The Buenos Aires Government continues the work begun in 2020 to reconnect the 280,000 students who dropped out of school or discontinued their educational paths in the pandemic while deploying new strategies in schools in the suburbs and in the interior of the province to include in the system the 62,000 young people who They have not yet fully returned.
With the incorporation of 30,000 new teachers to existing schools, in September 2020 the Career Support and Reconnection Program (ATR) was launched. The initiative focused on boys who had dropped out of school or had a distant relationship with the educational system.
In statements to Télam, the Minister of Education, Alberto Sileoni, explained that “governor Axel Kicillof’s decision to extend the validity of the ATR, which has already been in several stages and was very successful in re-linking the boys, was very good.”
“There are still more than 60,000 high school youth that we must re-link, which is worrying. In this second stage we will work on that and to reinforce the learning of boys and girls who are already in the educational system,” he asserted.
The official maintained that “the pandemic does not pass without leaving wounds: it left children out of the system and learning that did not occur.” He added that the ATR seeks “to continue working to reinforce learning, especially among those who finish the initial, primary and secondary cycles in mathematics, language, writing and comprehensive reading.”
“We have that debt with the boys who are outside the system, we will never give them up for lost. This program is suitable for that task,” Sileoni remarked.
The plan was also implemented throughout last year and during the summer that just ended. A few days ago, the administration headed by Kicillof resolved to continue the program in order to recover all the students with difficulties.
Thus, on shifts and on Saturdays, students from all over the province attend classes to recover lost content with these support teachers.
The director of Secondary School No. 6, of Bartolomé Bavio, in the district of Magdalena, Cecilia Lucero, recounted the experience in that establishment attended by 200 students who are children of rural workers.
“We were assigned four ATR strengthening teachers, with whom we carried out a survey in which we detected that 10 boys had completely dropped out of school in the pandemic and about 40 had discontinuous trajectories,” he described.
The teacher told Télam that they began to make home visits with the school guidance team, in which the reasons why the students had disengaged were analyzed: if they had to work or had connectivity problems.
It was in this framework that the General Directorate of Culture and Education warned that students with discontinuous trajectories “did not have the possibility of receiving support at home because they were boys whose fathers and mothers had not finished school or worked all day. Lucero pointed out.
The director explained that these young people “dropped the subjects because they were lost and could not continue. Then work began through home visits and, once full attendance returned, from Monday to Friday at school.”
“First, we looked for a way to hook the teenagers and establish a bond. Then, we called them in turn to continue working in a very personalized way. There were students of different years, so the contents varied. We worked with the contents given in the classroom, but personalized adapted to each trajectory and thus the boys were approving the subjects”, graphed the educator.
Lucero pointed out that Verano ATR worked in the summer, with recreational and cultural activities, and indicated that this year a new survey was carried out that showed that “all the trajectories were recovered.”
“Thanks to all this work, the 10 boys who had dropped out of school came back and passed the year. Four of them went on to sixth grade and had the joy of being able to enjoy the last first day (UPD), when they thought they would not make it”, she said proudly.
The teacher explained that, of the 40 with difficulties, “all but three passed the year, but some stayed with previous ones.” With these young people, they are now working on a comprehensive project that “involves the different areas that must” so that they promote the subjects.
“It is very important that the ATR is programmed. If it did not continue, I do not know how we would have done it. There is a lack of content to recover and it is very necessary to continue securing content,” he closed.
A similar experience was experienced at School No. 127 Rodolfo Walsh, in Rafael Castillo, a town in the La Matanza district, which has an enrollment of 350 students. Its director, Daniel Ayala, remarked that “the ATR program generated that much-desired and necessary reconnection after what we went through.”
“The first stage of the program consisted of going to look for the students in their neighbourhoods, at their houses, so that they could come to the school. 30% were totally disassociated. Perhaps they came to look for the food module, because it is an area of shortcomings, but they did not bring the booklet because many parents are not literate and could not help them,” he described. And he pointed out that, in this context, activities were brought to them, which the teachers then corrected and returned.
“Thanks to this program, all the students returned to full and complete attendance. It is not that they only come to their normal shift, but that they retrieve content on shifts and on Saturdays. There are kids who started working with odd jobs. So the fact that they can come on Saturdays is important to them,” said the director.
For the director, the ATR generated “empathy” between children and teachers. “Small groups, for those with learning difficulties; radio workshops, stories, murals, sports and audiovisuals so that the proposal is attractive and makes them want to come”, he completed.
In statements to Télam, the Minister of Education, Alberto Sileoni, explained that “governor Axel Kicillof’s decision to extend the validity of the ATR, which has already been in several stages and was very successful in re-linking the boys, was very good.”
The educator clarified that through the ATR program, those who graduated but had pending subjects were also helped to finish high school. This is the case of Walter Villamayor, 5th grade, who had to work in construction during the pandemic and was unable to participate in virtual classes. “I had to work because they were two difficult years. I thought I had lost 3rd and 4th, but from the ATR they helped me take the subjects,” he said.
“There were many students in my same situation, with which this helps to pass the subjects. There were many schedules and days to go, in case they did not give you the schedules,” he added.
One of the keys to ATR, according to Ayala, is the pedagogical strengthening and the “reconstruction” of social ties that it proposes. “The classes with the ATR teachers continue until June to continue recovering content. It was a victory to have this human resource. It is a support for the entire educational system to accompany the content recovery process, take the previous ones and complete the degree”, said.
