The words of Rebeca Flores, a middle-schooler in the capital city of Tegucigalpa, reflect the hope of many youth.

Yet after two years of pandemic-related school closures, Honduras’ public schools find themselves in a vulnerable state. Recognizing that access to education is a justice issue, ASJ made the safe re-opening of public schools a priority in 2022.

Together with other civil society groups, we held press conferences and presented proposals until the government formally re-opened schools in April.

And in the months since, ASJ has drawn attention to the importance of recovering the years of lost learning. For example, third-graders who last saw a classroom in 2020 will need specialized attention in order to master writing and math.

One important way to invest in the long-term quality of education is to ensure children have the best teachers possible. So when the Honduran government began a process to hire 14,000 teachers nationwide, ASJ spoke up, as it has in years past, for a fair, transparent hiring process without nepotism or political influence.

As Honduras’s education system faces challenges, the dedicated teachers, parents, and community members who work for the improvement of their local schools inspire us.

Now that the Honduran school year is scheduled to end in November, ASJ is again calling on both the government and society to adopt creative solutions to bridge the gap for Honduras’ children.

Whether that means recruiting volunteers to tutor during the three-month vacation, organizing a thorough review of communities’ education needs, or adapting curriculum, ASJ-Honduras Executive Director Carlos Hernández says, “Our children should come first and we must work to recover what has been lost.”