EnglishThe area of education execute the follow projects
- Guided Homework and Learning Support
- Scholarship Program
- Workshops for Teenagers
Guided Homework and Learning Support
In the Rancho de Los Pinos community as in many others in Quito, a lot of children face poor school performance, high repetition rate and dropouts. The reasons are multifaceted such as malnutrition, semi-analphabetic parents, an outdated school curriculum and a disproportionately high number of kids per class. Due to these various reasons, we established a learning support program on the afternoons to benefit about 40 children from the community.
The project aims are:
- Bringing to the children a clean, adequate, agreeable and valuable space where they can do their homework under the surveillance of a well qualified staff
- Improve the quality of the education of the children with learning difficulties
We work according to the needs of the children and adolescents, aiming to directly support and improve their education through:
- Guided homework
- Learning support and levelling
- Basic library
- Learning strategies development
- School and family visits
- Education of basic values, attitudes and behaviours
- Learning and training space for youngsters and students through volunteering and practice for his/her self-development Educational material to assist in the accomplishment of tasks and other activities.
Through the educational support sessions the children learn to replace their fears and frustrations by assurance. Furthermore they build their self-confidence and strengthen their cognitive abilities and social competitiveness. Thanks to improved grades at school violence at home diminishes. According to qualitative research, carried out by Marco Nyffeler, parents attach a great importance to education. In meetings with parents and their own visits to school, fruitful exchanges of ideas which are valuable for the children, take place to solve issues and problems.
Scholarship Program
We often find children in the neighbourhood who do not go to primary school. Although the UN Children Convention states that all children have the right to study and the state should offer them a free high-quality education, the public schools cover extra costs and private schools are totally out of reach. The formers ask for registration fees and other costs, and school uniform and school supplies are mandatory even though this is officially illegal. Furthermore there are the everyday costs of transport and snack. For isolated parents, the small earnings from their informal work cannot make up for these expenses. The foundation in association with the INFA, offers scholarship to some children by providing for the school expenses. It is of utmost importance to highlight that the major possible part of the expenses is still within the responsibility of the parents and support is provided only if deemed appropriate. Through this program we make sure that the children receive primary schooling because one thing we understood since a while: knowledge is power.
Workshops for Teenagers
We intend on bringing to the teenagers means and tools, didactical for some of them, to meet with their specific needs and to enable them to benefit from this new learning. Before the holiday camp, they receive a training that will allow them to deal with their group and guide it. Moreover, they develop skills through the different workshops not only to be used on the spot but also to apply them in everyday life.
Through these workshops they develop a sense of responsibility toward themselves but also toward their community. It permits them to get involved in their community with more awareness.