ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CATHOLIC AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN EL SALVADOR

When parents want to send their children to school, they face a tough decision. They have to
decide whether to send them to a public school or to a catholic school (in case they are catholic,
which is very common here in El Salvador). Both have advantages and disadvantages, which will be
described next.

If we are talking about public schools, they are much cheaper than catholic schools, because most
of catholic schools are private, and that kind of education is more expensive. Here in El Salvador,
public schools have another big advantage: the government provides every year uniforms, and a
package of the necessary tools to study along the whole year, which reduces considerably the
children´s educational expenses. Given the situation here in El Salvador, those are great news for
parents. But, public schools have some disadvantages; the biggest one is that the quality of
education is not the same as in catholic schools. Besides that, students have fewer opportunities in
life because they graduated from a public school, since employers here in El Salvador choose
people graduated from private schools before even considering the ones graduated from public
schools. That is certainly a very big problem for the student´s future.

On the other hand, we have catholic schools. They offer a better quality of education as well as
clean buildings and desks, more space for students to fit it, etc. And, of course, they offer more
opportunities in life for students graduated from these kinds of schools. Besides, they offer
another kind of education that is the religious one, this helps to develop even more the moral
characteristics in a students; which is not done at all in public schools.

In conclusion, if you are a parent out there, looking for advice about what kind of school is better
for your children; do not doubt it for a second; catholic schools (or any kind involving religion) are
always the best choice; even though they are more expensive. That is something that often
happens here in El Salvador. Parents send their children to public schools because of the lack of
money. But, in my opinion, even with the lack of money, parents should make an effort to send
their children to the best school they can, preferably private or religious; because that guarantees
them lots of opportunities so they can be successful in life.

That is all for now, I hope that you parents out there reading this take this essay as an advice to
decide what is the best school, regardless the country where you are living in, for your children.