A focused analysis of TVET: unique opportunities and strategies for investing in and engaging youth in Nicaraguan society

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is increasingly emphasised by international education organisations. In Nicaragua, particularly, this type of engagement is viewed as a potential for boosting the economy, improving employment and building the infrastructure and sustainability of remote and marginalised communities. To date, one specific region in Nicaragua has thoughtfully engaged multiple sectors to support TVET through public–private partnerships (PPPs) and community-level networks. The data for this article were collected through in-person interviews with TVET stakeholders over a two-week site visit in support of a USAID evaluation. In addition to interviews, data collection included analyses of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of TVET providers in the region. This study considers the demographics, economics and educational realities of Nicaragua and the potential for PPPs to enhance opportunities for youth and community development.     

Sexual abuse during childhood and adolescence among Nicaraguan men and women: a population-based anonymous survey

AIMS: The objective was to describe experiences of sexual abuse occurring before 19 years of age among men and women in León, Nicaragua and to explore the possible association to later sexual risk behavior. METHOD: A sub-sample of literate urban men and women 25-44 years of age was selected from a representative sample of households in León. After an invitation to a public health event, 154 men (53% of the invited) and 213 women (66% of those invited) participated in giving written answers to an anonymous questionnaire. RESULTS: Twenty percent of men and 26% of women reported that they had experienced sexual abuse. Women had been victims of attempted or completed rape twice as often as men, 15% as compared to 7%. Thirty-three percent of the abuse towards boys and 66% of the abuse towards girls was committed by family members. Women who had experienced attempted or completed rape were more likely to later have had a higher number of sexual partners compared to non-abused or moderately abused women. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual abuse of children and adolescents of both sexes is common in Nicaragua. The results underscore the urgent need to address this serious problem more openly, and to make more resources available for the prevention of sexual abuse and for support to victims.     

Evaluating a Special Education Training Programme in Nicaragua

This study examined a two-year special education and inclusive practices in-service training programme with a university in Nicaragua. Participants included 14 teachers from nine schools in Nicaragua. Participants’ knowledge of special education concepts were evaluated as part of assessing the training modules. In addition, programme evaluation information were collected. Results from the knowledge pre-and post-test indicated that participants made significant gains in their special education knowledge and the module evaluation forms indicate participants were highly satisfied with the project. Recommendations for planning and implementing a future training programme are also provided.     

Youth media and agency

This article addresses how capacity is conceived of and understood in youth media/civic education programming, and how beliefs about agency, development, relationality and youth manifests in the discourses, programmes, and practices of organizations operating youth media programmes. Through attention to a youth media and development programme in rural Nicaragua, the article addresses a key gap in theorizing how capacity operates within discourses and related practices that constitute ‘youth media’ and, in particular, it critically investigates how youth media discourse rests on an assumed foundation where capacity is defined as agency, empowerment or voice. This article situates youth media production within modernist discourses about education, development and ‘change’, in order to re-conceptualize agency through a mobilities framework that more fully attends to the complex and affective moments in youth media discourses.     

Avoiding the perils and fulfilling the promises of microfinance: A closer examination of the educational outcomes of clients’ children in Nicaragua

Many microfinance advocates claim that micro-credit has a positive effect on the educational outcomes of the children of micro-credit borrowers, and that these educational improvements provide us with evidence that micro-credit institutions are serving the social function for which they have been designed. This paper draws attention to this area of microfinance-impact research, and explores the promises and perils associated with the impact of microfinance on children's educational outcomes. The goal of this discussion is to ensure that the pervasive spread of microfinance to all parts of the globe is accompanied by benefits to children's educational outcomes. Drawing on the research we conducted in Nicaragua in 2008, we, the joint authors of this paper share insights that we hope can help to upgrade the practices currently being employed by both microfinancers and children's educational institutions, and to thereby strengthen academic-credit linkages within client households.