Fundación Alberto Baillères

Mexican delegation visits Medellín for a first-hand look at transformative education

The group includes six members of the Alberto Baillères Foundation, which works on education issues in the public sector.

Medellín sparked the Mexicans’ interest in education processes from early childhood to tertiary education.

The group toured the Secretariat of Education, MOVA, the Vivero del Software school, the Buen Comienzo Calazania kindergarten, the Metropolitan Technological Institute (ITM), and the Presbítero Antonio José Bernal Londoño S.J. and Francisco Luis Hernández educational institutions.

Six members of the Alberto Baillères Foundation, a Mexican organization that works on education issues in that country’s public sector, are in Medellín for a first-hand look at the District Administration’s programs in the education system.

“They’ve come to gather what we’ve built as a society, in the District of Medellín, to take back to Mexico as successful experiences. This is a wonderful opportunity to tell them about the successes and challenges the future poses and all this building we’ve done as a society in such a way that we’ve built an environment that gives our children, young people, and adolescents true development and a very promising future,” said Education Secretary Juan David Agudelo Restrepo.

The three-day visit, from Monday, September 25 to today (September 27) began with a meeting at the Carré building, where the group leaned about the strategies for educational transformation that have been implemented by the Secretariat of Education, including technical media, transportation to school, the Computadores Futuro program, inclusive education, the Teacher Innovation Center (MOVA), and the Ser + STEM program, among others.

The Foundation primarily sought to observe the Entorno Escolar Protector (Protective School Environment) program, which is an example that can be replicated in Mexico, as it involves all actors in education communities: principals, educators, students, families, and support staff.

“It’s very important to us to be with you here in Medellín, because you have the Entorno Escolar Protector program, which is a model for our Foundation because our dream is that the educational habitat will extend beyond the walls of the classroom,” said Rosa Gluyas, Director General of the Alberto Baillères Foundation. “We want education communities to be the channel for the reconstruction of our social fabric, and in Medellín this program provides the example of how, through education and schools, with development and an integral view of human education, the transformation of an entire community can be achieved.”

The delegation visited the Vivero del Software (Software Nursery) school, where the seed of the Valle del Software program germinates thanks to the management of aspects related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including drone use, robotics, and 3D design, modeling, and printing.

Group members also visited the Buen Comienzo Calazania kindergarten and learned about the strategy used by this special administrative unit of the City of Medellín, which oversees early childhood care. During the current administration, new strategies have been created to stimulate the child population’s skills and talents. These include the Valle del Software immersion project and the nutritional care and recovery strategy, as well as the new model of flexible schedules and art and culture initiation, among other strategies.

The Alberto Baillères Foundation also demonstrated its interest in the process of tertiary education in Medellín; accordingly, its members visited the Metropolitan Technological Institute (ITM) to learn about its programs, particularly Matrícula Cero (Zero Tuition), one noteworthy educational retention strategy spearheaded by the City of Medellín.