Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Global Social Justice Project, in June 2011 undergraduate student Codie Kane interviewed Miguel Angel Ayala de Orellana, an eighth grade teacher and director of the Carasque school in Nueva Trinidad, El Salvador. In this interview, Ayala de Orellana discusses the challenges presented by a lack of access to resources for schools in Carasque and contrasts popular vs. state-mandated education systems.

Tell me about your experience as a teacher and community member. How did you arrive at your present career?

I grew up in Carasque and attended the community’s popular school. When I was in the ninth grade, one of my professors fell ill and had to stop working. With no one to replace him, many students were left without a teacher. I felt I had to do something. I offered to take over his classes.

I began teaching at the same time as I started high school. I worked without formal training until 2001, when I received a scholarship from the Arcatao parish to get my teaching degree at university. I gave class here during the week and traveled to San Salvador to study from Thursday to Sunday. This was hard. I worked all week, woke up at 3:00 a.m. in the morning to travel, and then studied all weekend. Because transportation was limited during that time, I had to walk miles just to be able to catch the bus that would take me into the city. I did this for three years.

In 2003, I graduated. In May of that year, a position opened in Los Pozos. I took it and worked there until 2007. Now, I teach eighth grade in Carasque. I’m also school director. This role sounds important, but it doesn’t actually mean much. The four other teachers and I have the same power and responsibilities. We take turns being director because the Ministry of Education requires that we formally give someone the title. In reality, we’re all the professors, administration, management, and maintenance team. We do everything.

Describe to me the current state of education in your community, Carasque. What are the positive aspects? What are the challenges?

What’s important about the education system in Carasque is that it prepares students to deal with the outside world. They learn history, chemistry, and math in the classroom, but they also learn values. They see positive ethical examples that stand in contrast to what they normally encounter in the media. They learn how to lead good lives.

One of the major obstacles that the education system here faces is lack of resources. It needs people, materials, and money. The school itself needs repairs and improvements. Its roof hasn’t been redone in years. The classrooms, additionally, need information technology. Our students barely know how to use computers. The teachers, finally, need higher salaries. They must be appropriately compensated for the hours that they work.

Another challenge is getting students to continue studying after they graduate ninth grade. Some choose not to due to lack of interest. They seem to feel that education is irrelevant to their lives. “Why study if I’m just going to work in the fields?” they say. Others don’t have the economic resources to continue. Because the school in town only goes through the ninth grade, students have to pay to travel to Nueva Trinidad or San Jose Las Flores if they want to go to high school. The bus costs 25 cents one way. Over time, this is just too much for many families.

Do you try to compensate for this lack of resources? How?

We generally look to the mayor’s office or NGOs for support. We also get a lot of assistance from the Arcatao parish. Since they helped trained the local popular teachers during the war, they’ve given us resources and materials. When we send them a letter asking for help, they always respond. They donated our computer lab, for example. I spoke with the priest six years ago about our lack of technology, and he ended up finding us five used computers. They’re old now, but at least the students know what a computer looks like, how to turn it on, etc.

How does education here affect the community?

The majority of young people here are now educated. A large portion gets a high school diploma. Some make it to college. Supposedly, Carasque has the most students in university out of all the cantons in the area. As a result, it also has a significant number of professionals. This has led to better living conditions in the community in general. We, the teachers, are evidence. We’re people who came from Carasque and are now providing it with services and encouraging economic development. There are many similar cases of people who went to the local school while growing up and are now working in the mayor’s office or in NGOs. Their employment confers benefits on the town. I have a brother and a sister, for example, who recently graduated college. They live elsewhere because they were unable to find jobs here, but they send money back that helps the community as a whole.

What’s the future of education here? What’s your vision of an ideal future?

In the future, I hope that Carasque is a community of professionals. This is already in the works. Our youth are more academically prepared than ever before. They leave here ready to go to high school and even to university. At this point, we have had 25 or 30 students make it to university!

How has your experience of popular education impacted you? Has your time as a popular teacher impacted your views on education and your current teaching methods?

To me, popular education is about the idea that one is born into a community and then must work for the good of the community. It involves teaching kids to be analytical and discussing reality. The other ex-popular teachers and I are trying to maintain this model. It’s part of what characterizes us. We can’t forget the fight that we went through to get where we are today. Doing so can be hard, however, under the current system. The Ministry of Education has a universal education curriculum with a range of topics that schools are supposed to cover. Many teachers work totally based off of it. Their only goal is to get through everything the ministry wants them to, despite the fact that some units are simply unnecessary.

When we were popular teachers, in contrast, we worked in teams to create our teaching plans. We were critical of each other and tried to base our curriculums on the interests of the students. I try to keep doing this in spirit. I base what I teach on the kids and their needs rather than a set list of topics. I find out what they’re interested in and use this as a starting point.