Guatemala: UN special envoy, Vernor Muñoz has presented positive and negative findings about the educational system in Guatemala after his visit to Guatemala.
The positive findings of the report include some actions taken by the Government of Alvaro Colom like the elimination of PRONADE - Programa Nacional de Autogestión Educativa - National Community Managed Program for Educational Development. However the expert is concerned about the slowness of the process to incorporate the teachers who used to work for PRONADE into the National Ministry of Education budget.
He also considers the initiative of the Council of Social Cohesion as an excellent mechanism to reduce the deficit in the educational budget.
The special representative considers that the gap between the existing laws regarding the obligation of the State to provide Education to Guatemalans and the implementation of these laws is far to big. He recommends that Guatemada should aim to invest 6% of the GDP in Education and guarantee the implementation of this investment with laws.
80% of the secondary education is in the hands of private shools. This is unacceptable as it denies the opportunity of education for the mayority of the poplation that is poor. It is also in direct contradiction to the Constitution of Guatemala, article 71, that garantees the acces of education for all Guatemalans.
The National Community-Managed Program for Educational Development - PRONADE, was heavily supported and promoted by the World Bank, other development Banks and International Organizations. This program was hailed as the solutions to all the problems of the Ministry of Education in Guatemala.
In fact it is favored by all those who think that the privatizations of all government programs are the solution to all of Guatemala's problems.
There will always be a struggle between the sectors who think that any Government is a bad agent to provide education, health and other basic social services to people. They insist that private enterprise based on free market competitiveness is the answer to efficiency and quality of services.
Anything called "social programs" must be bad and smell of the old dark ages of communism and will bring the country to inevitable economic ruin.
There are other sectors who maintain the firm position that health, education and social security programs can not be managed based on profit.
My position is based on the experiences I have from living in European Countries. The most productive and rich countries have social systems, or whatever you choose to call them. People pay taxes and have: health care, education, pensions, security, infrastructure and a roof over their heads. The taxes are invested in the programs for all the basic services that people need.
Just to name a few: Germany- number one in world exports for 2 years in a row, Sweden with the highest living standards in the world, England, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Australia, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, etc.
Either these countries fake their living standards and lie about their economies and the people are crazy because they think they are living very well, or it is indeed possible to be successful economically as a country AND take care of your population in a dignified manner.
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