of learning in which schools exchange and incentivize innovative teaching practices.