Pre-registrations were enabled at the Self-sustainable Agricultural Schools of the Fundación Paraguaya
Fundación Paraguaya summons young people from the rural sector from across the country to participate in the pre-registration to be part of one of its Self-Sustainable Agricultural Schools, located in Cerrito, Department of Presidente Hayes; and Belén, Department of Concepción.
Pre-registration will be extended until January 31, 2022, and those interested can register at the following link: https://bit.ly/Inscripcion-EscuelasAgricolas. This year, there will be an entrance examination for the 150 available places.
Young people between the ages of 14 and 17 who have completed the ninth grade can pre-register for the Cerrito Agricultural School; and for the Belén School, young people between the ages of 15 and 18 who have completed the sixth grade.
All students who graduate from the Cerrito Agricultural School receive the Technical Agricultural Baccalaureate and Hospitality & Tourism Baccalaureate; and, in the Agricultural School of Belén will receive the degree of Agricultural Promoter and in Hospitality, in addition they receive support to complete their primary and secondary education, in agreement with the schools of the area. All degrees are recognized by the Ministry of Education and Sciences.
This year, Fundación Paraguaya´s Self-Sustainable Agricultural School model was chosen as one of the most impressive and scalable educational innovations in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the Spotlight Report on 21st Century Skills in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021, prepared by HundrED, in collaboration with the International Development Bank (IDB).
“Under the motto ‘Learn by doing, selling and earning’, and with a unique educational model in the world, young people from rural environments become rural entrepreneurs. This educational model has been in force for 17 years and more than 2,000 young people have already benefited from it. With the work we are doing in the Self-Sustainable Agricultural Schools, we are going to end rural poverty, by moving from the old model of support for peasant family agriculture, to the training of rural entrepreneurs who generate resources and money in the countryside,” said PhD. Martín Burt, executive director of Fundación Paraguaya.
The Cerrito Agricultural School is located 46 kilometers from Asunción, which, since 2003, opens the doors to a paradigm shift regarding rural education focused on technical training and life skills. It currently has 14 productive educational units: Hotel Cerrito, the Dairy Plant, where various types of Iberian cheese, yogurt and dulce de leche are made. The organic garden, farm, pigs, dairy cows, goats, quail eggs, broiler chickens, rabbits, tilapia and honeybee also stand out.
The Belén Agricultural School is in the department of Concepción. It was transferred to the Fundación Paraguaya by the SOS Village in 2010, with the aim of implementing the methodology of “Learning by doing, selling and earning” in said educational community.
Emphasis is placed on dairy production, beekeeping, agriculture, techniques for technological improvement of pig farms, fruit growing, horticulture, production of broiler chickens and layer chickens. In addition, it has the Belén Hotel.
