New Initiative for a New Year

January 25, 2021

One of the initiatives that will be expanded in 2021 as a result of your support and the support of 60milliongirls is our Education Project in the Bosawas, Nicaragua. Education in the indigenous villages has historically been the poorest in the country. Since the installation of solar power in schools in four communities and the access to virtual libraries was granted in the spring of last year (funded by the Fund for Innovation and Transformation),  126 teachers from within those communities and further afield — some with very little formal teacher training — have been gathering and participating in workshops to improve pedagogical practices and learn how to leverage the newly available virtual resources.

The use of technology in these marginalized communities means more than the replacement of often-scarce print materials with digital materials; it is the first time many schools and communities have access to an extensive collection of high-quality educational resources and an enormous library.

“This innovation has the potential to accelerate the capacity in Nicaragua to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of high-quality education available to all children and youth by 2030.”

— Nicaragua Ministry of Education

The new initiative in the new year will build on the momentum and excitement within the teaching community by moving the project into a student-learning phase. A class-set of laptops in each of the four schools will serve as a mobile learning lab and will allow students to learn the skill of using technology while accessing resources and previously unavailable educational content (including materials in their Miskito mother-tongue). And while this skill may seem obvious or immaterial in many global contexts, for marginal indigenous communities, educational resources, technology, and the know-how to access it, is ground-breaking and transformative.

Because of continued support, this project will be rolled out into 3 more communities and surrounding areas! Kick off of this project with the initial step of bringing in solar power will begin in March, and we look forward to sharing the project journey with you!

Bosawas Central America and the Caribbean Education Education Gender Equality Girls In The Field Indigenous Peoples Nicaragua School Women