LEGAL BASIS OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN

GUATEMALA
ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IN BENEFIT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION IN
GUATEMALA.

After a long posture of indifference that lasted several decades in which the Government of
Guatemala remained a spectator in relation to the country's special children, in issues such
as education, health, work and, most importantly, insertion into Guatemalan society, The
Department of Special Education was created on February 24, 1985, according to
government agreement 156-95, whose main objectives will be stated below. (*)

This dependency of the Ministry of Education comes to complement the work it does,
erasing to a minimum the classism that has characterized it, since it has focused its few
efforts on education in the metropolitan area, forgetting that rural children are also part of
our future and not to mention, the special children, constant beings who need the union and
support of the Guatemalan authorities to get ahead

In April 2002, the Ministry of Education signed an agreement to promote the Inclusive
Education process for the benefit of people with disabilities, an Inter-American Inclusion
initiative, in coordination with the CECC and the Ministers of Education of the Central
American region.

The Guatemalan state has ratified the Inter-American Convention for the Elimination of all
forms of discrimination against people with disabilities, approved by the Organization of
American States in Guatemala (1999).

In accordance with the diagnosis of the Educational Sector in Guatemala, carried out in the
month of July 2002, which develops three main components: Coverage, Quality, and
Financing, the relevant findings that were obtained from the analysis of the information are
presented below. :

GOALS.

* Create and implement Special Education programs aimed at the school population with
special educational needs, which allow them adequate education and rehabilitation,
favoring their integration into the regular educational system.

* Achieve through the PAIME programs (Integrated Classroom Program of the Ministry of
Education) and PARME (Classroom Program, Resource of the Ministry of Education),
reduce the rates of absenteeism, dropout and repetition in the Basic Education Cycle.

* Provide specialized attention to students who have learning problems, contributing to

overcoming their difficulties that allow their reintegration into the regular teaching process.
* Promote actions that allow services to be provided in the field of Special Education,
aimed at the application of coverage at the national level and which currently has fifty (50)
teachers who attend to special educational needs in the rural area of the country. (Two
teachers per department). Working with the PAIME and PARME Programs, as initial
programs, since it is intended to work on programs that cover the needs of each population
in the near future, depending on the organization and support obtained from the Ministerial
Authorities for the operation and budget. annual of the Department of Special Education.

* Develop the Parent School Program, guiding and implementing parents in psycho-
pedagogical issues that allow them to know themselves, accept their children's problems
and improve the quality of life in the family.

* Permanently train in-service teachers at the primary level of the country's official schools
and the teachers who make up the Special Education programs of the Department of
Special Education, as well as the practicing students of the Teaching Career, on related
topics. with Special Education and Learning Problems, through planned courses,
visualizing the idea that by educating teachers, teaching techniques are improved and
therefore the prevention of learning problems

Legal framework

The legal framework that governs the educational sector in Guatemala is, in the first
instance, the Political Constitution of the Republic, version of May 31, 1985, which
establishes:

 The right to initial, pre-primary, primary and basic education, within the age limits
set by the Law, guaranteeing freedom of teaching and teaching criteria.
 The obligation of the state to provide and facilitate education to its inhabitants,
without any discrimination. It declares that the primary purpose of education is the
integral development of the human person and the knowledge of reality and national
and universal culture.
In article 53, the state guarantees the protection of the disabled and people who suffer from
physical, mental or sensory limitations.

2.1.1 POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC - ARTICLES 71-74

Education:
Fourth section establishes that “it is the obligation of the state to provide and facilitate
education to its inhabitants without any discrimination”
Compulsory education: inhabitants have the right and obligation to receive initial, pre-
primary, primary and basic education within the age limits established by law.
The state will promote special education, diversity and extracurricular activities. ARLEE

2.1.2 NATIONAL EDUCATION LAW, LEGISLATIVE DECREE NO. 12-91-

ARTICLES 48 TO 51
The purposes of special education are specified and it is determined to promote the
comprehensive development of people with special educational needs as well as promote
the integration and normalization of people with disabilities. Delimiting the functions of the
Ministry of Education in relation to special education.

2.1.3 LAW ON CARE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES - DECREE 135-96 -

ARTICLES 25 TO 23

This law establishes that a person with a disability has the right to education from early
stimulation to higher education, as long as his or her physical or mental limitation allows it.
This provision includes both public and private education.

The Ministry of Education will promote the formulation of educational programs that
contain the special needs of people with disabilities.

The state must develop the necessary means for people with disabilities to participate in
educational services that favor their condition and development. The articles define the
responsibilities of education, so that inclusive and quality education is provided throughout
the educational system.

2.1.4 EDUCATIONAL REFORM - AREA OF EQUITY

The Guatemalan educational reality has been characterized by a lack of equity, which is
manifested in the indigenous and non-indigenous population. One of the bastions of
educational reform is to promote equity with respect to the rights of the entire population,
providing opportunities for socioeconomic and cultural development.

Among the equity policies are attention to the population with special educational needs.
Among its strategies are the development of decentralized coverage modalities, the training
of specialized personnel in areas of special education, the training of specialized personnel
in areas of special, technical and occupational education for people with disabilities and the
design of appropriate methodologies and materials.

Within the educational reform process, the topic is included in the curricular transformation
part, as well as in the long-term National Education Plan and the Education for All Plan
2000-2015 (Dakkar).

The incorporation of the issue in the Educational Reform Law is necessary, since this
would legalize the process and make it inclusive.

There has been advocacy from civil society for the issue to be considered within all axes of
the Educational Reform, and the Department of Special Education coordinated and
integrated contents of the curricular transformation at the infant and primary level., in the
curriculum of studies for the teaching career

The most important aspect is to include it in the Educational Reform Law so that the
process of attention and access to education is legalized. The structure of the educational
system is going to change, from initial education to university education, since it must be
binding. Other laws such as Decree 15-85, Law 12-91 must be reviewed to include the
issue and have a joint vision; it is important to review the labor and salary policy so that the
issue is included in relation to teachers.

The strategy that can be implemented is to achieve participation in the different

Commissions of the Educational reform: Human Resources, Gender, Advocacy with
Authorities of the Ministry of Education, with the universities to identify spaces for
coordination.

There is low coverage:

a) In the specific case of Guatemala, data that reflects the reality of the population that
receives Special Education is not recorded in the population and coverage
yearbooks. The great problem of INVISIBILITY affects a great magnitude since it
seems that they are not attended to, or what is even more serious "they do not exist."

b) Education in Guatemala is offered by the public sector, the private sector and the
cooperative sector. The public sector serves pre-primary and primary school,
Special Education is served mainly by the private sector, and in the departments
and municipalities of the interior, by parents.

c) According to demographic estimates, the number of people with disabilities of

school age in the country amounts to no less than 420,000 (representing 35% of the
total population with disabilities); of which only a minimum (1.8%) receives some
type of attention, in most cases biased.

But even more serious is that in most cases, for every common person, they are not
included in their relationships, in their life projects, in their businesses, in their entities and
even less in their dreams.

2.1.5 GOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT- 156-95- ALL ARTICLES

With this agreement, the special education department of the Ministry of Education is
created to develop special education strategies and actions in the educational system.

2.1.6 POLICY AND REGULATIONS ON ACCESS TO EDUCATION FOR THE

POPULATION WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS, MINISTERIAL
AGREEMENT NO. 830-2003

Establishes the technical and administrative procedures that must be implemented to serve
students with special educational needs associated or not with disabilities, in the national
educational system, promoting the integration and inclusion of this population.

It promotes education based on the abilities, skills and abilities of the students and
promotes educational attention as early as possible, with the participation of teachers,
parents and the educational community.
2.1.7 INCLUSIVE EDUCATION POLICY

It contemplates a new vision of education aimed at the population with special educational
needs and the need for education for all in less restricted environments.

The strategic objectives and strategic lines for their application in the next five years are
defined, in addition, the roles of the actors involved in the education of the population with
special educational needs with and without disabilities are defined.
AMANDA

CONCLUSION

In relation to the guidelines established in the Educational Reform, which have been raised
by civil society and the Department of Education. Special Ministry of Education. proposals
that the issue be taken into consideration in the Educational Reform so that the changes
generated allow the mandate of “Education for All” to be guaranteed Dakkar, 2002.

The educational rights of people with disabilities must be fully incorporated into all
components of the Educational Reform and it is the task of the Ministry of Education and
the Advisory Commission for Educational Reform to ensure this.

It also implies preparing the conditions so that the interests and educational needs of people
with disabilities are considered in all thematic axes that are addressed in the future, such as
Legal Reforms.