Is Baseball More Important Than Education?

This article was written by Avi Richman who is in my Nica 47 Small Business Development group and perfectly highlights the B.S. we put up with in the public schools. Class gets canceled quite often and it's very sad that most Nicaraguans accept it as "well, it always happens...oh well". However, the "gringos" can only give their opinion on the ridiculousness of the situation so many times: we're basically talking to a brick wall. It will take the Nicaraguan population themselves to change this attitude about education and the value of the classroom. I appreciate all my primary and high school teachers so much and I hope you do too! Send one of your former teachers a thank you on facebook or if you're at a school event take 1 min. to say "hi" and "thanks!"

Is Baseball more important than education?

Written Tuesday, July 28, 2009

This past Sunday, Granada’s baseball team, los Tiburones (The Sharks), were once again crowned champion of Nicaraguan baseball with a huge victory in the deciding game of the best of seven series versus Estelí. However, amidst all of the celebration and joy in Granada, something else happened that should cause shame and anger in every single Granadian.

I am a teacher at four different high schools in the municipality of Granada, teaching an entrepreneurship course to fourth year students (there are five years in high school). After too many days of cancelled classes this school year due to infinity of bureaucratic reasons, this past Monday was the last straw. I feel obligated to inform all of Nicaragua (and those reading at home) that this Monday in the beautiful colonial city of Granada, all the schools were closed in order to celebrate the Sharks’ championship in a decision by the mayor’s office. I have had enough.

What kind of message are we sending to the students of Granada? That it is more important to have a day of rest/celebration instead of having class? What message are we sending to all of the students who this Monday traveled from great distances, walked over an hour, and spent precious money on bus fare, to arrive at their schools and receive an education; only to find the school administration telling them to go home because there is no class today? The wrong message if you ask me.

A nine year old boy who lives next door to me went to school on Monday only to return home five minutes later saying that there was no class because they (the school administration, teachers, etc) are all lazy (this sounds better in Spanish). A father of a student at the rural school where I teach told me that it truly is a shame that his kids were not able to go to class and was completely against the cancellation of class.

I am a baseball fan and I was present to witness Granada win the championship but I definitely did not need a day off the next day to celebrate. It seems to me that the mayor’s office in Granada did not think that Granadians were capable of celebrating the victory after the game on Sunday (the game ended at 2:30 in the afternoon) and Monday night.

Now let me tell you exactly what happened during the day on Monday in Granada, the day the schools were cancelled to celebrate: NADA. Absolutely nothing. I personally passed by the central plaza around 6pm to check on the celebration only to see that the celebration had yet to start (it finally started around 7). Guess at what time the vast majority of schools end? 6pm. So technically speaking, we could have had an entire day of class without one single individual missing the celebration. What a shame.

I am not against parties and celebrations, nor am I against the mayor’s office. I am for the education of the youth of this beautiful country and for making it a priority in the development of every boy and girl. I am for sharing my knowledge with the students and taking full advantage of the classroom hours available to me. Frankly, I am very concerned for the educational system of Granada if it is possible to cancel an entire school day for a reason so trivial such as Monday.

While I do not know exactly who the person to make the final decision was, I do know that such person should have strongly considered the consequences of a decision that impeded each child’s basic human right to an education and fomented the value of irresponsibility. Once again I ask you all: Which is more important, a day off from school to “celebrate” the success of a sports team or the education of Nicaragua’s future. The decision is yours.

Avi Richman, Teacher

Granada, Nicaragua

Tel: 89024993 / 89979839

Note: Since writing this article, I have been able to talk to many other locals in Granada about the decision to cancel classes, and have heard two different sides. There are many people who, like me, were against the decision and also believe that there are far too many classes cancelled. However, unfortunately, there are many others who just responded to me by saying “that’s just how we are” or “it’s always like that here, it’s tradition; we are not in your country”. These kinds of responses are just terrible and with these attitudes, the future looks bleak. So listen up those who still do not get it...please change your attitudes and please understand that the custom/tradition of cancelling classes here must be changed. Just because something is tradition or custom does not mean it is good. In conclusion, I just want to remind every single Nicaraguan teacher, parent, and citizen that you are the ones who must demand more of your schools, of your principals, and of your government. Please demand more of your education; you deserve it.