VRIO - Juntos Aprendemos

OVERVIEW

The Together we Learn Activity increases children and adolescents’, ages 3 to 17, access to quality education in areas impact by migration.  The activity helps children and adolescents develop skills needed for learning and future success by improving their participation, retention, and performance in school. The activity also works with local and national actors, like the Ministry of Education, Secretaries of Education, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), civil society organizations (CSOs) and more, to understand and address children and adolescents’ barriers to educational access. The activity is implemented in areas with large populations of Venezuelan migrants and Colombian returnees, including Barranquilla, Bogota, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cartagena, Cucuta, Medellin, Riohacha, and Santa Marta.  Juntos Aprendemos runs from February 2021 to February 2026.

GOALS

IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL QUALITY

Together we Learn supports the development of learning environments that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of learners.  It does this by strengthening local and national government actors’ capacity to provide quality education, and by strengthening educators’ capacity to deliver improved instruction in foundational skills, like literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional learning.

INCREASE ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Together we Learn works with CSOs and local government actors to increase student enrollment and retention in education.  The activity also improves children and adolescents’ access to legal, protection, and psychosocial support services, and increases children and adolescents’ access to flexible education modalities, like remote learning.

STRENTHEN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Together we Learn empowers community actors, like parent-teacher associations, to engage in education-related decision making and service delivery.  The activity also increases family and caregiver’s engagement in student learning, and develops community activities that bring together children, adolescents, families, schools, and businesses.  

ANTICIPATED RESULTS 

• Benefit over 142,000 children and adolescents through different interventions;
• Partner with 400 educational centers to improve the quality of, and student access to, education and increase student enrollment in school;
• Expand and strengthen educational models to accelerate learning and to generate opportunities for thousands of at-risk children and adolescents;
• Use organizational assessments and peer mentoring to strengthen the capacities of local partners Fundación Carvajal, Pro-Antioquia, and Parque Explora;
• Strengthen seven Secretaries of Education’s capacities to close learning gaps, promote inclusion, encourage student permanence in school, and enhance the socio-emotional well-being of the educational community;
• Work with over 16,000 educators and 14,000 parents and caregivers through a variety of evidence-based programs that support teachers’ professional development, family engagement, and school community well-being; 
• Collaborate with the Ministry of Education and Secretaries of Education to design and implement educational public policies that promote access and permeance of migrant and returnee children to the Colombian educational system.