Country: Nicaragua
Committee: The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
Topic: position Paper on Universal Education
A. Background History of Nicaragua
1. My country has a rich history of literacy almost as colourful as its colonial past. It does however have its darker periods i.e., referring to before Sandinista era. When the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, they inherited an education system that was one of the worst maintained and set about in all of Latin America. Under the Somoza’s, due to the increase in poverty may of the adolescents were forced into the labour market consequently leaving schools and this collectively constricted educational opportunities for Nicaraguans. “In the late 1970s, only 65% of primary school-age children were enrolled in school; of those who entered first grade only 22% completed the full six years of the primary school curriculum. Most rural schools offered only one or two years of schooling, and three-quarters of the rural population was illiterate”.[1]. During this time achieving secondary education became too expensive for the average families and rich families sent their children abroad. About only 8% of the country’s populous achieved education in its universities (quite a high estimate for that time). By 1984 a few reforms by the government almost doubled the amount of GNP going into educational institutions thus bring about a massive change in the literacy scenes of the country and doubling the number of educators, institutions, and students alike. This was then followed by a literacy campaign in 1980 using secondary school students as volunteer teachers -“ reduced the illiteracy rate from 50% to 23% of the population. After the 1990 election, the Chamorro government placed education in the hands of critics of Sandinista policy, who imposed more conservative values on the curriculum. A new set of textbooks was produced with support from the United States Agency for International Development (AID), which had provided similar help during the Somoza era”[2,1].
2. Despite the governments best efforts to increase the literacy of the country in the 1980 most of the country remained illiterate. Going before even the Contra War (the Nicaragua Revolution that saw a rise of a dictatorship during 1970’s and 1980’s) the country was straining to keep the education system running and was not able to bear on with the rapidly increasing numbers of students. At the end of the Sandinista era, the literacy rate had fallen and the rise in the literacy brought by the campaign fell back. Overall school enrolments were larger than they had been in the 1970s, however. “Especially in the countryside, access to education had broadened dramatically. But a substantial minority of primary school-age children and three-quarters of secondary school-age students were not in school, and the proportion of students who completed their primary education had not advanced beyond the 1979 level. Even by Central American standards, the Nicaraguan education system was performing poorly”[2].
3. The country boasts many commercial schools and eight universities the oldest which being the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua founded in 1812 during the Spanish colonisation. Admission to higher education is based on the Bachillerato (a secondary school qualification). “Students are also subject to an entrance examination. The Licenciado, the main undergraduate degree, is a four- or five-year course of study. A professional title may be awarded depending on the subject. Following the Licenciado, the first postgraduate degree is the Maestria, which lasts two years and culminates with the submission of a thesis. Institutions of higher learning can offer two- or three-year courses in technical and vocational education. The main qualification studied for is the Tecnico Superior”[1].
B. Real problem and Efforts made over the years :
1. There are over 30 public universities and over 75 private institutions in the country currently. Now the education in Nicaragua is free for all its citizens. The secondary education in the country is free and compulsory (as enforced by the NCE).
2. However, In Nicaragua, education is not equally accessible to all, even though primary education is compulsory. The government has not yet found the necessary tools to instigate accessible community action and counter the factors that keep students from enrolling in primary or secondary education and the compulsion is not strictly implemented. According to The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) – “Nicaragua is fulfilling only 73.7% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country’s level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education”[1]. “While taking into consideration Nicaragua’s income level, the nation is achieving 92.3% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 55.1% for secondary education”. Not only that other factors such as weather as well the accessibility and transport also limit the number of students attending schools and most students drop out of school by the time they reach secondary school, a sad picture of reality.
3. These problems faced by Nicaragua with reference to education are not only native to the country but are a much-experienced phenomenon throughout the world (especially in under-developed as well as developing countries). Most countries despite putting in efforts to introduce or promote education are lacking figuratively as well as literally on both funds and in efforts put. Elementary education is a fundamental right (one that is more often than not overlook in many cultures and countries). Education not only enriches the minds of the population so that they can make better decisions for themselves, but it also increases the quality of human resources of a country consequently increasing its economy and GDP and promoting its overall development in all sectors (predominantly the tertiary). This basic right that it is, is unfortunately, often times grossly overlooked in hindsight. About 1/3 of the world countries do not have proper education systems set in place and most underdeveloped countries have literacy rates as low as 63%. We as the population of the world should come together to improve and increase the quality as well as accessibility of education for all, thus, at least trying to get close to this utopian idea of universal education i.e., education for all.
C. The topics that I would like to propose a policy on are as follows in a list formatting:
1. UNICEF sanctioned policy to provide funds to underdeveloped countries to promote as well as increase the involvement in educational institutions, construction of schools and promoting awareness on education.
2. A worldwide education awareness program which involves surveys of root problems of underdeveloped countries.
3. Promotion and adoption of other education policies adopted by other countries that might be impactful if modified or used in a context of another country.
4. Promotion of other financial aid policies.
5. Spreading of awareness among the population.
References taken from Wikipedia[2] as well as borgenproject.org[3] and Education in Nicaragua | K12 Academics [2]
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