Aim

ESTAR is CENIT's primary school program. Over eighty boys and girls participate in ESTAR, and for many of them it is their only educational option. The ESTAR program is different from normal elementary education in several ways. Instead of the typical six year program of most primary schools, ESTAR is condensed into only three years, and each year the students cover the educational material of two grades. For example, ESTAR’s first year students cover the first and second year of basic education. The second year students learn the material typically learned in third and fourth years of basic education. Many parents feel more inclined to allow their children to study in this accelerated learning program because they are away from work for less time than they would have been in a normal school. Also, ESTAR runs from 1:30 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening, allowing children to still be able to work peak morning and evening hours. Perhaps the greatest advantage ESTAR presents is that it allows students who to enroll despite the fact that they may be too old to enroll in other Ecuadorian primary schools. For example, girls aged 8 to 18 and boys aged 8 to 14 can enroll in the first grade of ESTAR, whereas in normal school, they would be too old to matriculate. This means that children are able to access education in CENIT, regardless of their age. Finally, ESTAR differs from normal primary school because a large component of its curriculum is basic artisan training, in which students learn the elements to be successful in some of the most high-demand jobs for skilled laborers.

APE Academic Reinforcement

Aim

This project aims to provide academic support for children in CENIT’s primary school ESTAR.

Project Information

CENIT's primary school ESTAR is compensatory. This means that it compresses six years of primary school into three years. This results in a very challenging academic environment for the children. APE provides the children with one hour daily of academic review and reinforcement, hopefully thus easing the burden of an accelerated academic program.

Volunteer Requirements

Volunteers in this program must be at CENIT for three months, and must have an intermediate to advanced level of Spanish. Ideally volunteers are working as teachers' assistants, but in reality they are often the principal teachers of the class. Thus, their responsibilities include planning, teaching, and evaluating the APE classes.