Global Courant
In 1976 there was a time of reconstruction of the country. Guatemalans were getting up after the natural disaster suffered on February 4.
The 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook Guatemala that morning left nearly 23,000 dead and one million homeless. In June, the movements and support to get out of the catastrophe that marked the country’s history continued.
However, Teacher’s Day was a positive day that year, although it is indicated that the celebrations took place in an atmosphere of austerity. At that time, Guilermo Putzeys Álvarez was the Minister of Education.
President Kjell Eugenio Laugerud García decorated five teachers with the Francisco Marroquín Order on that occasion, among them María Caridad Martínez Mont widow of Ruano, Esperanza Catalán de Vielman, Elvira Koller de Peter, Carlos Ricardo Cóbar Guerrero and Eleuterio Antonio Romero Palacios.
Romero Palacios (1925-2005) was the first decorated rural teacher in the history of the Guatemalan teaching profession.
The San Sebastián College band performed the national anthem and other martial marches as part of the celebration, which took place at the National Palace.
Part of the articles published for the Teacher’s Day award in 1976. (Free Press Photo: PL Newspaper Library)
Until 2022, more than 400 teachers have received this prestigious award, which celebrates the 60th anniversary of having been created by decree law No. 51, on June 17, 1963, as recognition, symbol of honor and dignity to be conferred on teachers. educators who have distinguished themselves in their profession, setting an example of selfless work and improvement in teaching.
Infrastructure
In 1976, more than 200 prefabricated schools were donated by the Agency for International Development (AID) and were installed in 12 departments in the disaster area. It was hoped that this would help in the replacement of the destroyed school buildings. Guatemala received 55 schools; Sacatepequez, 41; Chimaltenango, 53; Solola, 27; Quiche, 21; Totonicapán, three; Baja Verapaz, 12; Zacapa, 23; Chiquimula, four; and Izabal and Jalapa, seven each.
The Minister of Education addressed a message from Sacatepéquez, one of the places most affected by the earthquake, and pointed out that work was being done to keep the educational system in force.
exemplary life
Eleuterio Antonio Romero Palacios was a writer, poet and historian from Sololá. His father was orphaned in his childhood and he finished his secondary education studies thanks to a scholarship granted by the government of Jorge Ubico Castañeda. He was elected to the national teaching profession to study in the La Escuela del Trabajo program of the Inter-American Institute of Education.
Eleuterio Antonio Romero Palacios (1925 – 2005) stood out in his department and promoted various projects throughout his life. (Free Press Photo: courtesy Sololatecos en la Historia).
According to data provided by his son Mario Alfonso Romero Ovalle, the teacher worked at the National Urban School of San Juan La Laguna, which barely attended the first three grades, and he managed to take her to complete primary school. He later worked in other schools in the region in which he repeated this experience.
He developed community literacy campaigns and inspired the creation of youth groups. Professor Romero was a promoter of several projects that influenced the development of different communities.
He supported various projects for the introduction of piped water, latrine campaigns, construction of local roads and construction of public washing tanks, among others.
