The Ministry of Education (Mined) ordered the teaching staff of public schools that have “technological equipment and internet access” to make murals, posters and infographics on the “life and achievements” of the late former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. This orientation is part of a series of political indoctrination activities that are carried out in schools, denounced teachers consulted by CONFIDENTIAL.
These murals, posters and infographics on Chávez —a character revered by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo—, will be made in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the death of the former president, who granted millions of dollars to the Sandinista government, which were used for enrichment of the presidential family and their relatives, but that will be paid by the Nicaraguans.
The activities will be guided by the teachers of the subjects of Social Sciences and “Learn, Undertake and Prosper” (AEP). According to an official document, students will take a virtual tour of an exhibition that was prepared by the Mined on his websitewhich includes the presentation of videos about Chávez and with that information, the students will prepare the murals, posters and infographics.
“The elaboration of murals alluding to Chávez has been going on since last year. Teachers always comply with the guidelines, even if they do not agree, because otherwise they are fired”, commented a teacher who asked to protect his identity.
“We are clear that it is indoctrination, but inside the schools are the people of ANDEN (National Association of Educators of Nicaragua) who are in charge of ensuring that the teachers ‘do not stray,’” he added.
“The director, teacher of the subject of AEP and social sciences and ICT teachers, will be responsible for guaranteeing the participation of the leading students, the digital materials produced must be placed on murals and shared through social networks and pages of the educational centers”, orders the circular of the Mined.
“The director told us: ‘do or do‘. And the truth is that food, hunger and need outweigh dignity. Thats the reality. Everyone is dissatisfied. Right now there was a massive resignation at the school where I work, through the same system”explained the teacher from Managua.
They prohibit Doña Violeta Barrios, Dora María Téllez
Another teacher indicated that in the work on women’s dignity, regarding the next anniversary —March 8 is International Women’s Day—, they were prohibited from including characters who are not related to government policy.
“They don’t want you to put Doña Violeta Barrios (Nicaragua’s first president), Gioconda Belli (poet and novelist), Dora María Téllez (historian and former guerrilla commander), women of history who are outside and who do not go with the politics of the Government”, he stressed.
“That was a controversy in the planning workshops because the teachers said how we are going to ignore history, they are depriving the students of history and they are asking us to put people who have nothing to do with the history of Nicaragua”, pointed out the teacher.
Teachers stated that schools now teach about “Rosario Murillo’s ideals, where she comes from, and the great changes she has made in the country”.
Schools also teach about the son of the presidential couple, Laureano Ortega Murillo. “Lor they get into a class that has a ridiculous name, it’s called Growing in Values. In this subject they send the primers with the information”, opined one of the teachers.
Sandinista secretaries in schools
The teachers highlighted that in the defense of the baccalaureate or educational activities they have to invite the political secretary of the neighborhood.
“Last year, in the exhibitions of the investigative work of the eleventh grade boys, the political secretary had to be present, even though his educational level is only primary”, expressed a teacher.
“Those levels have been reached. They are judges in each exhibition even though they have no idea what it is about, or are unaware of the structure of the investigation, ”he added.
“Honestly, our education is thrown away and unfortunately no matter how much we argue, they (Mined) do not accept the debate. This has caused many teachers to leave”, lamented one of the teachers.
Political indoctrination on the rise
Political indoctrination in schools is a practice that the dictatorship has been carrying out for years. In 2016, CONFIDENTIAL public “Worship of Ortega at school”. The report verified that official propaganda is even included in primary and secondary school textbooks, despite the fact that the Electoral Law prohibits party propaganda in schools.
In 2019, a group of high school students protested because they were forced to watch doctored videos of the April 2018 protests. On that occasion, a student broadcast live in which students were seen leaving an auditorium where the They had taken them to see a “truth” documentary of the fire in the house in the Carlos Marx neighborhood, a tragedy in which six members of a family were burned to death: four adults and two minors.
Students have also been seen carrying out activities alluding to Sandino or murals where the vice president and first lady, Rosario Murillo, appears. Likewise, in the patriotic parades in September the students have been forced to mark with photos of the presidential couple and with flags of the Sandinista Front.
In the last week of February 2023, the students were also forced to make murals in honor of the death anniversary of Augusto C. Sandino, which were exposed in the dictatorship’s propaganda media.
According to a representative of the the Federation of Secondary Students (FES)make these murals “allows them to identify talent from the centers and promote their art further”.
