PARAGUAY: Mitâ Irû Active Schools Program

Context

 Paraguay faces acute educational challenges, particularly regarding students who drop out or repeat grades, and with the quality of instruction and curriculum rigidity. The education reform instituted by the Ministry of Education and Culture seeks to address these needs and to stimulate teaching initiatives designed to bolster the quality of education. In this framework, the Ministry created the Mitâ Irû Active Schools Program in 1995 as a pilot project in ten schools in Caaguazú. The program combines curriculum strategies, community teacher-training strategies, and school management. The goal is to improve education quality in primary schools that serve high-risk rural populations. The program’s approach is to use modalities adapted to the social, cultural, and environmental realities of children in these regions.

Objectives

The broad objectives of the program are to promote:
  • Understanding, appreciation, and acceptance of the need for training as a means to strengthen the caliber of education professionals in order to contribute to the success of the education process.
  • Independent, purposeful, and creative action in the institutional framework of the school.
  • Appreciation of the role that interaction and teamwork play in socialization.
  • Knowledge construction and assimilation through promotion of this process in the school environment.
  • Support and strengthening of the Project on Consolidation of the Mita Iru Active Schools Program. The specific objectives of the program are to:
  • Provide training to school principals in order to:
  • Provide technical and educational leadership that ensures the sustainability of the program.
  • Effectively coordinate implementation of the institution’s educational plan.
  • Provide training to teachers in order for them to:
  • Stimulate, facilitate and organize educational activities.
  • Develop and apply innovative and participatory techniques.
  • Evaluate and monitor the program in a continuous manner.
  • Provide training to parents in order for them to:
  • Participate in and cooperate with the running of the school.
  • Effectively involve themselves in the design and implementation of the institution’s educational plan.
  • Develop kits as training guides for teachers involved in the program.
  • Produce audiovisual materials. Pedagogical Challenges

    The program proposes a new educational paradigm that addresses:
  • Attention to basic learning needs.
  • Creation of a stronger role for educators.
  • A new educational practices model.
  • Development of reasoning abilities.
  • A culture based on civic and democratic values to understand the rules of society.

    General Description

    The Active Schools Program proposes to implement a strategy with five components in order to raise teacher qualifications and to improve and make education more dynamic in all its dimensions. These components are: training and follow-up, curriculum, administration, community participation, and evaluation.
    In the future, the Program intends to initiate a sustainability phase that will target some of the neediest areas of the country. The Program will use the external assessment of the program conducted in 2000 by the international consultants, Fundación “Volvamos a la Gente” as a baseline. The purpose of this project is to implement corrective measures to redirect and make adjustments to the program.
    The program has the following stages:
  • Start-up: the conditions are created for stakeholders to voice their needs and expectations.
  • Consolidation: adaptation of the Program for its introduction in the community and definition of work plans for each component.
  • Evaluation: conditions and instruments are created for gauging impact within the community and on the individual and collective development processes of the stakeholders.

    Participating Individuals and Institutions

  • The Ministry of Education and Culture, through the Projects Department under the Bureau of Early and Basic School Education, shares joint responsibility with the principal regional and local actors.
  • International Agencies: UNICEF and PLAN International

    Budget and Financing

    The program is a joint effort of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the Ministry of Education of Paraguay.

    Strengths

  • The program provides training to all the teachers involved, as well as offering services to teachers, administrative staff, and the community in general.
  • As part of its activities, the program proposes to increase and consolidate (internal and external) evaluation and follow-up.
  • The program provides support teachers for schools that implement the program.

    Lessons Learned

  • The involvement of the community is crucial to the success of the program.
  • Permanent assistance to teachers strengthens their commitment to the program.

    Future Challenges

  • In light of the shortcomings and suggested corrective lines of action described in the results of the external evaluation of the Mitâ Irû Active Schools Program, the focus of the program’s efforts are to:
  • Strengthen the program institutionally, with a view to introducing a different management approach by the principal, teachers and parents.
  • Develop a suitable monitoring and evaluation system.
  • Broaden inter-institutional strategic alliances.
  • Produce reference materials.
  • Improve physical infrastructure and basic equipment.

    Responding to the Challenges of the Summit

    The Active Schools Program responds to the challenges raised by the Summits of the Americas by seeking to provide a quality education to vulnerable populations, as well as involving the community in the education of their children.

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