Rural schools in Bahia are selected by Criança Esperança

Institutions offer technical training to young people from Baixo Sul in Bahia

Two schools that educate young rural entrepreneurs in Bahia will benefit again from Criança Esperança in 2022. Casa Familiar Rural Presidente Tancredo Neves (CFR-PTN) and Casa Familiar Agroflorestal (CFAF), located in Baixo Sul, Bahia, will receive resources to help finance technical education for the children of family farmers in the region, in Agricultural and Forestry courses integrated to High School. With a teaching model adapted to the rural area, in which students spend one week at school and two weeks on their farms and apply their knowledge directly to their crops, these schools currently have 245 students.

The Schools selection acknowledges how the applied methodology benefits young people living in the countryside, even during the pandemic, when theoretical studies were carried out remotely. This is what Thales Lima, director of CFR-PTN, explains. “Our project innovates by offering a comprehensive education and productive support, making it possible for young people and their families to remain in the countryside. We also stimulate the increase in earnings, the empowerment, the youth protagonism and the envisioning of the future of these students”, he says. In Casas Familiares, teaching is contextualized: all subjects are connected to their day-to-day life in the field, as in Mathematics lessons, in which students calculate weight and quantity of fertilizers and crops. During their time at home, the students are tutored and share the knowledge with their family and community.

With this donation, Casas Familiares will strengthen the education of students next year, as indicated by Rita Cardoso, director of Casa Familiar Agroflorestal. “The funds will be used to pay for monitors, food for the students, the support for the monitoring visits and the Educational-Productive Projects. After all, these are the actions that move education in the countryside”, she says. This is the second time that CFAF is contemplated by Criança Esperança. Meanwhile, Casa Familiar Rural Presidente Tancredo Neves was selected for the third time by the campaign.

Larissa de Jesus, 17, is in her third year of education at CFR-PTN. At school, she has the opportunity not only to learn, but also to generate income. “I have changed my reality and that of my family. With the Educational-Productive Projects, currently our major income comes from family farming. I am thankful for the opportunity to receive quality education and be able to stay in the countryside.  I am already reaping the fruits of this study”, says the student. Both schools are accredited by the Ministry of Education (MEC) and the Secretary of Education of Bahia (SEC) and are included in the UNESCO Associated Schools Program.

Example against school dropout

The contextualized teaching and the alternation model adopted help creating an identification between students and Casas Familiares, and contribute to reducing the dropout rate. Another rural school that uses this methodology in Baixo Sul, Bahia, Casa Familiar Igrapiuna Rural (CFR-I), has already been awarded by Criança Esperança – and also presents this trend among its students. Altogether, the three units achieve dropout rates lower than the national average: only 3.3% of the enrolled students leave their studies, a much lower number than the Brazilian rate of 20.2%, according to the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Continuous PNAD).

Another reason for the good results achieved by the three Casas Familiares is the relationship with other institutions. Besides having several social investors, the schools are partners of Norberto Odebrecht Foundation in carrying out the PDCIS, a social program that promotes sustainable territorial development in Baixo Sul, Bahia. For 18 years, the program has brought together government, private initiative, and civil society to strengthen family farming and youth protagonism, respecting the vocation of the benefited communities to leverage economic growth in harmony with the local environment.