When
Guatemala’s president, Otto Pérez Molina took office on January 14, 2012, his
vision of change for the education system in a country of over 11 million
people, was firmly rooted in a far-reaching plan that embraced notions of economic
globalism. He wanted a fearless Minister of Education that shared his passion
for an “all or nothing” educational reform that would catapult the country into
the international global arena, and he’d receive the accolades from world
leaders for his efforts in transforming Guatemala. He found the person in
Cynthia del Aguila, educated in the United States, a former professor at
Guatemala’s private la Universidad del Valle, and in her early career had held
different positions at the Ministry of Education in Guatemala. At the time that
del Aguila was appointed she was employed with the Research Triangle Institute
(RTI) International based in North Carolina in the United States and had worked
there for seven years as an educational manager. At RTI, her main responsibility
was with a United States agency called Allianzas,
which was devoted to forging partnerships with the private sectors in
Guatemala. In del Aguila’s reform plan the solution was quite simple: eliminate
the Magisterio, the current training
college system consisting of Escuelas
Normales, and students (called normalistas) will have to attend the private
universities, thus creating governmental partnerships with private institutions
of higher learning. But students, parents, community leaders, and supporters have
steadfastly repudiated the reform agenda, and for almost 12 months after del
Aguila unveiled the plan they have organized and participated in non-violent
protests, sit-ins inside and outside facilities, marches, rallies, and used the
social media to their advantage. Police
have used tear gas and arrested protesting students. The embattled del Aguila
refuses to concede defeat for doing so may cost her the job as Minister of
Education.
Acción de Amparo
On
February 25th, the latest legal action taken against the Ministry of
Education, called the Acción de Amparo, was submitted by the Consejo Nacional
Permanente de la Reforma Educativa, the social leadership organization
representing the Magisterio. In this
document, the Consejo asks the court for a legal proceeding that will order
MINEDUC not to eliminate the Magisterio.
(See Prensa Libre, Otro amparo). The document (Acción
de Amaparo) makes reference to the key role of the Consejo Nacional in the
decision-making process as stipulated in Article 12 of the Ley de Educación
Nacional (Ley
de Educación Nacional), and that MINEDUC overstepped its authority, a violation
of human rights, when it disregarded the required proceedings and approval of
the reform plan by the Consejo. The Corte Suprema de Justicia must decide on the Acción,
whether to halt or allow the reform to continue as initiated by the MINEDUC,
although the MINEDUC can appeal the decision against it. This was the case the
first time the Acción de Amparo was submitted against MINEDUC in November of
2012.
The
Corte Suprema de Justicia granted approval for the first temporary Acción de Amparo
but as reported on November 27th by Prensa Libre (27
de noviembre) del Aguila announced that the Ministry would appeal the
court’s decision. Del Aguila’s comments alluded to the claim that since the
previous agreement on the magisterial
teaching careers had expired in 2011, the MINEDUC had followed appropriate
steps to include a process of feedback and input from the institutes and
colleges on the new program for teacher training. Del Aguila emphasized that
the MINEDUC has every authority to make decisions on how to train teachers as
well dispense decisions regarding the careers of teachers. Furthermore, she
added that it is the MINEDUC’s responsibility to renew programs that have
expired under its authority.
But
less than two weeks later, in response to an appeal filed by MINEDUC the Corte
Suprema de Justicia reversed its decision, revoking the Amparo on the basis
that it lacked sufficient substance. Speculation was raised on whether the
MINEDUC’s move to enter a counter legal action in case it lost its appeal was
influential in the Corte’s decision to overturn the Acción. (See Prensa Libre, Amparo
revoked.)
The MINEDUC
maintains its authority as the supreme entity that has the sole responsibility
and right to make decisions on which reform plan to institute without regard
to the democratic participation of stakeholders, even when such inclusion is
stipulated in national proclamations. Pérez Molina has not publicly commented
on del Aguila’s hard line posturing of MINEDUC’s authority. His silence may
well be interpreted as an unequivocal approval of his appointed Minister of
Education.
Charges of Racism and
Discrimination
While MINEDUC
maintains its course toward full implementation of the reform agenda,
communities such as the Pueblo Xinka have charged the Ministry with racism and
discrimination. (See Pueblos
Xinkas.) The Pueblo Xinka consists of 400,000 people from three
departamentos (states) in southwestern region of Guatemala bordering El
Salvador. The parliamentary board of Xinka has formally complained that their requests
to the MINEDUC for teaching positions in their Xinka/Spanish Bilingual
Intercultural Education program have been ignored. They have waited for
a response since 2011, despite the fact that since its initial start four years
ago, 60 bilingual students from the Escuelas Normales have successfully
completed their training and 300 more normalistas are enrolled in the
program. They claim that their
educational rights as a Pueblo inherent in the national proclamations including
the constitution protect their language and culture in the school
curriculum. The fact that MINEDUC has
refused to support them is an affirmation of the agency’s deliberate negation
of their rights. MINEDUC’s proposed reform agenda would eliminate the Escuelas
Normales that have educated the students like those in the Pueblo Xinka, and
accordingly, eliminate or reduce the quality of Bilingual Intercultural
Education programs.
Decreased Funding Formula and
Decentralization
If del Aguila’s
plan for decentralization of educational funds is implemented as her
announcement has declared, schools will be in total control of their spending
for all of their educational needs. (See Prensa Libre, Decentralized
formula funding.) In light of the decreased funding formula for primary
education, this strategy will cause friction amongst school communities,
especially in small pueblos and rural areas that have scarce resources. Both the decentralization in the funding
formula and the MINEDUC’s reform agenda may result in a chaotic landscape of
communities fending for their specific educational needs and while some may
succeed, those with less funding and other resources will certainly lose.
Analysis
From the outset,
del Aguila was determined to accomplish a task for which she had been especially
selected. Indeed, overhauling the country’s educational system is akin to
rebuilding a county from the ground up. Whether she or Perez Molina knew what
was at stake and that the complexity of the task would produce a Pandora’s box
is difficult to analyze without firsthand knowledge. But, what is clear is that
del Aguila didn’t launch a leadership agenda; her priority was and continues to
be a task-fulfilling role rather than assuming a leadership in the Ministry of
Education. A leader understands fundamentally the role of education in every
aspect of society. Experience, perception, insight, and knowledge – all are essential
in a leader, but the people of Guatemala want someone they can connect with and
that can inspire them. Pérez Molina has to assess whether he has chosen the
right kind of leader to take charge of probably the most important and challenging social issue of his presidency.
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