Access to English for thousands of youth in El Salvador

El Salvador with its 6.6 million people, is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. El Salvador is beset by one of the world's highest homicide rates and pervasive criminal gangs. The homicide rate in El Salvador has plummeted drastically since the 2022 Salvadoran gang crackdown which has led the country to have the highest incarceration rate in the world. Because of poor future prospects, many youth decide to emigrate despite the danger and uncertainty that such a journey brings.

Approach and Solution

The central idea is that one teacher, fluent in English, could, with 40 hours of training, accompaniment and mentoring, serve four groups of 30 students each. These students would be taught English for 10 hours a week for 20 months. A group of 500 teachers can potentially serve 50,000 students.

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soul.com brought together various institutions and organisations with the aim to collaborate and support each other. In 2022, a cohort of English teachers from six universities, together with university students (English and psychology) were invited to participate in a two-year pilot project to work with high school students. The facilitators were trained in the use of a free language program for English designed by an alumni of the Salvadoran American Scholarship Program (SASP) of the Universidad de Oriente facilitated through the American Embassy. University students could count their time and effort as part of their social service obligations to the community.

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The Ministry of Education has provided laptop computers to all students in the country to assist them in their education. In addition, computers were provided to the facilitators of the program, including team accounts.

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Some of the facilitators were trained in two courses of soul.com called “Soul-driven Leadership - Trust” and “Becoming an Agent of Change”. This training enabled the facilitators to engage the youth in conversations about how they can see themselves as protagonists of their own future and dedicate their energies towards positive change in themselves and in their immediate environment. Integrated in this mentorship is the accompaniment of youth in carrying out small acts of service in the youth’s own homes, neighbourhoods, and communities.

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Throughout the project, facilitators were accompanied by a dedicated group of experienced soul.com facilitators. Regular reflection sessions were organised to share experiences and learn from each other.

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Within this context, soul.com started a collaboration in 2018 with the Ministry of Education, the American Embassy, and six universities to strengthen a youth movement that would develop their language skills, as well as their ability to act as an agent of change in their own communities. They named this initiative: English for a better future.

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The aim of the program was to assist 50,000 high school students to improve their English greatly and to see themselves as agents of change in their society. This effort would be supported by the creation of job opportunities in call centres and remote employment for international companies, providing training for their first job. In addition, community service and volunteering would be integrated in the program, along with pursuing university studies. This approach would attract established businesses and encourage local entrepreneurship, thus generating decent jobs and promoting sustainable economic growth in the country.

Results and Impact

The results of the pilot project have been encouraging. Some figures:

• 300 students were initially trained as facilitators, while 190 of them completed the project. 83 students started the Agents of Change program, of which 33 finished all sessions.
• 1200 young people nationwide participated in the program, significantly improving their English language skills. The students passed the following official tests: some text
  • 250 students reached A1 - Basic Use (Beginner)
  • 208 students reached A2 - Basic Use (Pre - Intermediate)
  • 204 students at B1 - Independent Use (Intermediate)
  • 111 students at B2 - Independent Use (Upper Intermediate)
  • 67 students at C1 - Expert Use (Advanced)
  • 9 students at C2 - Expert Use (Proficient)
• Over 200 acts of service or meaningful actions were performed by youth in various settings (including visiting youth in vulnerable areas and engaging other youth in conversations about being agents of change.
• 8,000 university students participated in the ‘Days of Meaningful Conversations’ launched by the MInistry of Education (6 May 2023)

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Some comments of the actors of the project:

“I can say that this experience changed my life, not only in my personal life, but also in my professional life. …this program awakened within me even more that flame of community service… Now I feel that my profession is worthwhile, since I am the one who is contributing a grain of sand to our society in order to have a country with more opportunities in the future.”  

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University teacher who acted as coordinator of the program

After having participated in the Agents of Change course, I can say that no matter where I am I can carry out an initiative to make a change that is necessary and significant… Another thing is that I also learned to listen to others and thus learn something from them.

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High school student

One of my goals was to improve my English level and I can gladly say that I accomplished that goal and with the classes I felt very comfortable learning about how to become an agent of change.

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High school student

Based on the experience of the first cohort of students, a new cohort has started in 2024, training 450 university students, who in turn will accompany 10,000 in groups of 25 high school students each. In consultation with the Ministry of Education, plans are being developed to train an additional 50,000 students in the program.