Secondary Rural Education-742 youths in Nicaragua

Fabretto’s SAT rural secondary education program has a 97% retention rate this year. This is a great achievement, especially compared with an estimated 75% retention rate in all Nicaraguan secondary schools (CEPAL). SAT places a high value on diversity and gender equity, and 46.5% of the currently enrolled students are female. Unlike the local public schools, SAT does not exclude students based on age or parental status, and as a result, SAT has welcomed many older students (age 18-26) who are pursuing a high school diploma after a hiatus from organized education.

The forty SAT tutors have received continuous training throughout the year to improve teaching skills, knowledge of curriculum, and understanding of the program’s unique methodology. FUNDAEC staff provided training for the tutors who teach fourth and fifth year students, and Fabretto staff trained the remaining tutors.

The SAT small business initiatives and two student cooperatives are thriving, and students continue to pursue new initiatives with the support of their tutors. As of October 2013, SAT students participate in the following profitable business activities: baking rosquillas traditional biscuits, fermenting fruit to make wines, beekeeping, producing cajetas (Nicaraguan candies), buying and selling used clothing, and producing coffee. With the income generated by these businesses, students can simultaneously contribute to the family income and continue their studies in the SAT program.

One dedicated tutor, Danys Ramirez, supported a group of students in executing a business plan, obtaining a loan, and purchasing an electric mill for the rural community El Carrizo near San José de Cusmapa in April 2013. The mill, owned and operated by two SAT students and their families, contributes directly to community development and enables other students to pursue business ventures of their own, including the rosquillas biscuits and the cajetas (Nicaraguan candies). In August 2013, Danys and his fourth and fifth year students in began a new initiative to produce pinol, a popular corn-based drink.

An independent study of SAT graduates provided evidence that the program enables students and graduates to become successful entrepreneurs and make a difference in their communities. The July 2013 survey identified eleven small businesses operated by SAT graduates in the communities around San José de Cusmapa. The most profitable business, a honey bee farm in the community La Jabonera, generates over $200 per month for its three owners, all SAT graduates from the class of 2011.

Fabretto looks forward to concluding the year with the graduation of fifty-two students this December. At the end of the year, Fabretto’s monitoring and evaluation team will generate a detailed report reflecting upon the 2013 school year.

Links:

• Fabretto Programs
• Fabretto SAT Program Description
• Success Story: SAT Tutor Inspires Young Entrepreneurs

In 2007, Fabretto implemented the Rural Secondary Program or Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial (SAT); a program designed to provide quality secondary education to rural populations who have little or no access to public secondary programs. The program emphasizes sustainable community development, entrepreneurship, and innovative agricultural practice and over the last six years, has effectively brought high school education to youth who otherwise had little chance to continue studying after the sixth grade.

This school year the SAT program enrolled 748 high school student beneficiaries. The program currently relies on 40 tutors (8 new hires this year) for the program.  Averaging 19 students per tutor makes each SAT classroom a very personalized and highly dynamic educational experience.

The SAT program is a two thronged approach catered towards rural secondary education, student SAT not only provides a secondary education, but also imparts the spirit of entrepreneurship, and works to transform students into agents of positive change within their community by applying the knowledge learned in class to real world experiences. This formula, Fabretto believes, provides a realistic skill set to young adolescents, which prepares them to become productive members of society.

During the 2013 school years the following activities took place:

-          18 students participated in workshop training sessions regarding development of business plans to promote small business entrepreneurship 

-          Fabretto organized 3 agriculture field workshops at the Cusmapa, Las Sabanas, and Somoto centers in the north on planting and maintenance of school gardens and nurseries. 

-          In Las Sabanas, the mayor agreed to donate high quality vegetable seeds so that the school garden and nursery program can increase their quality and production of crops. 

-          In San Isidro de Bolas, students developed 2 business plans under the guidance of tutors and Fabretto technical staff. One includes a bakery and the other a kiosk from where the student run agriculture cooperative can commercialize its products. 

-Students started 6 small business ventures in the production of coffee, honey and bakery among others.

 -57 students participated in 2 SAT cooperatives this year (one in San Isidro de Bolas and the other in San Jose de Cusmapa). Both cooperatives received early on several workshop training sessions on cooperative administration and management.

-315 SAT students –roughly 50%- participated in community well-being activities that include street clean ups, recycling and health campaigns, and community promotion events for reading initiatives towards primary students.

Fabretto believes that continued improvement of the SAT program requires continual investment in its tutors. Fabretto maintains a highly qualified staff of SAT tutors, who are proficient in teaching themes both inside the classroom at an academic level and outside the classroom at the practical level. To accomplish this SAT tutors are constantly receive reinforcement training to ensure optimal teaching effectiveness. In the first of half of the 2013 school year Fabretto has implemented 11 workshops sessions for tutors in science, math, and language. In addition to regular training sessions, Fabretto provides technical support to aid tutors in three areas: pedagogical approach, agricultural best practices,   and ESL teaching strategies. 

This year, 52 senior students are poised to graduate from the SAT rural high school program.  Fabretto is proud of these students and confident that the program will continue to produce graduates who feel empowered to take advantage of opportunities beyond the classroom.