All About CONAPAC partnerships
[photo] Teacher supplies - Community of General Merino
More than school supplies—Our Department of Education partnership
All about CONAPAC’s partnership agreement with local education authorities.
[photo] Kindergarten teacher meeting with her Department of Education supervisor - Community of 28 de Octubre
Early on, CONAPAC’s founders were deeply concerned about education in rural river communities; the teachers and schools seemed to be forgotten by the government. Not only was there a lack of school supplies for students, and not a single book, but the teachers seemed abandoned as well. They did not receive any support apart from a salary and a schoolhouse. Government budgets did not include logistics for transport by boat; officials and education supervisors could not get to the communities to actually see teachers and students in their schools. How could the people in charge know anything about the quality of education if they couldn’t even get there? Something needed to change!
[photo] Elementary School teachers - Community of Llachapa
And change it has. CONAPAC has an official partnership agreement with the State education department of the GREL, Gerencia Regional de Educación de Loreto, and with the local education authorities of the UGEL Maynas, Unidad de Gestión Educativa Local Maynas. We feel that our partnership with GREL and UGEL is vital to the success of schools in CONAPAC partner communities. We all have a role in this partnership.
[photo] High School teachers and AAS volunteers - Community of 3 de Mayo
• Representatives of GREL and UGEL join us on the Adopt-A-School supply deliveries at the beginning of each school year. They can look for immediate solutions for problems with teacher numbers, school buildings, and parent concerns. Without their presence in the community, these issues could take months to even identify.
• CONAPAC can help choose teachers for the GREL to contract in the communities. This provides another layer of interviews to help get the best teachers for these schools–-teachers committed to working in rural areas.
[photo] Teacher-led Kindergarten dance - Community of Primero de Enero
• CONAPAC can officially hold teacher workshops focused on environmental education and teachers can take work days to attend. UGEL representatives also attend to add teacher development and present government information about new school plans and regulations without the teachers having to miss days to go to Iquitos.
• UGEL and GREL specialists can accompany CONAPAC during community visits throughout the school year, increasing their support for communities and teachers in the schools without affecting their transport budget.
• CONAPAC supplies logistics so UGEL and GREL specialists can participate in the end-of-year community and school evaluations. This allows all involved organizations to share findings and information that will improve plans for the following year.
Coming Soon--GivingTuesday!
This GivingTuesday and the rest of December, we hope you will donate to our Adopt-A-School program to help us provide school supplies to every child in our partner communities. Our end-of-year goal is 65,000, and we believe we can reach it with your help! (All donations are received by our partners, the Detroit Zoo; 100% of your donation is transferred directly to CONAPAC.) Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and succeed. Help us give them the tools they need.
Want to donate?
We have several long-time donors and partner organizations who work tirelessly for CONAPAC; with you, we can do so much for our communities.
Our work is only possible with the many other donations, big and small, that we receive throughout the year.
