Typing School

2021 brought a new program to Open Windows:  a typing school.  Typing classes are important in Guatemala; without passing such a course, students are not allowed to move from middle school to high school.  Moreover, the public schools require that their students learn typing on typewriters, not on computer keyboards.

 Thus, when the only typing school in San Miguel Dueñas closed and the proprietor offered Open Windows all the machines and furniture from the school, along with a commitment from the certified teacher there to continue her work, we readily accepted.  We had both the machines and the furniture refurbished and opened the doors to the new school in February, using one of two new classrooms we had built during the pandemic.

 Unlike the rest of Open Windows’ programs, the typing school is just that, a school, and it provides official certification of what the students have learned.  As with other schools beyond the primary grades, there is a charge for the classes, although Open Windows has maintained the minimal fee of Q30 (about $4) per month that the previous school charged and does not charge its own scholarship students.  Given the requirements for most professional and semiprofessional jobs in Guatemala, the typing school represents one more step on the path out of poverty for the youth in San Miguel Dueñas.