Finishing sixth grade is an important milestone for students in rural Guatemala. But for many families, it also brings a difficult question: Can our child keep going?
The transition to básico, Guatemala’s three years of lower secondary or middle school, often comes with new costs and new pressures. Tuition, books, uniforms, shoes, supplies, and transportation can add up quickly. At the same time, young people may already be contributing at home or earning income making every additional year spent in school a real economic decision for a family.
School the World scholarships are designed to help students make that transition. A scholarship is a three-year commitment through grades 7–9, giving students and their families greater confidence that if they begin middle school, support will be there to help them finish.
At middle schools in Chitatul and Xatinap I, students and parents describe what that opportunity looks like in very practical terms.
For Gaspar González, a 14-year-old eighth grader attending school in Chitatul, the scholarship helps pay for his backpack, books, and tuition.
He is already thinking beyond middle school. “When I grow up, I want to be an English teacher.”
Gaspar believes education will help him find a good job. His mother, Rita Vicente, sees the scholarship from the perspective of a household budget.
“Money is tight, and expenses are high,” she said. Shoes and uniforms wear out quickly as children grow. Rita never attended school, and neither did Gaspar’s father. For her, seeing her son continue his education represents an opportunity they did not have themselves.
At Xatinap I, 15-year-old Norberta Tipáz makes the tradeoff even more explicit. Now in ninth grade and preparing to graduate, Norberta says that without the scholarship, school would not have been financially possible. “I would have had to work in a shop selling beans, rice, and sugar.”
Instead, the scholarship has helped cover tuition, uniforms, notebooks, and other supplies so she can remain in school through the completion of básico.
For families with limited income, the cost of education is not simply another bill. It competes with income a young person may already be earning and other immediate needs within the household.
The transition to middle school can also mean traveling farther from home.
Ingrid Xon, a 14-year-old eighth grader attending Xatinap I, lives about a 45-minute walk from school. Before receiving scholarship support for transportation, she walked both ways while also managing responsibilities at home. The scholarship now helps pay for both her school supplies and transportation.
“I don’t have to walk there and back anymore,” Ingrid said. She described being exhausted by the trip, getting wet when it rained, and dealing with the strong sun. Most importantly, she said, “Now I get to school and back home safely.”
For girls and young women in particular, reliable transportation can be about more than distance or saving time. It can remove a safety concern that might otherwise make attending school every day more difficult for a student and her family.
The parents we spoke with repeatedly connected their children’s education to opportunities they themselves never had.
Moisés Benito’s daughter Yesica is a 15-year-old eighth grader attending school in Chitatul. Moisés can read and write only a little, and his wife never attended school. “I want a different life for Yesica. A better future.”
He described the difficulties his wife faces when she cannot read signs or documents and the ways Yesica is already able to help her. “I don’t want that reality for my children,” he said.
At Xatinap I, Teresa López expressed a similar hope for her daughter, Ingrid Zacarías, a 16-year-old ninth grader who is graduating this year. Teresa never finished school and can read and write only a little. “I don’t want her to suffer the way I have because I didn’t study.”
She wants Ingrid to continue learning so she has opportunities for work and independence that were not available to her mother.
For these families, a scholarship is doing more than covering the cost of school. It is helping make a different educational path possible for the next generation.
Financial support can also change how fully students are able to participate once they get to school.
Anselma Zapeta, director at Xatinap I, remembers one scholarship recipient who rarely spoke or participated and seemed unhappy. When scholarship funds allowed her to purchase materials, teachers discovered that she had a talent for drawing and painting. “We had no idea she possessed that talent,” Anselma said.
She saw the student become happier, more social, and more engaged. “Our young people have the talent and potential,” Anselma said, “but lack the funds for their education.”
This story is an important reminder of what access can make possible. When students have the resources to participate, they have more opportunities to discover their abilities and imagine what they might do with them.
At the middle school in Chitatul, Director Elí Delgado has seen the difference scholarships can make for students whose families simply cannot absorb the additional cost of continuing their education. “Were it not for STW scholarships, many of our students would not have been able to pursue their education due to a lack of financial resources,” he said.
The barriers after sixth grade are rarely limited to one thing.
It might be tuition or a new pair of shoes. The income a student could otherwise contribute to the household. A long walk to school. Family responsibilities. Or growing up in a household where parents themselves had little opportunity to continue their education.
A three-year scholarship helps make the transition to middle school possible and gives students the opportunity to show what they can do once they get there.
Our recent review of six years of scholarship data in Guatemala and Honduras reinforces that point: students who remain enrolled generally advance academically at high rates. Scholarships are helping students make the transition, and the students themselves are demonstrating that they can succeed.
Read what six years of scholarship data is teaching us about staying in school.
For students like Gaspar, Norberta, Ingrid, and Yesica, the opportunity to continue after sixth grade can mean three more years of education, a middle school diploma, and a wider set of possibilities for what comes next.
Support a School the World scholarship and help a student keep going.
