By the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG)

[From August 8 to 20, 2024, a delegation of UK Spanish language teachers visited Nicaragua and in Sept.-Oct. a Nicaraguan teachers’ union representative visited the UK. This article is based on a report of the delegation to Nicaragua compiled by Julie Lamin who was group leader. The writers thank the delegation members who provided the photos. The article was first published on the web page of the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group of the UK on Nov. 8, 2024.]

A joint project based on two-way international solidarity

This is the story of a teacher exchange that started in 2017 and is part of a joint project between the National Education Union (NEU) of the UK (who have sponsored the visits), the Nicaraguan teachers’ union ANDEN, and the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign Action Group (NSCAG).

The reason for setting up the project was to provide practical solidarity with Nicaragua, an opportunity for teachers in both countries to exchange information and methodologies on the teaching of second languages as well as learning about their respective cultures and traditions. The first exchanges between UK teachers of Spanish as a second language and Nicaraguan teachers of English as a second language took place in 2017, with a group of UK teachers visiting Nicaragua. This was followed post COVID with visits in 2022 and 2024; a further visit is planned for 2026. A group of Nicaraguan teachers visited the UK in 2023 and a representative from ANDEN visited the UK in Sept.-Oct. this year. A group of Nicaraguan teachers will be invited to the UK in 2025.

English language teaching is a flagship programme in Nicaragua

At an event at the Ministry of Education (MINED), the delegation was warmly welcomed by the Directors General for Primary and Secondary Education, Cristian Danilo Cerda and Melba López Montenegro, and by the General Secretary of ANDEN Jose Antonio Zepeda.

Zepeda explained how education was progressing, particularly with regard to the government’s flagship English-teaching programme. This programme seeks to create, from the current cohort of secondary-aged pupils, the country’s first bilingual generation. As in the UK, bilingualism and the associated skills gained through the study of a second language are attractive to employers.

The ability to communicate well in English will help Nicaraguan young people gain higher-paid jobs, including in the growing tourism sector, aiding economic and social development, and achieving one of the Sandinista government’s main targets: to reduce poverty. In addition, the new bilingual generation can help build national unity and identity, integrating the sizeable English-speaking minority based on the Caribbean Coast with the Spanish-speaking majority on the Pacific Coast.

How the trip was organised

The group was divided into subgroups to be hosted in three regions – Juigalpa, Esteli and Matagalpa – by ANDEN representatives. To make sure each of the regions would receive a similar experience from their visit the group spent time in Managua before going to the regions discussing effective classroom practice, planning pedagogical workshops and sharing out the many educational resources brought, including letters from students in the UK to be shared with Nicaraguan students.

As with previous exchanges, teachers stayed in the homes of ANDEN teachers and their families and were taken to schools and meetings as well as doing some local sightseeing. In the three regions, delegates received the warmest of welcomes wherever they went. Delegates were treated to student performances of traditional Nicaraguan dances, poetry recitals of national poet Rubén Darío, instrumental music and songs in English, to not only show pride in Nicaraguan culture but also its central place in the curriculum.

A representative visit to schools was an introduction to key staff and an assembly at which the Nicaraguan national anthem was played and sung, followed by the Himno al Alfabetización, an anthem celebrating the success of the 1980 national literacy campaign in which illiteracy was reduced from over 50% to 10%. This represented the beginning of the Sandinista commitment to lifelong free education. Sometimes the UK national anthem was also played.

ANDEN colleagues emphasised that this was an NEU delegation and that it was the teachers and their unions who made this exchange possible. They also said that ANDEN and MINED ensure progress in education whether in English or any other aspect. Nicaraguans grow up aware that trade unions are a necessary part of progress, not only in education, but in all walks of life.

The visits also demonstrated what Nicaragua is achieving in education, schools, teaching and resources available, compared to the neo-liberal years, 1990 – 2007, when public education scarcely existed. Following welcome speeches, the UK teachers were asked to speak, which helped to strengthen UK-Nicaragua solidarity and our shared commitment as educators and trade unionists.

In all regions, delegates observed lessons in all school settings, some rural, some urban. (Nicaragua is essentially a rural country). Due to the shortage of school buildings, most schools have two ‘turnos’ or sessions: primary school children attend from 7am to 12.30, when they eat a nourishing school lunch and then go home; secondary school students then arrive for their afternoon session

Sharing second language teaching experiences and resources

For both secondary and primary English teaching there is a national curriculum with supporting text books. However, as some of the children are very young and not yet able to write, primary teaching of English continues to be mainly through songs and games.

Teachers are increasingly confident and adept at creating exciting resources and using them effectively. Lessons are varied. Secondary lessons provide a range of activities to practice the different language skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing. Advisory teachers are drivers and coordinators of progress. They emphasised the importance of active and practical learning– and this was an area they hoped the UK teachers could help with.

As part of these regular training sessions the NEU delegates provided professional development workshops to around 40 teachers from schools across their region aimed at giving them more tools and ideas to use in their own classrooms. In addition, delegates visited teacher training institutions, to observe and support the work already being done. The fact that so much is achieved with a fraction of the resources and facilities in the UK was impressive. Despite this success, the teachers recognise there is room for improvement, are driven to develop their teaching of English, and welcome suggestions and ideas.

The UK teachers distributed educational resources donated by their school colleagues or purchased themselves, with recommendations as to how the resources can be used to promote further learning in English. Resources provided by the NEU were shared out to leave a lasting footprint of NEU support for the exchange.

Delegates were impressed by the ability and confidence of students, some as young as nine or ten years old, to converse in English. At several schools, groups of committed, enthusiastic learners asked and answered a range of questions in English.

Holistic education in the context of communities

In addition to observing the teaching of English, the delegation learnt about the wider context of schools and education. Schools operate as communities, with extensive parental involvement, particularly in cooking and serving primary school lunches. The Ministry of Education provides the main ingredients for school lunches – corn, oil, rice and beans. These are supplemented by vegetables from school gardens. Students also play an active part in caring for the school environment, taking turns to sweep and mop classroom floors at the end of the session and work in the school vegetable garden. These activities are part of the curriculum. The produce from the fruit and vegetable garden goes towards making the daily school meals. The garden is a learning resource for teaching other subjects through gardening, especially maths, science, and literacy.

Classrooms are basically furnished and decorated, with limited technology, but teachers use their own phones inventively and all sorts of materials imaginatively to create resources and games.

Why Nicaragua has Saturday schools

Nicaragua is essentially a rural country and can be proud of its over 90% food sovereignty achieved through extensive government support for creating effective food production through small scale farmers, co-operatives and private ownership. The national focus on healthy food production impacts on education in that children are generally well-nourished. To support the rural communities where children live in remote areas, and where older children work alongside their families, Nicaragua’s Saturday schools provide regular education which in some cases can lead to university study in the rural locality through the government technical training institute INATEC.

How schools and ANDEN members in Masaya were affected by the 2018 attempted coup

After leaving the regions the delegation visited Masaya where they met ANDEN delegates who described the terror and devastation of the 2018 attempted coup when the ANDEN building and next-door town hall were set on fire and destroyed, as were schools and other public buildings.

ANDEN colleagues spoke of the terror they experienced as trade unionists and how they feared capture and torture by the rebel ‘terrorists’. It is one thing to read about the attempted coup in 2018, and another to hear teacher colleagues’ direct experience at first hand. They also expressed their eternal gratitude for the solidarity they received from NEU members at the time and the NEU’s unwavering support.

NEU – ANDEN, a powerful example of the impact of two-way international solidarity

The consensus of the UK delegation is that the visit was an incredible experience and it was a privilege to have been selected to take part in it. NEU delegates learnt a lot, not just about Nicaragua’s education system, but also about national and global politics, culture and the importance of international solidarity. All were reminded of the power of education, and particularly second language learning, to empower young people, allowing them to live more fulfilling and enriching lives.

Delegates commented that it was refreshing to see a government choosing to make education a priority, despite enduring economic and societal problems; has the UK something to learn here? As language experts, the UK teachers cherished speaking lots of Spanish and being immersed in a new and at times totally unfamiliar place.

Delegates were often in awe of the country’s natural beauty and its rich cultural traditions, and inspired by its courageous and hardworking people, who have faced down dictatorships, poverty, natural disasters and political violence, to work determinedly towards creating a fairer, happier and more prosperous country for future generations. It was also a privilege for the teachers to be representatives and ambassadors for the NEU, especially in a country that values trade unions so highly.

Comments from delegation members after their return to the UK:
*When I think of Nicaragua, I feel happy and energised
*The experience was enriching, life affirming, re-energising….it made me rethink what life is about
* I was so impressed by the caring/loving holistic approach to education
* The NEU is the living embodiment of solidarity, an example that adds another dimension to trade union work

Since returning to the UK delegation members have been giving talks to their NEU districts, integrating Nicaraguan examples into their Spanish language teaching, and hosting a UK visit by ANDEN delegate Sebastian Mendieta.

If you are interested in a study tour to Nicaragua, click here. If you would like to learn some Spanish in Nicaragua, click here

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Briefs 
By Nan McCurdy

Historic Reform of the Constitution Institutionalizes Rights
On November 22 a partial reform to the Constitution was approved in its first legislative vote by the National Assembly. [A second vote must be taken by the National Assembly in 2025.] Vice-President Rosario Murillo said that the people are winning back their right to have a Magna Carta that represents them and grants active participation and power to families, men, women, youth over all aspects of life, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of citizens. The initiative ratifies rights in health, education, housing, food sovereignty, security, sovereignty and more. It also creates the offices of co-presidents with the power to appoint vice presidents. The number of magistrates in the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) and the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) is reduced [with mandated female majorities].

During the plenary session, the President of the National Assembly, Dr. Gustavo Porras, said that Nicaragua is making progress in the fight against poverty. He said proof of this is in the 2025 General Budget of the Republic which shows a surplus and includes money for the development of social programs for the active participation of the people, for roads, recreation, hospitals, and communication with the Caribbean Coast. “Since the Revolution, since the Constitution of 1987, we have had a constitution that has established a legal framework; and it is the path of a country in revolution and evolution,” said Porras.  He stated that the text of the reforms says that, for the sake of strengthening the institutions, “it is necessary to modernize and update the revolutionary state, to respond to the needs of the entire population, ensuring its performance as an instrument to fight against poverty and guarantee security and peace with wellbeing.”

The following are a few of the articles:

Article 63: Nicaraguans to have a right to food and food security. The State shall promote programs to ensure adequate availability and access to food.
Article 64: Nicaraguans have the right to decent, comfortable and safe housing that guarantees family privacy. The State shall promote the realization of this right.
Article 65: Nicaraguans have the right to sports, physical education, recreation and leisure in the context of the enjoyment of peace and security in the nation.
Article 66: Nicaraguans have the right to truthful information. This right includes the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate ideas and information by any means, without infringing on the fundamental principles contemplated in this Constitution. To see the constitutional amendments: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/asamblea-nacional-aprueba-reformas-a-constitucion-politica/?__cf_chl_tk=J7cd9vnMomE7TdHePfkPdZ7fflxrR7gLenLx6Gej.gM-1732483715-1.0.1.1-dKaloyFoDC4vE4NO8GKJuk8bdoTM7mxqVxfACYPkplc La (Primerisima, 22 November 2024)

Constitutional Amendments and Sanctions Protection Law Published
On Nov. 25 the Presidency of the Republic published the Law of Constitutional Reforms, approved in the first legislative vote on Nov. 22, and the Law for the Protection of Nicaraguans against Sanctions and External Aggressions in the official newspaper [or Gazette] La Gaceta. La Gaceta published the preliminary text of the Political Constitution of the Republic, integrating all the reforms approved which must be confirmed in a second legislature in 2025.

The Protection Law was sent urgently to the National Assembly by the Presidency of the Republic and was approved unanimously on Nov. 22. The law protects the rights of the people and its institutions confronting the measures of foreign nations that attempt against the security, sovereignty and development plans of Nicaragua. It also declares “null and void and without legal effect the sanctions imposed by groups of foreign states, governments or organisms that violate international law.”  According to the new law, no entity or person may deny or suspend its services, whether commercial or financial, to natural and legal persons, private entities and state institutions.  Deputy Filiberto Rodríguez, president of the legislative Committee for Peace, Defense, Governance and Human Rights, said that the law reaffirms the principles in the Constitution and in the United Nations Charter, which establishes that no State may impose economic and political measures to coerce others from the exercise of their Sovereignty. He said that foreign states and governments have been inflicting the sanctions [illegal coercive measures] on other countries to impose their political, economic, military and commercial interests, which constitutes a violation of international law.

National Assembly Deputy Wálmaro Gutiérrez, president of the Production, Economy and Budget Committee said that no provision such as the sanctions of the empires should have application in a sovereign country. He said that Nicaraguans’ economic and social interests must be protected, in particular, against arbitrary practices of abusive clauses in contracts. He indicated that suppliers of goods are obliged to provide their services to consumers or users without discrimination for political reasons, race, sex, gender, nationality, language, disability, religion, age or any other reason. He stressed that the empire uses the global financial system to try to subjugate and bring the peoples of the world to their knees. “And in this new context where humanity is moving towards a more multipolar and multilateral system, these types of positions are no longer even laughable, they are pitiful,” he said. (La Primerisima, 25 November 2024)

Japan to Support Classroom Construction and Other Projects
Japanese assistance will finance the construction of classrooms and a pedestrian walkway in the Rafaela Herrera School, located in the Leonel Reynosa community in the municipality of Ticuantepe. The signing of the agreement was made between Ambassador Masahiro Ogino and the authorities of the Ministry of Education. The ambassador also announced the financing of other projects including the delivery of a garbage collection truck for the municipality of Bluefields and a road in the city of El Rama. He said that in this project 200 children will benefit. (La Primerisima, 22 November 2024)

IMF Describes Government’s Economic Policies as Sound and Prudent
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that Nicaragua maintains a robust economic performance and the outlook points to sustained growth in a context of prudent macroeconomic policies and solid external and fiscal positions. Nicaragua’s Central Bank reported that on November 22, it had meetings with an IMF delegation to review the prospects for the country’s economy, framed in the evaluation known as Article IV Consultation. “Nicaragua maintains a robust economic performance, supported by prudent macroeconomic policies and very solid remittance flows. The economy remains open and resilient, having faced multiple major shocks since 2018; and despite international sanctions…. Real GDP grew by 4.5 percent in 2023 and in the first half of 2024. The estimated poverty rate continues to decline, but remains above the regional average. Banks are reported to be liquid and well capitalized, and although non-performing loans increased recently, they remain low,” the IMF said. The agency’s report added that “fiscal and external surpluses are leading to a steady decline in the public debt-to-GDP ratio and the accumulation of solid buffers to absorb shocks. Inflation is low and stable, and the Central Bank has initiated a monetary easing cycle.” “Public investment is expected to support growth in 2025. However, in the medium term, real GDP growth is expected to moderate to 3.5%.… International reserves are expected to grow at a slower pace than in the recent past, given lower current account surpluses, but they will remain abundant,” it notes. “Risks to the upside include stronger domestic demand and higher remittance growth, especially in the near term. Downside risks include slower global growth, a deterioration in the terms of trade, natural disasters, tighter and broader international sanctions, and a change in U.S. immigration policies,” it adds. The report went on to say: “The authorities continue to strengthen fiscal buffers, including by improving tax administration and spending efficiency, and aim to increase public investment to support medium-term growth.” “Central Bank policies have supported price stability, growth, and ample international reserve accumulation, consistent with the current exchange rate regime.” “To increase inclusive growth and competitiveness over the medium term, additional measures are needed, such as improving the business climate and the rule of law, along with increasing human capital, promoting women’s labor force participation, and developing capital markets.” (La Primerisima, 22 November 2024)

Nursery in Matagalpa Produces a Million Trees
A million trees are produced annually at the La Cumplida nursery of the company Atlantic S.A. in the municipality of Matagalpa. The trees are then planted in agroforestry systems and by reforestation workshops in protected areas in the Department of Matagalpa and on the North and South Caribbean Coast Regions. This forestry nursery has been in operation since 2021 and directly benefits 100 families who are responsible for producing plants of species that include Central American cedar, Honduran mahogany, Nicaraguan rosewood, African blackwood, Spanish elm, Pringle’s pine and the Handroanthus guayacan tree. The Environment Ministry made a recent visit to the plant where it verified that sustainable techniques and ecological materials are used for production, which favors the healthy development of the different species. There is also a cold room where the seeds are handled, achieving 60% germination viability, which ensures the quality of the vegetative material produced. (La Primerisima, 24 November 2024)

El Güegüense Celebrates 19 years as Oral Heritage of Humanity
As part of the celebrations of the 19th anniversary of the declaration by UNESCO of El Güegüense as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of humanity, the Department of Carazo, cradle of this work, is holding conferences, school mural contests, parades and artistic presentations. The activities conclude on November 25, date of the declaration.

El Güegüense is a satirical drama, dance, and music performance that is a cultural icon in Nicaragua. It was the first literary work in colonial Nicaragua by the Indigenous peoples. The traditional drama likely began in the 1500s but the earliest texts were probably written down in the early 1700’s. In all Latin America it is considered one of the most powerful expressions of protest against colonial rule. The play is performed during the feast of San Sebastián in Diriamba, but also at other times and in other places. The story revolves around encounters between the Spanish colonial authorities and Indigenous Peoples, represented particularly by the central character. A powerful elder figure in pre-Hispanic Nicaragua, El Güegüense, countered charges levelled against him by the colonial officials through a series of clever verbal maneuvers. Rather than directly confronting or challenging an authority, he attempts to appear consistently cooperative and compliant, while utilizing subterfuge to undermine Spanish authority. Interspersed in street processions, the plays are generally performed by eight main characters supported by dancers. El Güegüense is so well known that Nicaraguans have coined the expression “to put on the Güegüense’s face” to refer to someone who outwardly appears to comply with the rules while working subtly to undermine them.

Luis Morales, Minister of Culture, spoke in the municipalities that are part of the departments of Carazo and Masaya on the Indigenous origin and greatness of the work. The manuscripts were originally in a mixture of the Indigenous language of Nahuatl, spoken by the peoples of the Pacific area of Nicaragua and Spanish. “All our intellectuals and artists have studied El Güegüense as a starting point for the expression of struggle, protest and Indigenous resistance to colonialism in the form of stories and plays,” Morales said. See photos: https://radiolaprimerisima.com/el-gueguense-cumple-19-anos-de-ser-patrimonio-oral-e-intangible-de-la-humanidad/ (La Primerisima and UNESCO, 23 November 2024)