After working in the school systems in both the US and Peru, I often find myself comparing the two and how they function. I'll save you a long drawn observation, but ask you to consider this last Parents meeting I attended here in Yuracoto. When is the last time your local public school held a mandatory meeting*, where the parents came in their traditional dress, and yelled (in Quechua) at the director for 3 hours about animals eating the school's plants, kids escaping because there is no fence around the school, and how they don't want a woman to be the disciplinary teacher at the school (fearing that the students won't listen to a woman)? It's not better or worse, it's just different.
 |
| The parents listening to the director. |
 |
| This is the book that every parent must bring to the meeting to show that they attended. It is stamped and signed (this time by me because the secretary was busy). And the parents at the end of the year who don't have all the stamps needed, they pay fines. |
