In Venezuela, 34% of youth are not in school due to conditions of poverty. Venezuela is also currently suffering from a serious educational crisis where many teachers are not working and schools are only open two to three days a week. Salesian missionaries continue their work in the country despite volatile conditions. They aim to provide education, workforce development and social development services to poor youth and their families.
The Salesiana de Barinas Center, as it is known in the area, began as an agricultural school in Naguanagua, in the state of Carabobo, in 1934 and moved to the western plains of Barinas in 1984.
The center offers its students an opportunity to combine theory with practice. The young students learn through a hands-on approach and learning in a classroom. They are able to take their classroom skills and put them directly to work on the farm fields that are a part of the center. Students take theoretical and practical courses in greenhouses, growing vegetables, cereal crops, gardening, breeding, animal husbandry and veterinary sciences, and dairy products.
The mission of the school is to provide young farmers with a basic education as well as advanced studies in the latest agricultural practices and modern technologies, while moving toward efficiency in farming by exploring and testing new techniques in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and animal husbandry. Salesian missionaries hope the agriculture degree program will entice more local youth to choose agriculture as their long-term livelihood.
The Maria Auxiliadora Popular Technical School, located in Altamira in the Chacao municipality of Caracas, has improved the learning environment for students thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions. Funds were used for upgrades including the purchase of equipment for specific tools for nursing, such as anatomical models.
Funding also supported technology equipment for classes in accounting and administration. These acquisitions have had a positive impact on 355 students, expanding their technical and digital skills. Additional funding was allocated for the adaptation of spaces for students to connect with the labor force under the supervision of specialist teachers.
From Venezuela
From Venezuela
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Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.
Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.
Salesian Missions includes agriculture in its vocational training programs – to ensure that youth of Rwanda learn better agricultural practices as well as keep the school self-sustaining in the face of the country’s food shortages.