School Closures Map in Puerto Rico
At the end of the 2016-2017 school year, then Secretary of Education for Puerto Rico Keleher, ordered 183 schools to be shut permanently. That information came from the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico, the island's teachers' union and the biggest for to Keleher. Shortly after this, Hurricane Maria struck the island. In addition, of the roughly 1,100 public schools left in Puerto Rico at the time of Hurricane Maria, more than 250 of them simply did not open again. Most of the schools that were shuttered were elementary or middle schools leading to the above issues for children still trying to attend school. (1) As we have discussed in class, Humanitarianism and its principles has incorporated the idea that all students should have access to Universal Primary school education, as outlined in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (2). The closure of so many primary schools not only makes this nearly impossible for some children, it makes attempting to access this right dangerous, both mentally and physically.
