El Salvador’s government recently named military captain Karla Trigueros as the country’s new education minister, in a move which has been criticized by some teachers.
The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, announced Trigueros’ appointment on August 14th, writing: “If we want to build the country we deserve, we must break paradigms.”
He continued: “[Trigueros’] mission will be to prepare future generations to successfully face the challenges of tomorrow and achieve the highest standards of quality demanded by the new El Salvador we are building.
Trigueros hails from a background in the military and in medicine.
In January 2007, she became a cadet at the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School. During her studies, she received a scholarship to study medicine at the Alberto Masferrer Salvadoran University.
Trigueros then went on to practise medicine at the country’s Central Military Hospital before being assigned to the Military Health Command (COSAM) in 2019, where she played a key role in coordinating vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Mr. President, Nayib Bukele, it is with a profound sense of gratitude and responsibility that I accept the honor of serving as our country’s Minister of Education. I assume this position with a firm commitment to work tirelessly to transform our education system,” Trigueros wrote on X following her appointment.
She also pledged to demonstrate “experience, discipline, and vocation” in her new role.
Shortly after her appointment, Trigueros introduced a set of rules for public schools and their students via a memorandum, which establishes that the headteachers of public schools are “responsible for ensuring compliance” with regulations and must “assume their position as role models in order and discipline for students, teachers, and administrative staff.”
Headteachers are required to welcome their students at the school entrance on a daily basis, where students will be subject to checks on their appearance. All students must arrive with a “clean and neat uniform,” as well as an “appropriate haircut” and “proper personal appearance.”
Haircuts such as mohawks and the “Edgar cut”- a bowl cut-like hairstyle which has become popular among young Latin American men over recent years- are now forbidden.
The rules also dictate that students must offer a “respectful greeting” upon arriving at school.
Videos have appeared online of students being subject to strict checks upon arriving at their schools, with some seemingly being refused entry for non-compliance with the regulations.
A few days after publishing the memorandum for public schools, Trigueros issued another announcement in which she declared that “all educational institutions” must carry out weekly “Civic Mondays” in order to “strengthen national identity, civic values, and discipline in our student community.”
Civic Mondays will involve 30-minute ceremonies during which students must stand in formation.The ceremonies will also include the singing of the national anthem, a prayer to the Salvadoran flag, and a speech delivered by a student about a notable Salvadoran figure or historical event. The start and end of the ceremonies will be marked by the presentation and withdrawal of the country’s flag.
The announcement also states that all schools will be assigned a fund of $300 USD to purchase flags, white gloves for flagbearers, or “any other necessities related to the aforementioned activity.”
Trigueros’ appointment has been condemned by the Salvadoran Teachers’ Front as “absurd.” In a statement, the group wrote: “It is worrying that the new minister is a military officer, as it raises the possibility of a regrettable militarization of Salvadoran public education, which took place during the military dictatorship.”
The statement continued: “We consider this aberrant action to be another blow inflicted by the far-right Bukele administration upon the education sector, shamelessly aimed at accelerating the deterioration of public education, with the goal of privatizing education.”
Featured image credit:
Image: Trigueros being sworn in by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele
Source: https://x.com/nayibbukele/status/1956175494111506881/photo/1
