Voces Por La Educación (Voices for Education)

This project takes an evidence-based approach to improve dialogue and partnerships between CSOs and the Guatemalan government to advocate for better educational models that serves a more diverse community.

Why It Matters:

CSOs have worked to develop local educational models to effectively serve marginalized groups, addressing gaps in gender, age, ethnicity, and geography. However, their participation in dialogues with government ministries has historically been inconsistent. In 2024, the new government raised the possibility of a new education agreement (“nuevo pacto por la educación”), renewing expectations for participation in dialogues with civil society organizations.

What We’re Doing:

Voces Por La Educación (VOCES) is an advocacy platform launched in April 2024 by a group of CSOs, the Population Council, and donors. VOCES focuses on enhancing the visibility of local educational models that effectively serve marginalized students, particularly in the highland communities of Guatemala. By leveraging decades of experience from CSOs, VOCES seeks to influence the Ministry of Education’s (MINEDUC) policies through the co-development of strategies that are culturally relevant and inclusive, addressing critical gaps in education related to gender, ethnicity, and age.

A key component of VOCES’s work in 2025 included the implementation of collaborative pilot initiatives (co-creation sprints). These initiatives were conceptualized by the VOCES group of CSOs to provide proof of concept that educational practices and policies can be refined by leveraging the expertise of CSOs.

These “co-creation sprints” included contributions to refine the training and capacity-building workshops for teachers.

The Council will document the CSOs’ experiences during their participation in the training and will develop infographics of the methodology used and the results obtained to utilize as an advocacy tool with MINEDUC.

The Big Picture:

VOCES advocates for key education policies, such as post-pandemic recovery, alternative education programs for out-of-school populations, teacher training programs, among other substantial gaps in coverage and learning especially for marginalized populations in the Guatemala highlands.