About the Project
The Self-Sufficient School / Web Documentary
A “good” education is considered one of the best routes out of poverty. However, in most developing countries, technical/vocational education is neither good nor readily available to youths from chronically poor families. This makes it very difficult to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.
At its San Francisco Agricultural School - a co-ed boarding farm/school for youths aged 15-19 in Cerrito, Paraguay - Fundación Paraguaya (FP) developed The Self-Sufficient School from 2003, a new model of technical/vocational education which provides high-quality, affordable education to chronically poor young people, without relying on government subsidies, long-term donor support or costly school fees that exclude the poor. The school transforms young farmers into financially successful “rural entrepreneurs” by integrating the teaching of traditional high school subjects with the running of 17 small-scale, on-campus rural enterprises.
By helping to run these enterprises, students gain technical and entrepreneurial skills, which are in demand in the local market, are marketable across multiple sectors and are valuable throughout entire careers. At the same time, these enterprises generate enough income to cover 100% of the school’s operating costs, including depreciation - about US$ 300,000 per year. The school’s success is measured by the fact that 100% of school graduates are productively engaged within four months of graduation and by the fact that the school has been 100% financially self-sufficient since 2007.
Future perspectives:
In 2009 UNESCO selected the Financially Self-Sufficient School model as a “best practice in youth policies and programs.” In addition, as of 2010, the model has been replicated by more than 50 organizations from 27 countries. As this replication process proceeds, this “education that pays for itself” will enable very large numbers of young people worldwide to overcome chronic poverty.
Featured partners and stakeholders:
Avina Foundation, Skoll Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Peery Foundation, Nike Foundation, Opportunity International, FAMA, La Bastilla Coffee Company, ORSA Paper Company, CARE, Christian Children’s Fund and small community-based organizations in Latin America, Middle East and Africa.