16 Ecuador School Facts You DON’T KNOW ABOUT

[@thegreatzaza9293]

I really enjoyed the content of this one, I did not know any of these facts! And by the way I liked your thumbnail for this one. The look on your face is perfect! 😂

[@GMAceM]

Glad I was able to give some new info and ironically I still have more 😅 Hahahaha I wasn’t sure if the thumbnail face was going to be ideal but I went for it 😂

[@a.alexandrajimenez8437]

I didn't know most of the information you shared. Thanks so much!! 🥳🥳

[@GMAceM]

I’m really glad to hear that I was able to give value, thanks for watching! 🥳

[@k_and_m8745]

Interesting to me given the number of times I have gone to the parades. It explains a bit about why I am seeing so many different schools represented and why some children are holding flags and those who do not. My first Ecuadorian friend in the city I live in runs the kitchen in one of the schools, I am going to ask him how it plays out with meal times vs. children.

[@GMAceM]

The parades are really nice and very organized. Kids get pulled out of classes to prepare for these events since they’re a pretty big deal and even the mayor of the city attends with a bunch of invited guests. I’m glad that this video helped you know why some of the kids didn’t hold the flags, it’s definitely a privilege for those who do get to do so. Oh boy, I hope your friend has an easier time than the lunch ladies I’ve seen at both the high school I went to and the high schools I’ve worked at. 😅 Thanks for watching!

[@k_and_m8745]

I am waiting on his review of your video and am interested to see what he thought. He was in yge tourism industry before COVID started and he may be good person for an interview on a few things.

[@GMAceM]

@@k_and_m8745 that sounds awesome! Hope to hear from him and it would be great to be able to talk.

[@carlosespinoza2453]

Very good presentation Ace. A lot of similarities with Peru. I have a couple of question. are there special interest schools in Ecuador as Colegio Matemáticos ? and . . . is learning a second language an obligatory course at school ? Here in most of the case is english but also french / german / italian / japanese / chinese

[@GMAceM]

Excellent questions! If I remember correctly, the school I went to when I got here was called a “colegio técnico” and when entering the “bachillerato” the students had 3 options: Computer sciences, electronics, and sciences. When you graduated, your high school diploma would reflect the specialization you had chosen. I haven’t seen any other high school in the city I’m in that’s like that and I don’t think it’s a very common thing. But that leads me to the answer to the second question, there are high schools in Ecuador that focus on languages. For example here in the city I’m in, there’s one very notable city that prides itself on being “bilingual” and even “trilingual”. In Quito, my cousin told me about a few schools that each specialize in a specific language (apparently a school for each language). I can’t remember their names though. But adding to this answer, the majority of schools have English as an obligatory second language. It’s very uncommon to find a school that offers another language and even when they do, most students “have to” learn English. The quotation marks are there because I know that realistically students don’t always learn the language to the level that is demanded by the school but even then somehow still end up passing.

[@FallofftheMap]

As an immigrant in Ecuador the schools are one of the most frustrating and disappointing things. The focus on uniforms and parading while failing to pay enough to hire adequately educated and talented teachers is part of the problem. The private schools seem to cut corners, make promises they can’t keep, and charge a lot of money while investing as little as possible in actual education. I love living in Ecuador, but it breaks my heart to send my kids to school here.

[@GMAceM]

This comment is very important and I appreciate you taking the time to write it out. Would you mind me using this comment in one of my upcoming podcast episodes? I’d really like to dive into my experience not only as a teacher, but also as someone who studied here in Ecuador.

[@Sketchbook999]

If people live off grid then they don't have to send their children to school

[@FallofftheMap]

@@Sketchbook999 there are a lot of kids that don’t get any education in Ecuador and plenty of kids living in remote places that don’t even have a road that still go to school. I wanted to send my kids to a school in the campo but my wife insisted on a school in Quito.

[@magnusb6311]

Very nice and interesting even for someone who don't have kids. We do similar like you in Sweden in the sense that we don't have school buses. We utilize the buses there already is. I was brought up walking to school in the village where I grew up, beginning 3rd grade we could also bicycle to school. Unless you live in the countryside that is what most students will do. Question, I never really understood what is the class system. Like in USA they have compulsory 1+12 years in school from pre-school to graduation, while we in Sweden now have 1+9 years to basically study the same knowledge. We did not used to have compulsory pre-school, that is new. How many years do you have to be in school to reach the same level as someone graduating senior in USA? And how many years is compolsary?

[@GMAceM]

Thank you for taking the time to check it out! I feel like the events and such that are linked with schools are pretty important to know about since they do form a part of the lives of the people who live here. When I think about the distances that need to be traveled to get to school, it makes me wish there were more programs that would make it easier for those kids to get to school you know? I call it the class system but maybe there’s a better name for it but the way it works in the states is like this (from what I remember): Elementary school (grades 1-5) Middle school (grades 6-8) High school (grades 9-12) I really should’ve dove in depth with the curriculum but in the states there’s a bit more freedom of choice in high school where you choose what classes you take, electives you prefer and such. There’s also an option (at least where I studied) to take higher level classes. In Ecuador that doesn’t exist and high school feels very much like all other school years except with the subjects being harder. Some schools do have a “specialization” where you can have a higher focus on electronics, computer science, or sciences. As for compulsory learning, I wasn’t sure what you meant by that but if it means “obligatory education” (like: kids have to study until they’re X years old) then I don’t know if that exists. As I mentioned in the video some adults come back to high school since they never finished as kids.

[@magnusb6311]

@@GMAceM LOL, when you use the word class system it brings pictures of the 4 classes plus the untouchables in India... I know what you mean. Yes, when I wrote compolsory, I mean obligatory. I guess, in a sense a similar meaning. OK, so no obligatory school then. We have something similar, specialization dont start before high school for us, and that is 7th grade. You can go the road of learning a 3rd language, which usually is either German or French. People here i Mexico wonder why I know so many languages but not Spanish.... LOL, Spain is the only country in Europe that speak Spanish, and although there are about 47 million Spaniards in Europe, it has not really become a influencal language in Europe. However in all of South and Central America, apart from Brazil, French Guyana, Surinam, Guyana, Trinidad and the ABC islands, Spanish is the main language in all other countries. Falling off the track. Specialization, Languages, extra PE/sports, Mechanics or arts. I thnk one of the problems in my home country is that the schools become larger with more students and further apart. It is becoming centralized to save money. At the same time they go from 1 teacher and 15-20 studens to 2 teachers with 30-40 students. It is not at all as effective. I really liked this eposide. You went into details about what questions people really may have if they move to Ecuador with kids. Not everyone considering Ecuador is in it for retirement. Some idea came to my mind the other day when watching an episode of ABliving. What about home schooling. What are the laws and regulations around it? How to go about it. It seems to be popular among expats. Perhaps you can make an episode on the subjects.

[@wiggy5927]

Is there college level wrestling in Ecuador?

[@magnusb6311]

I will let Ace answer for Ecuador but I do doubt it. I think the College sport thing is mainly a US and Canada thing. UK has some but not as organized as in the US. Interested to learn about Ecuador and college sports.

[@GMAceM]

Hello! For the most part it’s like Magnus says, there aren’t college level sports in general. Sometimes they’ll hold some sports tournaments for newcomers to the University but after that nothing. The exception is if you’re studying the “physical education” career, you have friends who do sports (and do them on weekends), or you happen to train at the federation or a private institute. Contrary to that you don’t really see sports anymore except on the TV lol

[@vanessamaribelarevaloanchu6407]

that is a good video

[@scarlettjewell8092]

Viveza Criolla - lines and waiting your turn do not exist in Ecuador. I can't tell you how many times I have been the first in line while waiting for the bus. Everyone that came after clearly saw that I was first. Yet they will ALWAYS walk in front of me and even elbow their way in. If they taught school children how to wait in line and wait their turn, the next generation may actually learn to think of others.