by Laura Gómez Ruiz
Portoviejo – In Latin America, education remains one of the fields in which the Church’s vital and concrete mission encounters and embraces the real aspirations and needs of younger generations and families.
In working-class neighborhoods, rural communities and areas marked by inequality, thousands of Catholic schools accompany children, adolescents and young people every day, offering not only academic education, but also spaces of welcome, human development and spiritual accompaniment.
For the ecclesial community, education means looking at the person as a whole: helping each student discover his or her dignity, develop his or her abilities, and grow both humanly and spiritually—not only through knowledge, but also through the discovery of responsibility toward others and of the treasures that can bring joy to the heart beyond all expectations.
The Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council has repeatedly highlighted the role of education as a tool for human development and social transformation. From this perspective, Catholic schools seek to accompany, above all, those living in situations of greater vulnerability, becoming spaces of inclusion and hope for generations capable of building a more just and supportive society.
This demanding and inspiring mission flourishes thanks to the dedication of numerous religious congregations, teachers and educational communities that maintain their presence precisely where social needs are most urgent.
For many families, Catholic schools represent a point of reference that accompanies not only students, but also the entire family.
Educational peripheries: Poverty, inequality and new gaps
The educational mission unfolds in a region where millions of children and young people continue to face obstacles that affect their future opportunities. In Latin America, poverty and inequality continue to shape educational paths.
According to UNICEF, approximately 12 million children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 18 are outside the education system in Latin America and the Caribbean. The situation is particularly concerning at the upper-secondary level, where 7.2 million young people are not attending school, compared to 2.6 million who do not attend primary school and 2.5 million excluded from lower-secondary education.
Poverty remains one of the factors limiting educational opportunities for millions of children and young people. According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean , four out of every ten children under the age of 15 live in poverty in the region.
Economic inequalities also affect the chances of completing one’s education. According to the regional report “Inclusion and Education: All means all, produced by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report in cooperation with UNESCO’s Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean , across the 21 countries analyzed, young people from the wealthiest 20 percent of households are, on average, five times more likely to complete upper-secondary education than those from the poorest 20 percent of households. The same report notes that only 63 percent of young people manage to complete secondary education, while one in two secondary-school students fails to reach the minimum level of reading proficiency.
These urgent challenges are compounded today by technology-based inequality. The spread of digital tools is opening up new educational opportunities, but it can also create new forms of exclusion for those who lack internet access, devices or adequate training to use them.
Educational peripheries take many forms: isolated rural communities, vulnerable urban neighborhoods and families facing the consequences of poverty on a daily basis. It is precisely in these contexts that the presence of Catholic schools takes on a missionary dimension: staying close, providing opportunities and building a future.
Ecuador: A School reborn in Playa Prieta
In the Ecuadorian province of Manabí, in the rural community of Playa Prieta , the Unidad Educativa Sagrada Familia, run by the Servants of the Home of the Mother, offers a concrete example of this educational mission among the younger generations of Latin America.
In 2006, the then Archbishop of Manabí, José Mario Ruiz Navas, asked the congregation to take responsibility for an educational center that at the time had 180 students and was at risk of closure. The arrival of the religious sisters marked the beginning of a renewal process that gradually transformed the school.
In the years that followed, the school expanded its educational offering. From an institution providing only primary education, it became a school able to accompany students from the age of four through the completion of secondary education. Today, the ‘Unidad Educativa Sagrada Familia’ has 455 students and has become a point of reference for many families in Playa Prieta and the surrounding areas.
The school’s history, however, is also marked by a profound wound. On April 16, 2016, an earthquake devastated Manabí province, destroying the school’s main building, which also housed the religious sisters’ residence. In the tragedy, the Servant of God Sister Clare Crockett and five young members of the community lost their lives .
The destruction appeared to threaten the continuation of the school’s educational mission. Yet, ten years later, that place of suffering has become a sign of rebuilding and hope.
Thanks to the support of numerous benefactors, the school was rebuilt, and a chapel-shrine was erected on the very site of the tragedy. Today, it occupies a central place in the life of the educational community.
“I thought that after the earthquake there would be nothing left here, and that the sisters would leave. But then reconstruction began, and today we have a school that is better than before,” says Anaún Antonio Barreiro, a father whose children attend the Unidad Educativa Sagrada Familia.
For many families in Playa Prieta, the presence of the religious sisters has meant a transformation that goes far beyond the classroom. “I did not know God. Thanks to the Home of the Mother, I came to know God, I changed my life and my family’s life, and, thanks to this, I was able to educate my children,” Barreiro adds.
Teachers, some of whom are former students of the school, also emphasize this integral dimension of education. “We care for our students not only so that they can learn, but also so that they can encounter the experience of faith and grow in it,” says Jennifer Moreira, a teacher and head of the school’s psychological services.
Educating for the future: A mission that continues
The experience of the Unidad Educativa Sagrada Familia reflects a reality found in many Catholic schools across Latin America: educating today means responding to urgent needs that go beyond what is taught in the classroom. Alongside the transmission of knowledge, educational institutions are called to accompany children and young people in a world marked by profound social, cultural and technological changes, where inequalities continue to shape opportunities.
The challenges are many: ensuring quality education, narrowing the gaps affecting the most vulnerable sectors of society, and integrating new technologies without leaving behind those with fewer resources. Yet alongside these difficulties remains the need for an education that sees the person as a whole and builds relationships capable of supporting younger generations.
For this reason, Catholic education seeks to integrate the tools of the present without losing sight of the human dimension of teaching.
Integral formation, personal accompaniment and the building of community are central elements of this mission.
In places such as Playa Prieta, school is not merely a space where students learn academic subjects or prepare for their professional future. It is also a place where children and young people find welcome, discover their abilities and grow with the support of a community. Educating in the peripheries means sowing hope. Where hardship could close off paths and limit possibilities, the presence of the ecclesial community continues to offer an educational approach that brings together learning, the rediscovery of one’s dignity and faith.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.