Provide Preschool Bilingual Education for Mayan Children

One of the major challenges for Maya children when entering into primary school is that they do not understand the official teaching language Spanish, as their mother tongues are indigenous languages. Deficient reading and writing skills, as well as a limited mathematical understanding hinders the development of their full educational potential. The project promotes the establishment of kindergartens and trains teachers on a culturally adapted bilingual pre-school education. In this way around 385 children annually acquire by playing and learning the necessary cognitive, motor and social skills for primary school, laying the foundation for successful sustainable development of the region. The school authorities of the department of Sololá have introduced the bilingual pre-school concept in three school districts.