Equipping, training and participation in educational institutions

A student council and the art of participating

Arnulfo talks slowly, as if he were embarrassed. He is saying goodbye to his other friends, the ones in the last year of primary school who are now leaving for good. The party has been organized by the children themselves as a farewell for those who are leaving. These are the same children who are using their education to gain their greatest experience and power of decision, the ones who have set up their own student council.

Plan Ecuador

Girl working with the pedagogical material.

The school is in the canton of Guamote, in the province of Chimborazo.
“I like being here and learning… even when we’re on holiday, I miss being here”, Carmencita, who is ten, while she uses the bilingual educational materials, as her first language is Quichua.  

In the province of Chimborazo, 67 percent of the population is indigenous and live in rural areas. The adults work in agriculture and livestock, although they also work as bricklayers in nearby towns to be able to earn a living. 

Most of the children in the community and nearby have to walk a fair distance to get to the school. The process of equipping the school and training its teachers has meant that, with the help of Plan Chimborazo (supported by local parents, the Provincial Education Authority and the Firefighters Corps), the school’s 100 children now have an education in which they are not only on the receiving end but also creators, shaping it as they go along. 

Plan Ecuador

Children working enthusiastically with the didactic material the school have.

“We get them involved in the whole process, even the work responsibility, as they have to be aware of the effort required”, comments the school head, Rosana Yasaca. She avers that, in her 16 years in the teaching profession, she has never witnessed such commitment from the children, the happy boys and girls she can now see leaping around in the playground in the break, playing in the classroom, doing jigsaws and reading bilingual texts. The computer room doubles up as the audiovisual centre, which is in turn controlled by the Student Council. The 15 members of the Student Council divide up into work groups. “We serve in the tuck shop, work in the bookstore, help to breed the guinea pigs and do cleaning work”, says Nicolás, the president of the Council.

The guinea pigs are kept in a pen in a classroom and are now sleeping. They are fed by Sandra and María at eight o’clock every morning. Guinea pigs have become a way for the children themselves to finance their studies.  The children sell them in the community, for prices ranging from US$ 2 to US$ 6, although sales haven’t been great this year and they have only raised US$ 18. 

Plan Ecuador

Girls watching how their guinea pig nursery is growing thanks to their daily care.

Costing US$ 6000, of which 10% was raised by the community itself, the process has implied serious commitment.   With this money, the school has been equipped with hexagonal tables so that the children can sit face to face, and with study material such as jigsaws, posters, abaci, geometrical games, dominoes, flash cards, etc. Furthermore the toilet facilities have been improved and the teachers have received training.  Now the children have evolved from kids who didn’t understand the methodology to capable students, achieving by their own merits.

Parents’ participation

The passage of time has brought students and teachers closer together and has created a system of which they both feel proud. And the parents? “Well the parents help, not just raising money for these improvements, but actually making them”, says the head, Yasaca. The parents have helped to build the classrooms, renovate the floors and clean the bathrooms. They come one evening a week to clean the bathrooms for the children.

The end of the day

The children in the top form are saying goodbye and the teachers sing them a song, accompanied with musical instruments. The children clap along, eat the cake and smile. Now they have to think of what comes next: secondary school, although not all of them will be able to go. Digna, explains that she won’t be going to secondary school as her parents can’t afford it. But she knows that she should go, she is determined and maybe she’ll find a way ... Outside the room, for all to see, one of the walls permanently displays the phrase:  “For the rights of boys and girls. A Student Council for democratic participation”... and therein lies the secret, in participation, by everyone.

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