The Education for Children and Youth Project creates safe learning environments to help keep children in school and away from crime and violence.  Since 2013, the project has reached 677 schools in 25 high crime municipalities under El Salvador’s national security plan, benefitting over 100,000 students.

The Education for Children and Youth Project helps reduce educational gaps in El Salvador by increasing educational opportunities for vulnerable, disadvantaged students in grades 4 to 9 and out-of-school children and youth aged 9-24, living in selected municipalities with high crime rates.  USAID helps create safer communities by preparing youth with productive alternatives to criminal gang activities or illegal immigration.

Specifically, this USAID project supports quality basic education to improve student transition to lower-secondary education, teacher development, and violence prevention in public schools.  The project helps improve educational results by expanding the Salvadoran Ministry of Education’s Full-Time Inclusive School model, which offers students extracurricular activities and tutoring that promote a safe learning environment, equitable access to education and increased community involvement in students’ learning.

 Through teacher training, USAID promotes interactive, relevant teaching methodologies applied to language, mathematics and science to keep children engaged and to improve academic results.  In grades 4 to 6, USAID is piloting interventions to improve reading.  In addition, teachers are trained in art, culture, technology, reading promotion, educational robotics, and family education.  The project also helps teachers identify students at risk of dropping out and to develop educational activities to increase students’ retention and grade completion.  Conflict resolution and school bullying workshops contribute to improving coexistence at school.

In coordination with the Ministry of Education, the project supports research and studies related to desertion, migration, and other specific topics. Furthermore, the project has been involved in the development and publication of the national policy of school coexistence and initiatives in support of the non-school-based setting programs.

All these initiatives lead to building safe learning environments and quality teaching to promote school retention.

Another component of the project has supported approximately 23,000 out-of-school youth to return to formal classes or earn an equivalent diploma in special weekend classes.  The project also provides technical and vocational training so that students have access to local labor market offers.