Organiser: Marianao Foundation.
Collaborating organisation: Ramon Molinas Foundation.
Implementation dates: 14/09/2020 – 22/06/2021.
The School of New Opportunities, an initiative that provides information and alternatives to early school leavers between 14 and 21 years old
The Ramon Molinas Foundation is collaborating with the Marianao Foundation to promote the School of New Opportunities, an initiative that provides information and alternatives to early school leavers between 14 and 21 years old. The programme offers educational programmes to build technical, professional and transferable skills, alongside offering personal development and employability programmes to support participants in continued training and/or a job placement.
The School of New Opportunities, accredited as a Second Chance School (E20), is a space to explore educational opportunities, and offers mentorship, orientation and teaching to provide students with a trusted place to receive training and develop their life plan. The educational approach of the Marianao Foundation focuses on the protection and care of vulnerable young people and helping them to reach their full potential.
According to the Catalan Institute of Statistics (Idescat), the rate of early school leaving in Catalonia is around 19%. The inequalities in education demonstrated by this figure will have no doubt been aggravated by covid-19, and the School of New Opportunities aims to minimise the risk and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic by tackling his issue head on. For this reason, the programme includes several areas of comprehensive training aimed at young people that left secondary education without having achieved the Spanish Certificate of Secondary Education (ESO), who abandoned their studies early, or attended a special needs school (Unidad de Escolarización Compartida).
Five training programmes make up the initiative, which has more than 70 participants
The School of New Opportunities works with more than 70 young people as part of five training programmes. Firstly, the Baix Llobregat organisation has access to a Special Needs Unit, a care space for young people with difficulties who remain in the school system at the Marianao Foundation, by means of an adapted curriculum.
The School of New Opportunities has second programme, dedicated to helping students prepare for entrance exams for the Middle School Study Courses (Ciclos Formativos de Grado Medio), for young people that want to resume their studies but haven’t finished their ESO. The Mariano Foundation also offers support to young people who are studying for the Spanish Certificate of Secondary Education (ESO) at the Open Institute of Catalonia (IOC).
In addition, the School of New Opportunities offers Professional Training Programmes in IT Support, Administration and Offices. Lastly, the programme also runs the Marianao Workshop Classroom, a pre-employment resource for young people that come from highly vulnerable backgrounds.
The Marianao Foundation, a community organisation developing socio-educational projects that have a positive impact on the area of Baix Llobregat
The Marianao Foundation, founded in 1985, runs socio-educational projects in the community to stimulate personal and community development, focusing on activities that encourage the social inclusion of vulnerable groups.
One of the defining features of the organisation has been its roots in Sant Boi de Llobregat, in particular the neighbourhood of Marianao. The Marianao Foundation was created by volunteers, principally young people from the neighbourhood, that were searching for alternative solutions to the serious issues caused by a lack of social resources and equipment.
These young people from Marianao occupied an abandoned building located in a deprived urban area, which became the Marianao Community Centre for Children and Young People. Located on Calle Girona 30, the building became the first social and cultural centre in the Marianao neighbourhood. Currently it is the only centre that caters specifically for children and young people in the area of Baix Llobregat, an area in which the Marianao Foundation has considerable impact.
The organisation’s project aims to be community-focused, educational, personalised and empowering.
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