Here is the latest blog post from the students of Holy Trinity and St. FX
Education. In Western culture, it is as commonplace and taken for granted as the weather, yet it's finer points are debated endlessly in our assemblies and parliaments. We quibble over school hours, which extra-curricular activity should get funding, which books to buy and study. For our students, it's a yawn-filled rite of passage, redeemed only by their friends and the occasional interesting course. It's a precursor to the rest of our lives, a prologue that everyone must read before properly beginning their tale.
But how often do we consider the state of education elsewhere in the world? In El Salvador, education isn't merely an ordeal that must be endured to attain your chosen career. It's far more than that. It's the faint, vulnerable hope for a better future, an escape from poverty and physical labour, a path to salvation. Here, students don't come to class baked, ignore homework, or reject the concept of studying and working hard for a better grade. Here, all homework is mandatory to avoid failure, studying is essential and exhausting levels of work are never in question. Here, students toil and pray that all their labour will be enough, that their dreams will finally be fulfilled and their families will no longer have to go hungry.
Here, education is not wasted.
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| The primary junior school is San Jose las Flores |
This is a common sentiment when we visit the schools in El Salvador. I don't think however that education is really perceived as a 'waste' in Canada. It all depends on your perspective. The kids in our school truly value their education - I think however, as students grow older they can lose some of the joy that kids in the younger grades still feel about their education.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why this happens, it is sad when education is as much as a gift for us as it is for the students in El Salvador.