Description
The Cultural Affairs Office (CAO), Public Affairs Section (PAS), U.S. Embassy, Guatemala oversees the Access program in Guatemala. PAS selects implementing partners, prepares partners to administer the program, provides ongoing guidance throughout the two-year performance period, collaborates with partners on professional development opportunities for teachers, and visits and monitors program sites. PAS selects proposals that accurately reflect the criteria in this Notice of Funding Opportunity and the Access handbook. Access is a learner-centered program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State that provides a minimum of 580 hours, over a maximum period of two years of English language skills to underserved students – primarily básico and/or diversificado students, recruited at ages 14 to 16 – through extracurricular classes, projects, activities, and immersion experiences. Access provides participants with a foundation of English language, leadership, entrepreneurial and professional skills, civic and environmental awareness, and exposure to U.S. culture and democratic values that contribute to cross-cultural understanding, societal and environmental awareness, and improved educational and occupational prospects, including future exchanges and study in the United States. The Access Program has provided scholarships to over 200,000 students in over 80 countries since its inception in 2004. Guatemala has hosted Access since 2010, and more than 4,000 students across the country have benefited from scholarships. Qualitative studies show that Access alumni continue contributing to their families, institutions, workplaces, and communities through a wide variety of informal and organized activities.