HONDURAN EDUCATION SECTOR
Honduras’ public education system has many challenges to overcome before it will be a truly viable option for this impoverished Central American nation’s children. Conflict between the teachers’ unions and the government has resulted in an average of 100 days of school in each of the last several years (as compared to a developed world average of 180+). Class sizes in many communities exceed 50 students; most teachers teach at least two of three 4-hour daily school sessions to accommodate the large number of school-aged children; and while the government aims to make education universal through ninth grade, it is unclear where the resources to support this expansion will come from. While the political dialogue in Honduras includes discussion of the need to improve the quality of education, progress is painfully slow since even efforts to improve the quantity of education available have been only moderately successful thus far. 

Yet, if you speak with almost any Honduran, you will discover that they are not willing to wait for small improvements in an underperforming public education system. They talk often about the importance of quality education and many will express to you their desire for inexpensive, quality bilingual (Spanish/English) education for their children. They see the access to much better-paying jobs that English language skills provide and they are willing to do what it takes to provide such opportunity for their children. It is therefore not surprising that research indicates Hondurans abroad remit more funds for educational purposes than do their peers in neighboring countries.

In most Honduran communities, alternatives to public schooling are a family’s best educational choice. Yet very few people can afford to send their children to the private schools, most of which are for-profit ventures, that are emerging to fill the void public education has created. Honduras is a country with great wealth disparity, and most educational institutions are only reinforcing the division between haves and have-nots by catering exclusively to one or the other. 

SAN JERONIMO BILINGUAL SCHOOL
San Jeronimo Bilingual School (SJBS) is a community-managed non-profit Honduran school that aims to change the status quo. SJBS currently serves 184 socioeconomically diverse students in the community of Cofradía, Cortés, Honduras.  A small parents’ association founded SJBS in 2004 and maintains responsibility for daily administration of the school.

Bilingual Education for Central America (BECA) is SJBS’s U.S.-based non-profit partner. BECA (which means ’scholarship’ in Spanish) supports SJBS by recruiting and training a qualified group of service-minded volunteer teachers. BECA’s presence allows the school to keep costs low and provide a significant number of seats (no fewer than 25% of the school population) to deserving scholarship candidates from families with very low incomes. Our model is designed around partnership between Hondurans committed to providing a high quality, progressive bilingual education and foreigners interested in an authentic cultural immersion.  This partnership results in both an affordable/free bilingual education and an authentic cultural immersion experience for our volunteer teachers. There are no handouts in this collaborative model. Even the families whose children receive scholarships contribute towards their child’s education through the completion of a monthly service requirement. This service requirement not only enables them to feel a sense of pride in their ability to contribute towards their child’s education, it also offers them opportunities to gain practical management skills. Everything we do is about education and building capacity.

We are very proud that for less than $30,000 a year, we positively impact the lives of 185 children, their families, and the BECA teachers that serve them. 100% of donations go directly to educating our students and supporting our volunteers. We currently have no overhead. We will always take pride in the efficiency of our collaborative model. As is the case with our current partner – San Jeronimo Bilingual School, our partner schools will always be locally managed, while our presence will enable them to offer significant number of scholarships.   

By the end of 2010 we aim to serve 1,000 children. Join the BECA team and help us plan for expansion. Help us identify new sites, provide opportunities for cultural immersion, and further strengthen our academic offerings. Your contribution can make a meaningful difference.

OUR VOLUNTEERS
BECA continues to recruit increasingly qualified volunteers with broad-ranging experience from top-tier institutions like Yale, Hamilton, Dartmouth, Claremont McKenna, and the list goes on. They all share a commitment to service and to their own learning. This year’s volunteer application acceptance rate was under 20%. 

Our previous volunteers have gone on to a variety of exciting professions. They are now Fulbright scholars, graduate students at top institutions, teachers in inner cities, Teach For America volunteers, microfinance specialists and school psychologists. They have worked for organizations serving Latino immigrants in places from Camden, NJ to the New Mexico/Mexico border. They have challenged their own assumptions and grown as a result. We are very proud of them all.

BECA’s recent accomplishments include:

• Launching a refined bilingual curriculum.
• Creating a social tourism program to build our network of supporters.
• Expanding the professional development support we offer our volunteer teachers.
• Introducing the globally recognized Junior Achievement program in our middle school.
• Creating a need/merit-based scholarship for our graduating 9th graders.
• And, of course, teaching our children English to Algebra; all for less than $2,800 per teacher! 

For more information or to get involved, visit our website at http://www.becaschools.org or contact J directly at jkoppel@becaschools.org or +1 646-233-3436.