Aimed at public or privately-managed farming and animal husbandry colleges, or those specializing in the agro-foods industry, this is an innovative project which involves the selection of 12 colleges from all over Argentina in order to train their head-teachers and other teaching staff. The purpose is to set up an Educational Quality Management System (SGCE in Spanish) in order to receive the ISO9001:2000 certification for each college taking part.

The Alfredo Hirsch Project for Education in Farming and Animal Husbandry is a 4-year program. The first year covers training and assessment while the second takes the college up to certification. Once this has been achieved, there are two further obligatory years of maintenance required by the ISO standards. This period allows for all the assessment, training, transport and accommodation expenses to be covered for the teachers and heads from the schools selected, as well as the fees and costs of the certification body.

Through this project, the Bunge y Born Foundation ensures that the heads and teachers of these colleges receive training in the basics of Quality and Quality Management Systems. The long-term goal is that each certified college be a multiplier of the “quality philosophy” and generate an employment network based on ISO standards among all the colleges taking part.
Undoubtedly, a college’s positioning, image and own efficiency will be greatly improved with the certification of an Educational Quality Management System to international standards, with the corresponding benefits for both teachers and students.

1st EDITION: Six educational quality agricultural schools certified under ISO 9001:2008

After the success of the first contest, which ended with six certified schools in 2009, it was launched a second call for new schools to achieve quality certification.

2nd EDITION: The six new schools that wins the second contest seeks to certify educational quality

The Bunge y Born Foundation, Xstrata Copper Pachón S.A. and the Universidad Católica de Cuyo pooled their efforts to help the Jesús de la Buena Esperanza school in Barreal, province of San Juan, attain quality certification.
During 2011, infrastructure works were carried out to improve the school buildings with contributions from Xstrata Copper Pachón S.A.. The Universidad Católica de Cuyo designated teachers, while teacher training courses were held to instruct people in the Education Quality Management System (Sistema Gestión de la Calidad Educativa -- SGCE) organized by the Bunge y Born Foundation. This organization is preparing the school for its quality certification in the area of agribusiness and agricultural education according to ISO 9001:2008.
The infrastructure works included the construction of a Classroom Laboratory complete with restrooms, an Industry Classroom and perimeter fencing and equipment for the Farm. The school is also pressing ahead with other improvements and the creation of other production areas such as vineyards in what was formerly wasteland.

The program is carried out in agricultural colleges which have been certified under ISO norms 9001/2008 for the quality of their education and which are part of the Alfredo Hirsch Schools Network. The objective is to reduce school desertion and help to ensure that more children from rural primary schools stay on at school and finish their schooling in agricultural colleges which meet specific standards close to their home town.

The award involves a yearly amount distributed in monthly installments so that pupils between the ages of thirteen and seventeen can use these to cover the costs of books and materials, transport, food and accommodation as-and-when they have to board. The scholarships last a year and may be renewed as long as the pupils meet the basic requirements of academic performance, good behavior and commitment to the ideals enshrined in the award.

The schools taking part in this Project are the Agricultural College of Tres Arroyos with nine grant students: the Coronel Suárez Agricultural College with thirteen students, and the IPEM no. 221. in Jovita Córdoba, also with thirteen pupils.

After fourteen years’ work on the development of the project aimed at training rural teachers from the provinces of Misiones and Chaco, and an external evaluation which highlighted the positive results it has had on schools, the Bunge y Born Foundation and the Navarro Viola Foundation decided during 2010 to capitalize on the experience. They will carry out operational and strategic planning to ensure the continuity of the Project.

The new design of the project beginning in 2011 for eleven schools in Taco Pozo in the province of Chaco, is focused on the teaching of language and the foundations of literacy. It includes a two-year work plan with three courses including presential meetings, interview and writing workshops, and monthly visits to the schools to follow up the training work with the teachers and ensure these are meeting the needs expressed by each institution.

The courses given include: “Promoting reading and oral story-telling”, “Initial literacy training”, “Language teaching” and “Interview and writing workshop”.

This program consists of a series of four-week internships for head teachers from the provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe at similar schools in the United States. In return, head teachers from the U.S. will visit Argentine schools for the same period.

The project is also receiving the support of the Fulbright Commission and aims to improve the quality of education for teachers through an exchange program to help them update their classroom and administrative practices, as well as creating closer links between different cultures and communities.

An educational project involving internships for Argentine schoolteachers of English where they have the chance to spend a full school year in the United States to help with Spanish language teaching. Teachers from the United States will in turn spend time at Argentine schools.

The aim of the program is to improve the educational quality of schools by training English language teachers and promoting cultural exchange between both countries. The selection process of the candidates is supported by the Fulbright Commission.

Scholarships are being granted to children with hearing difficulties from low-income backgrounds so that they can learn to hear and speak in the context of a whole-concept educational approach based on oral-auditory methodology. The Bunge y Born Foundation is also contributing funding to purchase hearing equipment.

Individual scholarships are granted annually to secondary school pupils. Each pupil’s educational progress is monitored on a personal basis and they must attend day sessions called “Jornadas de Encuentro e Intercambio” (Meeting and Exchange Days) throughout the year. The aim of this program is to keep children from low-income families within the formal educational system while helping to improve their learning skills. Since 2007, the Bunge y Born Foundation has assigned grants to pupils from the San Pedro Claver School in Pacheco, northern Greater Buenos Aires.

In 2010, the scholarships were extended to include the following private establishments, María Inmaculada, from the Abasto district and Guardia de Honor, from the Flores district, both in the City of Buenos Aires. Fifty secondary-level pupils from both establishments were awarded scholarships involving a monthly stipend and personalized tutorship. The project also involves training for the teachers at each institute and workshops for parents about the importance of education, the objectives of middle-schooling, the training given at higher level and how to support and encourage their children through school and adolescence as a whole.