Fundación Escuela Nueva Volvamos a la Gente is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 through a cooperative effort between one of the creators of the pedagogic model ‘Escuela Nueva’ and experts in the educational field. The foundation was conceived as a response to the social and educational problems faced by rural and urban areas in Colombia challenged by a shortage of resources.  Through the implementation of the ‘Escuela Nueva’ model, the organization strives to improve the coverage, quality, efficiency, sustainability of basic education. While headquartered in Bogotá, the organization implements programs throughout Colombia in such areas as Cundinamarca, Norte de Santander, Nariño, Magdalena, Valle del Cauca, Atlántico, Antioquia, Boyacá, Santander and Putumayo.  In total, this program touches the lives of 13,000 children every year.

The model shifts the focus from the standard education model traditionally centered on the teacher, to a more participative and cooperative model focused on the student. Its four areas of focus are: 1. the provision of specially designed educational materials for students and teachers; 2. teacher training; 3. monitoring and evaluation; and 4. direct work with the Secretaries of Education in order to implement and promote the model across the country, guarantee its sustainability and ensure local participation.  

The impact of the ‘Escuela Nueva’ model has been so tremendous that in the year 2000 the United Nations Human Development Report cited its nationwide success as one of the three most important achievements in Colombia in the area of education. The continued success of the ‘Escuela Nueva’ model can be credited to two of its most fundamental characteristics. The first is its flexibility, which allows for the model’s implementation across a variety of settings.  The second important aspect is the program’s potential to be used in groups with people of various ages and characteristics; therefore the program can be tailored to benefit elementary through high school students coming from both rural and urban settings.

Genesis Foundation has supported Fundación Escuela Nueva since 2005. This support has led to the application of the model ‘Escuela Nueva – Escuela Activa’ in the school Nuestra Señora de las Victorias, located in Tunjuelito, a poor neighborhood of Bogotá.  Since 2008 the model has been complemented with the integration of information & communications technologies, ICTs, to the curriculum for elementary school students and it is projected to be expanded to the secondary school level.

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