Guatemala

Guatemala (Republic of Guatemala;Spanish: República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast.

Its size is just under 110,000 km² with an estimated population of 14 million.

Its capital is Guatemala City.

Guatemala's abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems contribute to Mesoamerica's designation as a biodiversity hotspot.

Guatemala is a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Guatemala is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of the Republic. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Guatemala is divided into 22 departments (departamentos) and sub-divided into about 332 municipalities (municipios).

The departments include:

Alta Verapaz Baja Verapaz Chimaltenango [[Chiquimula Petén El Progreso El Quiché Escuintla Guatemala Huehuetenango Izabal

Jalapa Jutiapa Quetzaltenango Retalhuleu Sacatepéquez San Marcos Santa Rosa Sololá Suchitepéquez Totonicapán Zacapa

Guatemala is heavily centralized. Transportation, communications, business, politics, and the most relevant urban activity takes place in Guatemala City. There is only one highway that traverses the greater communities of the country. Some coastal towns are accessible only through the coast by boats.

Guatemala City has about 2 million inhabitants within the city limits and more than 5 million within in the urban area. This is a significant percentage of the population

According to the CIA World Factbook, Guatemala's GDP per capita is US$5,000; however, this developing country still faces many social problems and is among the 10 poorest countries in Latin America.[27] The distribution of income remains highly unequal with approximately 29%[28] of the population living below the poverty line and just over 400,000 (3.2%) unemployed. The World Bank considers three quarters of the population of Guatemala to be living in poverty. [29]

Remittances from Guatemalans who fled to the United States during the civil war now constitute the largest single source of foreign income (more than the combined value of exports and tourism).[30]

In last years the exporter sector of nontraditional products has grown dynamically representing more than 53 percent of global exports. Some of the main products for export are fruits, vegetables, flowers, handicrafts, cloths and others

e-learning

(Sourced from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/567/Guatemala-EDUCATIONAL-SYSTEM-OVERVIEW.html#ixzz0OqoI4mSr)

Although Spanish is the official language spoken in Guatemala, not all of its citizens are fluent in Spanish. Spoken among the nation's high Indian population are over 20 indigenous Mayan Indian languages, including K'iche', Kakchiquel, K'ekchi, Mam, and Quiche, which are used primarily in the rural areas of the country. In fact, only 60 percent of Guatemala's population speaks Spanish; the remaining 40 percent speak indigenous Mayan languages. These dialects are spoken in many of the country's rural schools. One of Guatemala's educational goals is to become uni-lingual, which means that ideally all Guatemalans would be able to speak Spanish. However, students who complete all 6 years of primary school and all 5 years of secondary may have as many as 11 years of English instruction, a trend which began around the time of Guatemala's break from dictatorship in the late 1940s. Since that time, school children, at least in the larger cities, may have also received training in other languages, especially French, German, and Italian. (Source: )

In chools, Lack of adequate educational technology remains a problem for the Guatemalan classroom, especially in the mountainous, rural areas. Absence of funding, limited technical access, and lack of operator expertise prevent all schools from being equipped with state-of-the-art computers and distance learning technology. However, these commodities are making their entrance into the universities, particularly the University of San Carlos, which boasts a fully updated website, student access to the Internet, and other interactive features. Students who can afford the required technology and tuition may participate in online education courses offered outside of the country

There is one public university in Guatemala, University of San Carlos de Guatemala, which was established more than 300 years ago, making it one of the oldest universities in Latin America.

There are also many private Universities - some of the important ones are: University of Rafael Landívar, University of Francisco Marroquín, University of Mariano Gálvez, Rural University of Guatemala, University of Galileo Galilei and the University of Guatemala Valley.

There are also other smaller universities that have been established more recently.

Generally, for private Universities the cost is not very high compared to the standards in other countries - the monthly tuition in a private university can vary from 300 quetzals (40 dollars) to 800 quetzals (100 dollars), depending on the university and the field of study.

Galileo University

The University of Galileo in Guatemala is a new university with a focus on information technology. Based in Guatemala, Galileo is a leader in Central America education in the study of technology planning and analysis; electrical engineering; and design, development, and application of educational technology solutions. Galileo awards undergraduate and masters degrees in technology. Galileo graduates are committed to using their strong technology background to address social development issues in both Guatemala and the broader international community. With its focus on technology and learning, Galileo needed a leading web-based technology for its local and distance learners. Since 1998, Galileo has been developing distance learning programs and physical class e-learning support. Its web site is http://www.galileo.edu/ - but see also http://dotlrn.org/users/galileo/

It looks a priori as though this is a Programme.

Universidad Francisco Marroquín

Universidad Francisco Marroquín ("Francisco Marroquín University") is a private, secular, university in Guatemala City, Guatemala that was founded in 1971. According to the school's website, "the mission of Universidad Francisco Marroquín is to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons." The website also states that UFM "has the most rigorous entrance requirements in the country."

Started by members of Centro de Estudios Economico-Sociales ("Center for the Study of Socioeconomics") with $40,000 and 125 students, UFM now (as of 2005) boasts almost 1700 undergraduate students, 474 graduate students, 450 medical/dental students, and 130 non-degree-seeking students.http://www.ufm.edu/atgalance.asp The university also offers instruction via the distance learning program, referred to by its acronym: IDEA. In 1998, the distance learning program had more than 10,000 students enrolled. The language of instruction is Spanish, but since many course texts and some lectures are in English, students are expected to be proficient in that tongue as well.

According to Milton Friedman, UFM is "...a first-rate university that is having a significant effect on the climate of opinion in Latin America. I know of hardly any comparable success story..." For more see http://www.tripwolf.com/en/guide/show/19396/Guatemala/Guatemala-City/Universidad-Francisco-Marroquin

Teacher training

See http://www.adams.edu/news/jan0909/jan0909.php

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