NICARAGUA

Nicaragua’s educational challenges include:

• Poor educational quality: Nicaragua placed 130th out of 134 countries for educational quality and 129th for the quality of math and science education (World Economic Forum).
• Low preprimary enrollment: In 2007, preprimary enrollment was 54% versus a regional average of 65% (UNESCO).
• Illiteracy: The UN projects Nicaragua's illiteracy rate will be 30% in 2010, compared to their projection of 11% for the region as a whole (ECLAC).

Pan y Amor Educational Center

Location: Managua, Nicaragua

Opened: 2003

Number of Students: 280

• The Pan y Amor Educational Center is located in one of Managua's poorest neighborhoods on the edge of the Mercado Oriental, an informal market that spans 90 city blocks.
• The school, which operates in four borrowed buildings, serves as an oasis in a community plagued by drugs, theft and prostitution.
• The Pan y Amor Educational Center was founded by a group of Nicaraguan women to rescue and protect high-risk children and to eliminate child labor by offering an excellent education and technical training.
• The school accepts children as young as a few months old and provides a complete education through high school.
• The ten-hour school day includes high-quality academics which have been approved by the Ministry of Education, after-school activities, such as dance, choir, computer classes, sports and tutoring, and two nutritious hot meals.
• The Pan y Amor Educational Center hopes to secure donations that would enable it to move into permanent facilities and double its size.
• "Pan Y Amor" by Flor Marenco, Hecho Magazine