Osmel Almaguer
Minutes before, the three of us met in the administration office to make last minute arrangements and develop our strategies. The principal — with the test in hand — made comments about how difficult it was, especially considering the low levels of our students.
Also present was a municipal educational methodologist. Listening to the instructions, what took me aback was that I was asked to give certain information to the students while they were taking the test. This was information they were being tested on, which, incidentally, had been prepared by the Ministry of Education of the municipality.
The methodologist agreed, adding a few comments about the students’ weaknesses. What struck me was that he was speaking without the slightest trace of guilt or responsibility for the academic ill-preparedness of the students.
“They come here with certain gaps from junior high,” he said, as if all of us weren’t part of a collapsing educational system.
At the indicated time, I did my job. They asked me to become that little bird that always whispers secrets and whose identity is never discovered.
I helped the students as best I could, trying not to out-and-out cheat. Still, it’s difficult to oppose a cycle of negligence on the part of families, their previous schools and society in general, as well the vulnerability of youth to playing the game.
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