Discrepancy between Goal and Function in Educational Planning: The Guatemalan Experience

Abstract

This article deals with two examples of failure in educational planning, which were largely due to neglect of the social and economic context in which the schools were operating. In Guatemala, a system of stiff annual examinations from the first year of primary school onwards was designed to provide an academic elite in the senior secondary schools. Analysis of student expectations among primary and secondary school students shows however that access to further education is more heavily influenced by the economic class of the student's parent than by his own level of academic success. The attempt to impose high standards may have increased the natural bias against bright students from a lower income group. Vocationally oriented secondary schools were established to meet alleged manpower shortages of middle level technicians and rural teachers. The training the students have received, however, has made them eligible for careers with much more substantial rewards than those available in the occupations fo...