Day 11: School for Maquila Workers

Like in the U.S., there is Adult Continuation School in El Salvador.  One of the schools in the community offers classes on Sundays for adults to obtain their high school degree, or what is known here as bachillerato.  Many of the students that I met on the Sunday I visited the continuation school were maquila workers.  Students meet once a week and review core subjects in preparation for their exams, such as science, social studies, English, language, and math.  There are two schedules, one in the morning that runs from 7:15am to Noon and one in the afternoon which runs from 12:30-5:00pm.  I observed two classes, a social studies and a math class.  Students are allowed to bring their children to classes.  I saw many pregnant women, women pushing strollers, and a father with his daughter in the class.  This type of flexibility allows individuals who work in the maquila, for the most part Monday-Friday, to obtain their education.  In the social studies class I observed, the students discussed globalization and El Salvador.  The teacher asked me about many products made in El Salvador that are consumed in the U.S. so students would get an idea of how much products are sold for in comparison to how much they made.  In addition, she pointed out that many of the products made in El Salvador are sold for more money than they are sold in the U.S.  During their break, I was able to interview 3 students, 2 males and 1 female on their reasons for attending Continuation School.  All of them stated that they did not want to work in the maquilas and had realized that without their degree their opportunities to find alternative employment were almost non-existence.  One student had a goal of attending a university and studying either law or education. It was an amazing experience to be able to sit in a class and interview maquila workers in a school setting.