Mexico, Yaltem

The current classrooms at this high school are made of wood and metallic plates. The cold from the mountains permeates which makes it very hard to study. Despite the precarious conditions for learning, 60% of the students attending this school come from 8 different neighboring communities. It could still attract more students, but poor infrastructure hinders enrollment. Most of the students walk to school, since there is no collective transportation to this community. There are students walking 2 hours by foot, each way. Yaltem is one hour and a half from San Cristobal by car, the closest small city. It’s isolation and lack of public services has maintained this village with a high marginalization. There is potential for growth. Back in 2013, Escalera built two classrooms for the middle school in Yaltem. Today there are more than 120 students enrolled and 44 will graduate this year. We have experienced how infrastructure is long term investment, today there is a need for infrastructure for the next level: high school. Yaltem’s high school was opened five years ago. The Colegio de Bachilleres (public high school provider) hired five teachers and a principal to teach at this school. In the first generation, 14 students started high school and 8 of them graduated after 3 years. Last year 28 youths started high school at Yaltem, this means more than double than when the facilities opened. Escalera is a driving force for this. Through the REACH program, Foundation Escalera is providing scholarships to ninth graders students from this community to support them in the transition into high school.