Why do some children receive a public school education and others a private school education?
A portion of the youth who need an education at Casa Generación are able to enroll in the local public schools, but the remaining children are not accepted and are forced to enroll in a more expensive private school. Generally, when the kids arrive to Generación, they haven’t received an education that matches their age. For this reason, the public schools don’t want to accept them if they are not caught up to their grade. Another important factor is that many children lack documentation of their identity (I.D. card or passport, etc.).
Private schools can help by giving children documentation, and they do not restrict children in entering the grade level that correlates to their level of education, and they even engage in strengthening the child’s education enough so that they can rise in their education levels. Both public and private educations are strongly needed for the children of Generación.
"My name is Marcelo. I am 18 years old. I love the school that I go to... I’ve been a part of Generación for 9-10 years. Going from being a child who grew up in the streets to being a really good student now is a huge accomplishment for me and I’m really proud of that. I finish school next year. My goal is to study industrial engineering or civil engineering, or if I don’t do that I’d love to study law. I love math in school, but I enjoy all subjects. I learn really quickly and I have a really positive attitude going into all of my classes. For me, education is the base of a person, where we learn how to treat one another, and where we learn our values. It really depends on the attitude of the person who is getting the education, if you want to learn from it, you will."