What we do?
Projeto Aprender offers Portuguese, mathematics, social studies, science and English lessons. The two-hour lessons happen four times week, totalling an eight-hour weekly schedule. At the end of the course, students can take a national exam in order to have a formal secondary school certification.
Why we do it?
How would the life of an illiterate adult be in society nowadays? What will be the difficulties faced in their daily life? Many of the Projeto Aprender students do not have a bank account, cannot catch a bus independently or follow a cake recipe. Offering formal education to adults means providing them with tools to be empowered to take an active place in their community.
With the aim to have a fairer society where all people have equal access to education, Projeto Aprender was created by a group of Secondary School students from Pueri Domus Bilingual School, in São Paulo, Brazil. We believe in the exchange of experiences that promotes meaningful and life-changing learning moments. Inspired by the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, and quoting his own words, we believe that “there is no knowing more or knowing less, there are different types of knowing.”
The most fascinating feature of Projeto Aprender is how tens of teenagers and young adults (current and former students) give up their time to reach out to others. This is very rewarding to the school as we can see how these students can have an immediate impact in their local community by being active citizens, sharing what they have learned throughout their school life and showing commitment to Unesco's Sustainable Development Goal for Quality Education worldwide.