Haircuts, Uniforms, Obedience: El Salvador’s Schools Go Full Military Mode

A clean uniform. Approved haircuts only. Saying hello when entering the classroom, and goodbye when leaving it. Reciting the national prayer to the flag.

Students are now required to follow all these requirements and more in El Salvador, where the government of President Nayib Bukele said it is restoring discipline to schools and critics argued that he is pushing the country back toward its era of military rule.

Over two terms, Mr. Bukele has taken more control of life in El Salvador, cracking down on gangs and restricting rights to make his country one of the safest in Latin America — and becoming hugely popular with voters in the process. Lawmakers in his party recently ended presidential term limits, and he has dismissed accusations of government abuses as false.

But his recent decision to hand the reins of the public school system to Karla Trigueros, a military officer without experience in education, has drawn strong criticism. Teachers, along with rights groups, have raised concerns about the new education minister’s proclamation of strict, nationalistic rules for students, calling them a slide backward in a country long scarred by abuses of security forces.
The Salvadoran school workers’ union called the appointment of Ms. Trigueros, a military captain and doctor, “absurd.”

“It is worrying that the new minister is a military agent, as we can now speak of the regrettable militarization of Salvadoran public education, as occurred during the military dictatorships,” the union said in a statement, referring to the five decades of military rule in the 20th century.

Elevating Ms. Trigueros two weeks ago, Mr. Bukele promised “a profound transformation in our education system.”

“If we want to build the country we deserve, we must break paradigms,” he said. Mr. Bukele argued that it was necessary to overhaul schools to prevent gang recruitment there, in one instance posting a video from several years ago on social media of students flashing signs associated with gangs.