14 Some Impressive Schools

Day 6 (29)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

Once on the inside, schools that from outside were hardly visible, could be immense, with relatively much space and many rooms. This one had a quite impressive computer lab and a second floor (from where the picture is taken) where a small soccer field was being build.

13 100 pesos too much

Day 15 (91)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

A very cute but sad picture. As it turned out, this little girl was waiting for her mother to come and pick her up, a couple of hours late at the time of the picture. It's two o'clock and the girl has still not had lunch after having been in the school since early morning. 100 pesos, around 3 cents of a Euro, had been needed but unfortunately her mother had not left her with anything. So here she was sitting alone on the stairs, waiting.

12 Mothers and Families

Day 15 (87)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

In general, more profoundly studied by James Tooley and Pauline Dixon, any parent wants their children to educate themselves and do anything they can to put their children in as good schools as they possibly can. When the schools are private, the parents have great indirect influence in the teachers' work. As the private school teachers are hired by the school owner, bad work leads to replacement by a more dedicated teacher. In government schools on the other hand, there is no direct link between teachers' work dedication and their risk of being replaced, since parents non-payment lead to little incentive to question the quality of the education.

Here, met by three mothers in "La Florida", where only one school could be found, private and in great condition opposed to what one would believe. Thanks to a Dutch organization the school could be built. Minor fees are charged and for school lunch only 100 Colombian pesos (almost 3 cents of a Euro) - even this too much at times. See following post with me sitting in the school stairs next to a small girl.

11 Small Spaces - Dedicated Pupils

Day 11 (12)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

Not only are the spaces incredibly small but with many parts of the schools still being built a general impression many times is the one of having arrived to a construction site. Several class rooms lack both electric light and ventilation. With walls as the one on the picture the pupils definitely lack color in their educational environment.

10 Libraries

Day 16 (4)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

Although not at all very fancy or even very updated, the small libraries in the private schools have more book meters per child (a very useful measurement my Thesis Partner Patrik came up with). As one of many material inputs this is a key indicator of the pupils facility to learn, as book are usually very expensive for the poor families to purchase.

09 Material Input and Class Size

Day 16 (6)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

Of the key indicators studied and assumed as important for the educational outputs (that I hope to be able to evaluate during this year to complete the work of the Master's Thesis) were the material inputs of the schools. Here data on inputs such as blackboards, desks and chairs, electric light, drinking water, separate toilets for boys and girls, library, computers, audio equipment and access to playground were gathered. Although the results were mixed, a conclusion was that the large government schools had better access to playgrounds and toilets, but the private ones better access to library and computers. Concerning blackboards and desks and chairs, almost all schools visited had full availability.

Class size was another key factor studied. The picture shows a small private school with relatively few pupils in the class. This image was the same for most private schools that work with less physical resources but with more teachers available for the pupils. It's thus easy to already with this information speculate in the higher degree of dedication to the pupils in private schools and with this information continue to arguing in favor of more attention to these in stead of all kinds of aid to government school bureaucracy.

08 Primary but also Preschool

Day 7 (10)
Originally uploaded by unitedwinds

Our objective was to focus on Primary School, and especially observe the conditions facing the 4th grade pupils, but most schools are initiated with Preschool until they have earned enough to start the 1st grade and onwards. Most schools therefore also had the 3 preschool grades attended for which of course was very amusing to see.

Necessary to say is that public (government) preschools are basically non-existing in entire Cali. Of the 130 schools completely surveyed and observed, only 19 were government schools, providing education for only 35 % of the poor children in the District. Additionally, their large size don't help their provision of quality education much as the number of children per teacher is too high and the teachers with safe (government) salaries less dedicated than their private school colleagues.