PIER-  Partners in Education on Roatan - is a community-wide, non-governmental organization based on the island of Roatan, one of the Bay Islands of Honduras. It operates under the auspices CANATURH – Bay Islands, the tourism Chamber of Commerce.  Though we are starting our work on Roatan, PIER projects and actions will benefit all of the Bay Islands, including: Roatan, Utila, Guanaja and Cayos Cochinos, all part of Honduras' island territory.

Honduras lacked an education system until the 1950s.  Until today, the Honduras education system was one of the most backward systems in Central America. The average illiteracy rate of developed countries (percentage of population over age of 15 that can not read or write) stands at 2.3%.  In Honduras, it is an average of 11.1% (UNESCO 2004) reaching well above 60% in rural areas.

This has a direct negative effect on the dimension of the population living below the poverty line (people living with less than $2 a day), which maintains itself at a rampant 44% in Honduras (UNESCO 2004).

Founded in 2006, PIER’s main purpose is to develop an excellent public school system in order to

•   promote the economic development, and
•   enhance the quality of life of the Islands’ citizens

PIER advocates for excellence in education by encouraging business and community members to work with the parents, students, teachers, administrators and community to Adopt-A-School; to develop volunteer opportunities in local schools such as classroom assistant, tutors, mentors, motivators, ESL tutors and public speakers; and to raise funds for education excellence.

 ABOUT CANATURH – BAY ISLANDS

 CANATURH – Bay Islands is a branch of the Official Tourism Chamber of Honduras, a nonprofit organization that works towards responsible tourism growth and development. Its members represent all facets of tourism - from hotel and tour operators to developers and service-oriented businesses, all of whom work together to promote investments on the island, maintain and improve the health of the business environment, and create resources (human, legislative and/or physical) for the tourism sector.

It is CANATURH’s belief that the improvement of education will lead to better-prepared professionals to supply the tourism sector and can furthermore have a direct positive impact on the health of the country’s business environment.