Panajachel
The Council is partnering with the Global Fund for Children, the Summit and Tinker Foundations, and other donors, on implementing the initiative “Recuperando la Educación en Centroamérica: Activando Redes y Grupos Asociados (RECARGA).” We serve as a thought and learning partner to seven civil society organizations based in different regions of Guatemala who are working in education and learning recovery.

Why it Matters:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, on average, Latin American schools were fully or partially closed for 230 days—more than any other part of the world. Over 80% of schools remained closed through the end of the 2021 school cycle (Americas Quarterly 2022). This threatens to reverse gains achieved in previous decades—leaving targets set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4: Education) out of reach. While schools reopened in 2022, children and adolescents across rural and urban communities received inconsistent access to classrooms.

As students and school systems attempt to catch up, a recent analysis shows that children in low-parental education households will struggle the most to reengage with the school system (Lustig et al. 2022). Obstacles, such as a lack of adequate supplies and computer equipment, irregular internet connectivity, and absence of tutoring programs, will persist.

This learning crisis will translate to significant drops in secondary enrollment for already disadvantaged children, potentially bringing enrollment levels as low as those observed in the 1960s in Guatemala and Honduras.

Approach: The three-year project will span from 2022 to 2025.

What we are doing:

  • Partnering with Global Fund for Children to identify, recruit and cultivate the cohort of CSOs.
  • Compiling, synthesizing, and adapting global and regional evidence from EGER (Girls Education Roadmap) and other sources to discuss educational trends in Guatemala.
  • Co-designing and publishing a series of case studies with the RECARGA organizations to share their history, the education gaps they address, and their experience during and after COVID-19 pandemic with their programs’ beneficiaries.
  • Identifying and compiling locally designed strategies, through case studies, which organizations are using to address learning loss.

Advocating for high-level dialogue focusing on educational recovery strategies with relevant stakeholders such as municipalities and government.

The Big Picture:

In Guatemala, the Population Council has been providing RECARGA partners with opportunities to engage in research, hands-on skills-building, and collaborative learning to cultivate a shared vision for equitable educational recovery.

By facilitating participatory workshops, we help strengthen RECARGA members’ capacity to make evidence-based arguments to key audiences. Innovative data tools are used to lead to enhanced advocacy and impact communication skills to different stakeholders.

Case Studies:

Asociación de Estudios y Proyectos de Esfuerzo Popular (EPRODEP)
(Spanish) | (English)

Asociación Puerta de Esperanza
(Spanish) | (English)

Escuela Bilingüe Intercultural Comunitaria, Fundación Nueva Esperanza Río Negro (CECBI)
(Spanish) | (English)

Instituto Comunitario la Esperanza
(Spanish) | (English)

Peronia Adolescente
(Spanish) | (English)

Yo’o Guatemala
(Spanish) | (English)

Tierra Nueva
(Spanish) | (English)

Partners:

Funders:

Countries

Project Staff