Supporting Education in El Salvador

Voices on the Border's mission is to promote just and sustainable development in El Salvador through partnerships with local, national and international stakeholders. Education in rural areas is one of their main focuses, as proven through their Success in Rural Education Program . Education has become more critical than ever in the area of the Bajo Lempa, specifically the Amando Lopez community, where many residents have had to flee due to an unstable environment causes by the threat of gang violence and police/military patrol activity. 

This unstable climate in has effected educational development greatly. This year, Voices has spent a great deal of time meeting with local leaders, consulting with experts, and reviewing the academic literature to figure out how to best respond. The consensus is that we need to provide Bajo Lempa Youth with access to quality education – keeping kids in school is the key to keeping them safe.

Each of the 30 communities in the Bajo Lempa has an elementary school, but there are only 5 middle schools and 3 high schools, and only 20% of youth study past the 6th grade.

Our project aims to keep youth in school (and away from gangs or sitting idol at home), by working with teachers and administrators to give them a reason to stay, and a reason for parents to send them. Making education relevant, maximizing educator’s potentials and providing effective supportive services will ensure development. This project does not pretend to fix all of the problems that prevent youth from attending school. But this project creates the infrastructure necessary so that communities can identify other issues, current and future, and address them.