Near Collapse and Under Trees: Education in Crisis in Potrero Naranjo
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
TLDR
- Students in Potrero Naranjo, Paraguay, are attending classes outdoors or in hazardous structures due to the closure of dilapidated classrooms by the Ministry of Education.
- Teachers and parents report that despite exhausting all avenues, they have received no concrete solutions, forcing them to improvise and even fundraise for basic needs.
- An abandoned construction project for new classrooms, paid for in full, has further fueled community anger over alleged corruption and institutional neglect.
In the rural community of Potrero Naranjo, Paraguay, the educational infrastructure has reached a critical state, forcing students to learn under the open sky or within crumbling buildings. The Ministry of Education's decision to close classrooms deemed at risk of collapse, without providing viable alternatives, has plunged the local school and college into a state of severe precarity. This situation starkly illustrates the profound neglect and abandonment faced by communities far from the capital's attention.
En la Escuela Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y el Colegio Nacional de la comunidad rural de Potrero Naranjo, el Ministerio de Educación optó por clausurar aulas deterioradas, obligando a alumnos a estudiar en la intemperie o, en algunos casos, a permanecer en estructuras peligrosas.
Teachers like Nery Valenzuela and Alfredo Caballero describe a daily struggle against deteriorating conditions. With 78 students at the college and similar issues at the primary school, the lack of basic facilities—from blackboards to safe furniture—is palpable. The teachers themselves are forced to engage in fundraising activities, such as sales, to cover essential needs, a burden that should rightfully fall on the state. Furthermore, the challenging road conditions, particularly during the rainy season, make accessing education an arduous task, a problem that seems to have been met with indifference, as Caballero laments the 'lost capacity for astonishment' among authorities.
La educación se ve seriamente afectada.
The community's frustration is compounded by the discovery of an abandoned classroom construction project, fully paid for under a previous administration. This unresolved issue, coupled with the ongoing lack of effective responses from current authorities, fuels accusations of corruption and deepens the sense of institutional abandonment. Parents and educators are left to improvise safety measures, patching up structures to prevent collapses, while their children's right to a dignified education remains unfulfilled. The situation in Potrero Naranjo is a clear cry for attention, highlighting a systemic failure to provide even the most basic educational necessities.
Se perdió la capacidad del asombro.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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