"From the first day in Escuelas Abiertas I was on the youth council,
which completely changed my way of thinking: I realized I could use my
leadership for something positive."
Jackeline Amelia Estrada
López
REASON FOR SELECTION
This initiative was
selected under its previous name, “Escuelas Abiertas” (Open Schools). This
Guatemalan experience was created on the basis of Brazil’s pioneering Open
Schools experience, which was founded in 2000 and was immediately preceded by
the UNESCO/Brazil program originally called “Opening Spaces.” The aim of this
experience was to open up schools to communities on weekends and for them to
offer activities based on a culture of peace, citizenship, coexistence, and
school climate.
The results of this program
in Brazil inspired several countries to create their own versions. In Guatemala,
“Escuelas Abiertas” was successful in establishing opportunities for youth
participation in actions to benefit their communities and families through
schools, making them organizers and replicators of social participation. The
initiative also opened up forums for young people to express themselves through
the use of the media, particularly radio.
Opening schools up to
shared coexistence, play, learning, and the experience of learning from each
other, within an informal environment, offers expanded possibilities for
returning schools to the community. Thus, “Escuelas Abiertas” created a
flexible intervention model that mobilizes the communities’ own cultural, creative,
and sports resources.
The experience in
Guatemala, which is now known by the name of “Jóvenes Protagonistas” (Young
Protagonists) created enthusiasm in other countries and was adapted there.
GOALS SOUGHT
To create conditions so
that young people, particularly those who are most vulnerable and at social
risk, can be the main agents of social transformation, through the creation of opportunities
that will enable them to develop their knowledge, capacities, characters, and
values in order to live healthy and risk-free lives, identify productive
options, start a family, acquire property, and contribute to their
society.
WHAT IT INVOLVES
Through nonformal on-site
education, spaces outside the school timetable were created at public schools
in 156 municipalities so that, at weekends, children and young people from the
beneficiary communities can make appropriate and constructive use of their free
time within a process of integral education that includes creative, sporting,
and cultural development and the strengthening of ties with the community.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Aimed at low-income, at-risk
children, adolescents, and young people between the ages of 10 and 24. In 2009,
the initiative reached two hundred and eighteen thousand, one hundred and
ninety-one (218,191) people; in 2010, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand, and
eleven (258,011); and in 2011, the final year before the changes made to the
initiative by the government of Guatemala, two hundred and seventy-four
thousand, three hundred (274,300).
ACHIEVEMENTS
Through this initiative,
many children, adolescents, and young people from areas of high social risk
have found a place where they can explore their skills and talents and ways to
collaborate among themselves and with their communities. It has also served to
strengthen family ties and opportunities for making use of free time.
COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION
Children, adolescents, and
young people participated in the initiative by attending, on Saturdays,
different workshops in areas such as break-dance, singing, folk dancing,
photography, music, painting, and theatre; all the workshops promote the
development of different forms of artistic expression.
TEACHERS’ PROFILE
Invitations were extended
to workshop leaders who are not necessarily certified teachers but who share an
interest in working with young people for democracy and development. Through
different training alternatives included in the program’s implementation, they
were given technical assistance for improving their performance.
INVESTMENT AND FINANCING
The investment in carrying
out this initiative was fourteen million, eight hundred and forty-six thousand,
three hundred (14,846,300) U.S. dollars, contributed by various institutions
and organizations, including the Government of Guatemala (with minor support
from UNFPA, UNICEF, UN), the Government of the United States, the Organization
of American States, and the Inter-American Children’s Institute.
The
future plans of Escuelas Abiertas included expanding the program into the
country’s 22 departments (as of 2011, it was active in 15 departments),
creating a youth and community network, and progress with assessing its
community impact.
EVALUATION AND RISKS
Evaluation was carried out
through a Youth Interest Survey as part of a study prepared by an external
consultant funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This was the
first impact study, carried out three years after the launch of the program.
This survey, which covered
88,000 program participants, revealed the young people’s perceptions of such
topics as democracy, sexuality, education, employment, participation, use of
new information technologies, health, violence and discrimination, and
perceptions of the country.
RISKS
The identified risks
included the following:
- The impact that the change in government could have on the development of the initiative;
- The failure to institutionalize the program within public policy; and
- Insufficient budget.
REPLICATION POTENTIAL
The “Open Schools”
program, under its new name “Young Protagonists,” now covers 220
schools, 15 departments, and 156 municipalities. It has served as a model for
conducting the feasibility studies that will enable its implementation in
countries such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
PERSON IN
CHARGE: Jorge
Ernesto Calderón Abullarade. Escuelas Abiertas (“Open Schools”)
Program. (Public institution at the national level.) Now called Juventudes
Protagonistas (“Young Protagonists”) and attached to the Ministry of Social
Development. jcakderon@ufm.edu
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