Interview with Sandinista teacher and former regional coordinator of the Literacy Crusade.

Beginning in 1990, the Nicaraguan government reached agreements with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to reduce government expenditures. This has meant that many adult education programs, teacher training centers, and rural schools have been closed.

Our national teachers' union is known for demanding socioeconomic reforms and for going far beyond the call of duty. I say "beyond" because as teachers we have a commitment to our people. What we as teachers do is a social service. We know that we hold a major responsibility.

As a result, we are fighting for legislation that will support educational standards. Currently, we do not have such laws in our country. It is precisely for this reason that every time a government changes, everything changes: textbooks, personnel, policy, etc. Our country is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. We can't continue in this situation because it's a huge investment and our country can't sustain it. Through legislation, we can achieve higher standards in education for all.

Another area of teacher training is sexual education. The Minister of Education himself prohibits training in sexual education. He talks about abstinence. His position is more orthodox and conservative that the Pope's. He talks about abstinence and prohibits the use of contraceptives. He supports the method that the church proposed. The truth is that we as teachers can't close our eyes and preach something, when we know that our students are becoming pregnant at an early age. We need to address this important issue by training fifth and sixth grade science teachers in sexual education. We are thinking of going further and giving free training to the Sandinista youth. These young people will get trained and will be able to teach in their neighborhoods. The truth is that there are many adolescents right now who are getting pregnant as early as thirteen years old.

Another area is gender training. I believe that one characteristic of education is that the majority of the people in this field are women. Practically, 80% of the teaching staff I work with are women. We need a venue to discuss our problems. And we need to push for our professional growth. We are creating materials, and offering suggestions on methodology, how to give instruction and how to use different types of materials. If there are no laboratories in the school, we look for other ways to help a student understand the content and themes.