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The "New School" is in the suburbs of Bogota.

Maria Arancha Sanchez By Maria Arancha Sanchez | March 09, 2014 | Colombia

The Colombian network "Escuela Nueva" award at the International Summit on Education in Doha. A model focused on collaboration between teachers and families.

The "Escuela Nueva"  is what we'd all like for our children: each student has his way, his program of studies, to exploit his talents. Teachers, parents and community work together to achieve goals. With thirty years experience  the Colombian Escuela Nueva is now in the rankings of the world's top fifty Ong  (The Global Journal ranks the 42nd), adopted in 16 countries and adapted to 5 million children.

Numerous awards, to the last, prestigious: the Wise Prize for Education Summit 2013  of Doha International

The idea is simple and at the same time revolutionary: "We believe that poverty, inequality, exclusion can be fought  through education. We see education of quality not only as a tool that protects  childhood  but also as the cornerstone of social and human development".

Essential, but how do you put it into practice in a country wracked by decades of conflict,  rural communities crushed once between Marxist guerrillas, once between paramilitaries  in the service of the great capitalist interests, drug trafficking, corruption, impunity transverse in each sector.  

Two-thirds of the population are below the poverty line, and four million person “displaced”  who have fled their homes,  poured into the border regions  and do not have access to any service, let alone in a school?

The answer is in the creation of an educational system capable of adapting to any environment , because it does not need big investment or cost of special facilities .

In an interview to  founder Escuela Nueva, Vicky Colbert, explained the difference with the traditional models of teaching: knowledge does not pass in a vertical line from teacher to student, but is a "social construction." The approach is then "active, student-centered, based on self-learning, through collaborative dialogue and interaction."

Help the children who are in Colombia  40 percent of the population, allowing them to continue to grow in every context, but it is also good for the whole community in suffering.

The parents bring to school knowledge and experience, which become an integral part of the program, teachers also absorb and engage with fellow neighbors, to whom they are connected, if there is a possibility as well online. The learning process, in the end, is not just about the kids: affects everyone, and becomes  the seed of development.


  • Tags:   Colombian Escuela Nueva Bogota Colombia Vicky Colbert International Summit on Education_Doha The Global Journal Wise Prize for Education Summit 2013_Doha International
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