Should public schools prioritize mandatory English classes over teaching indigenous Mayan languages?

Guatemala is a multilingual country with 22 recognized Mayan languages, yet faces intense pressure to modernize its workforce for a globalized economy that primarily operates in English. The debate centers on how a severely underfunded public education system should allocate its limited teaching resources to best serve students. Proponents support prioritizing English because it directly correlates with immediate economic upward mobility, allowing graduates to enter the lucrative BPO and international tech industries. Opponents oppose deprioritizing Mayan languages, arguing that education is not just about corporate job training and that abandoning indigenous languages is a form of cultural genocide that marginalizes rural populations.