The president of the republic, Nayib Bukele, yesterday launched the educational reform of his government, called My New School, which consists of a profound and comprehensive change in the national educational system, which has never been done in the history of El Salvador.
The official announcement was made while supervising the construction work at the José Ciro Brito Educational Complex, in the municipality of Nahuizalco, in Sonsonate.
My New School is made up of the components of school infrastructure, health and nutrition for students, classroom technology, teacher training, early childhood care, and curriculum renewal.
In terms of infrastructure, it is intended to repair, remodel, and build new schools throughout the country. The intervention of 5,150 schools is projected in five years. From September 2022 to September 2023, 1,000 schools will be impacted.
All work will be carried out by the national municipal works department (DOM), the public works ministry (MOP), and the education ministry (MINED).
The projects will be financed with resources from the Central Government, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), the World Bank (WB), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), according to the president.
Likewise, he explained that in relation to the technology component, all schools and public classrooms will have free and unlimited access to the Internet; and regarding the curriculum, all educational content will be renewed.
The president indicated that the announcement of the My New School educational reform adds to the actions already carried out in public education, such as the delivery of computers and tablets to all students in the country.
He pointed out that his government has annually increased the budget for the area of education in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He explained that in 2018—the last year of the government of Salvador Sánchez Cerén, of the FMLN—the budget for that branch was $932.6 million, that is, 3.6% of GDP, but that in fiscal year 2022 it has been $1,472.23 million, which corresponds to 5.1% of GDP.
At the launch of My New School, the president was accompanied by the president of the Legislative Assembly, Ernesto Castro; the head of the New Ideas parliamentary group, Christian Guevara; and other deputies from the Cyan caucus.