tidings
Grevic Alvarado
More than 300 migrant teenagers are completing their high school education through Dawere International High School, registered with the Florida Department of Education.
Students learn through virtual classes with the support of the NGO TTV Solidarity Network (TTVSolnet) and various sponsors.
Emily Matute, 16, and fellow students Carlos Paredes, 16, and Luis Paredes, 17, came to TT about five years ago. All three had to drop out of high school in Venezuela when their families decided to leave the country in search of a better quality of life.
Matute is from Caracas. Carlos and Luis are from Maturin, Monagas State.
Matute was about to enter his first year of high school. Carlos was in the first year, while Luis was in the second form.
All three were part of the founding group of Dawere TT in 2019. They graduated a few weeks ago. They are part of the first group of 85 Venezuelan teenagers who have completed their high school studies as immigrants in TT.
Matute was the first student to enroll in the program. She was able to complete the educational plan in the same time frame as if she were in Venezuela. “I want to continue my studies. I want to be a professional and I have several things in mind,” she said.
Her parents, Yenitza Molina and Elkin Matute, are proud of their daughter.
Matute said: “It has been a challenge because education is one of the first commitments parents should make to their children to prepare them for life. Children develop their skills after great efforts and by watching them already going towards a university career and being able to talk about the culture in general, it’s a wonderful thing.”
“With the help of TTVSolnet has been the basis of all this. We will have great professionals in the future, immigrants who have been able to study in the middle of their situation”, said Molina.
Carlos Paredes and Rosiris Rincones, parents of Carlos and Luis, said when they arrived at TT their main concern was their children’s studies. With the opening of the Dawere program they saw a great opportunity to continue their normal lives.
They live in Princes Town and started with online classes in maths, physics, chemistry and English. They then attended face-to-face teaching support classes in San Fernando at the Presentation College from Monday to Friday from 3-5pm, after the local students had finished school.
With the advent of the Covid19 pandemic, they had to return to virtual classrooms until they completed their education.
“We are assured that now they can enter any university in the world,” said Paredes.
Carlos wants to study medicine or law. Luis wants to study medicine.
Paredes said he thanks God that his children can thrive despite being immigrants. Now they have to plan their next educational step.
Paredes said: “Access to higher education in TT is very difficult for immigrants, especially because of the costs. We have to think about what we are going to do now.”
As they make decisions, Carlos and Luis are taking courses in English, electricity and even medicine.
Gersy Goatche, Dawere coordinator at TT and director of TTVsolnet, told Newsday that students receive high school diplomas signed and stamped by the Florida Department of Education.
Currently 220 students have just finished the semester. For the next classes, there are already 240 students on the registration list.
In the future, explained Goatche, “There will be changes to the system. There is a choice of study for 18 credits (per semester, used for a technical career) or 24 credits (per academic year valid for any university option).
Although the program is for children 11 years and older, immigrant children under that age can achieve the academic levels required to take the Dawere Global USA validation exam and start their high school from year 7, recognized in America as high school.
TTVsolnet is in talks with UNICEF to support the schools being opened by immigrant mothers who are teachers, so that these can also be learning centers and can train students for the admission test in Dawere.
Heidi Diquez, founding member/managing director of TTVSolnet, said that young immigrants who do not have access to accredited education in TT are a great example of resilience and perseverance and deserve great credit for achieving high school diplomas. Many want to continue their studies.
“We thank the Pan American Development Foundation and UNICEF for their financial contribution that enables these young people to have access to a quality and recognized education every academic year,” she said.
Through Dawere, students have access to video classes, downloadable support materials, automated, summative and formative assessments, and a teacher-moderated forum to clarify students’ doubts.
The Dawere International High School Diploma is valid in 122 countries.
