Similar to other Central American education systems, Nicaraguan children wear school uniforms, contribute to school fees that cover basic supplies, and attend school in shifts (in the morning, the afternoon, or the evening since many kids work to supplement their family's income). Due to their lack of adequate facilities and money for sports equipment, musical instruments, and science and computer technology, schools are only able to offer basic subjects to students, severely limiting students' exposure.

Under the Sandinistas, education was a political symbol and a major priority in shifting attitudes and creating national unity. The most famous result was the national literacy campaign, but other major improvements included the establishment of a national textbook industry, the revision of curricula, and the introduction of new instruction methods. However, by the end of the 1980s, the shift in government spending from education and social services to defense and civil war gutted many of these educational efforts.

After the 1990 election of Violeta Chamorro, the new coalition party, UNO, embarked on two aims: (1) reforming the curriculum and textbooks, and (2) decentralizing the educational system to make schools "autonomous." The first aim was to "erase Sandinista ideology from the schools. All textbooks were recalled, and most were shredded and converted to pulp. In some instances, as in the city of León, textbooks were symbolically burned" (Arnove, 1995). These books were quickly replaced, employing $12.2 million from USAID funding to import over 7 million textbooks. As Joseph Carney, chief of USAID's Human Resources Division in its Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean put it, "I think it was the first time that in the span of months we totally replaced textbooks for all the schools in a country."

Decentralizing Nicaragua's education system had grave implications in a nation where schools need all the government money and structural assistance they could get. Current policymakers pride themselves on free and mandatory schooling for both primary and high school students. However, the majority of children complete primary school only. In 2003, 823,000 children (out of 1.55 million) failed to finish the 2003 school year.

Similarly, schooling does not appear to be free of cost. The IMF loan agreement requires the government of Nicaragua to continue implementing the school autonomy program that reduces national government funding for schools. Under this system, the government only pays for teacher salaries, some special training, and some school repairs. Parents must come up with the money for additional salary, desks, books and materials, electric bills, and cleaning materials. (The children clean the schools.) For many parents, these fees mean that their children cannot go to school. These requirements are in violation of U.S. law.

A World Bank article analyzed this issue, citing a researcher who completed a comparison study on Nicaragua's school reform, and noting that, "with the secondary school fee per child at 10 córdobas a month, families with 6 children could easily be required to pay half of their family income towards school fees."

Adolfo José Acevedo Vogl, an economist and coordinator for Coordinadora Civil, a coalition of more than 350 Nicaraguan social movements and nongovernmental organizations, presents some numbers behind the IMF loan agreement:

"The ceiling on government expenditure (excluding debt service and transfers to the Central Bank) would remain virtually ‘frozen' at about 20% of GDP until 2008… This means the budget for the Ministry of Education (MEDC) would remain equally ‘frozen' at 3% of GDP at least until 2008, the same level it had in 2000 … In contrast, estimates issued by the Ministry of Education show that in order to achieve Millennium Development Goals and national goals on this area, the budget allocated should at least reach an annual average amount equivalent to 4.7% of GDP within this same period."

While funding for education appears bleak, good news surfaced in 2001 when the Nicaragua Ministry of Education implemented the Child-Friendly and Healthy School Initiative. The plan is an ambitious cooperation amongst the ministries of Health and the Environment, the Water Authority, the Pan American Health Organization, the World Food Programme and UNICEF; it strives to include lesson plans and teaching methodologies that promote hygiene and gender equity, discourage and condemn violence, boost girls' self-esteem, and improve water and sanitation facilities. So far, 184 schools have joined the Initiative (UNGEI, 2005).

At the community level, parents, teachers and nongovernmental organizations are pushing for positive changes at the grassroots level. FSD interns and volunteers assist in nearly every aspect of the Nicaraguan school system: teaching, tutoring, lesson planning, organizing extracurricular activities, and initiating creative projects that range from painting a mural for a preschool to implementing workshops in organic farming for high school students. By widening the creative scope of schools' curriculum or providing opportunities for re-entry, students are able to acquire vocational and academic skills that greatly enhance their likelihoods of avoiding poverty traps.

Read more about Youth and Education programs and opportunities initiated by our Community Partners in Nicaragua.

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