Education

USAID improves basic education in Honduras by focusing on quality and access. It supports the Ministry of Education in developing academic standards, decentralizing educational management, developing alternative education systems, and training teachers. Activities improve citizen involvement in education through increased parental participation and advocacy, greater community ownership, and conflict resolution training. The objective is to ensure that by the year 2015, all children will complete elementary school, an essential goal of the multi-donor Education for All/Fast Track Initiative under the Millennium Development Goals.

Reforms to the Education Sector: USAID’s education program supports the expansion of public/private partnerships while encouraging the Government of Honduras’s commitment to reform. Successful collaboration with the government has resulted in new academic standards for Spanish and mathematics that are aligned with international education norms. USAID is extending this effort to include science and social studies. With USAID assistance, the Government of Honduras is also shifting the responsibility for education from the central Ministry of Education to the local level, bringing decision-making authority to communities and facilitating parental participation. To ensure that children receive a quality education, USAID is promoting greater engagement of parents and civil society advocacy efforts. USAID is also collaborating with the private sector to involve this influential stakeholder in improving education in Honduras.

Alternative Education: USAID’s alternative education activities reduce gaps in quality and access to education. Efforts focus on young people with limited educational opportunities who may otherwise be attracted to crime, gangs, and violence. Alternative education programs strengthen students’ basic education skills and reduce student failure rates for first through ninth grades. In coordination with the Ministry of Education’s efforts to extend preschool education to all Hondurans, USAID has developed innovative, high quality, low cost preschool alternatives. For example, USAID’s Alternative Preschool Model uses recorded lessons and trained community volunteers to deliver educational training in nearly 5,000 community preschool centers, with an annual enrollment of over 60,000 children.

The Program also provides Honduran youth with vocational training directly linked to employment. Drawing on valuable experience gained from previous projects, USAID is expanding activities for at-risk-youth in areas where drug trafficking and gang violence are prevalent. These activities provide youth with positive options for both employment and continued education.

Teacher Training: Over the years, USAID has played, and continues to play, an instrumental role in training teachers, education supervisors, and members of the community to strengthen both primary and secondary education. USAID has helped the Ministry of Education develop and improve teacher effectiveness with new curricula, standards, and assessments. This includes training for school teachers in the use of academic standards, curriculum schedules, formative evaluations, and better teaching practices in core subjects. School supervisors are also being taught to use data and standardized testing results to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of education. Finally, USAID is training teachers in non-traditional teaching methods so that they can employ a more child-centered and interactive approach to learning.

Scholarships: The Scholarships for Education and Economic Development Program (SEED Program) is administered by Georgetown University’s Center for Intercultural Education and Development. SEED scholarships provide training to youth and community leaders from economically disadvantaged and historically underserved populations, including women and ethnic/Indigenous groups, to become key protagonists in their countries’ development. Moreover, the Program significantly enhances public diplomacy efforts of the United States government by ensuring that participants learn firsthand about the fundamentals of civil society and free market economy.

USAID ASSISTANCE TO HONDURAS IN EDUCATION

Media
Success Stories Speeches
Press Releases Photo Galleries